22-250 for goats

I would go with a 6mm...mainly cause WY is where i hunt antelope and you cant shoot a 22cal. must be at least 243. But i did guide a guy in TX panhandle one year where he shot a dandy antelope with his 250 and it did just fine.
 
So 22-250 can kill an antelope but would need to be shot under 200 yds with the right bullet and be in a state that allows you to use a small caliber. But why mess with limits just go up in caliber size.

I killed one last year at 275 and my buddy killed one the next day at 350 with my savage 22-250. Both of them ran around 75-100 yards an went down and did the death kick.
 
The only thing I can add is to mention the limitations of a 22-250 in the wind, and in my limited experience, the wind is blowing in antelope country most of the time. I shot my first antelope with a 22-250 probably 40 years ago, using the old Nosler solid base bullets (did they call them Zipedo's then?) of 55 gr. and it was a very long shot but with no wind. Killed him dead.

I put that 22-50 together before Rem standardized it and have shot several deer (all the small Southern Mulies- about like a blacktail) and all have been good hits in the rib cage and they died just like they would with a 270. The problem is that the 22 kills fine with a good hit, but one gut shot or maybe even one shot in the meaty part of the shoulder might go for days. I'm 70 and have been hunting javelina for 40-some years and get one nearly every year and I 'd guess that pigs are about as broad thru the chest as an antelope, and equally as light boned. I gut shot the first one I shot and it put him down (it was running at close range, and I was impressed with it's speed), but all others were good hits, and the 22-250 and more recently my 22BR have done just fine, but still, a 243 or 25 of some kind are better unless you have the dislipine to pass up the shot if it's iffy; you owe it to the animal to kill it quickly. Most of my hunting buddies use their deer rifles- can't kill them too dead.
 
My uncle every once and a while uses his 22-250 for goats in wyoming. he always has it in his truck for coyotes and he told me when he sees a nice antelope or just feels like it he uses it. It will drop them as long as your not using a v-max or a "exploding" round. I was looking at getting 22-250 but now that i learned that 243 can shoot 55-69 bullets like the 22-250 i might get the 243 now and shoot medium sized bullets for hunting and somwhat long range plinking.

Basically 22-250 will work, but why not get the 243 or something bigger just for the extra assurance that they will have a clean kill. Plus you can load a more wide variety of bullets in the 243. (I use a 270 for goats)

Goodluck
benson821
 
Warning! This thread is more than 14 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top