I think it is under-rated even by those who like it. I have seen my Father kill hogs and cows so many times with a .22. They literally drop like they were poleaxed.
I remember reading an article maybe 30 years ago by Russell Annabell in Sports Afield. He was an old Alaska Sourdough and was caught leading a couple of pack mules by a She Wolf and a bunch of her yearling pups. He sat down against his backpack and used his Colt Woodsman to shoot and kill several and the rest left.
He commented that they ought to build a monument to the .22, and I agree.
They really do kill and not just several days later like a lot of gun writers like to say. They will kill quickly if the shot is well placed.
Anyway, he evaded the manhunt, stole a car, and made his way over to NW Arkansas where he car-jacked the van being driven by the Dr. and his wife. He told the Dr. that he was headed for death row in the Ok. State pen, and had nothing to lose by killing him and his wife. The Dr. and his wife calmed each other by humming their favorite hymns to each other, until finally the Dr. (I forget his name, there's probably a thread to the incident around here somewhere...) convinced the guy that he needed to "go".
At which time he was able to retrieve his little .22 revolver from the passenger side door. He fired eight times, hitting the @$$#0le four times. The badguy, who was truly a big, bad dude, pistol-whipped the Dr. because his cheapo .380 jammed. But he got the worst of it; he drove away in the van and went to the ER with a story about having been robbed. He's back in OK. in jail, now. The Dr. and his wife are hopefully having a happy, thankful Christmas.
True story.