Is a 243 with a 85gr bullet enough to kill a deer ALL the time? How about a 300 Win Mag with a 180gr bullet? Should we all be hunting with a .458 Lott?
Get your micrometer out and dial to .019. You may be surprised at how small that is. That’s the difference in what is acceptable to hunt with (.243) & what’s not (.224).
I have personally killed a pile of deer with .224 calibers. Never lost one. I've killed a BUNCH of deer with a 7mag, I've lost two with it. If the two I lost with the 7 would have came first, I'd think it was junk. Instead I think it is probobly one of if not the best deer killer. Have ya'll killed enough deer with the .224 to give it an honest rating??? Most nah sayers have never used one.
A poor shot is a poor shot; regardless caliber. A deer shot in the pouch is going to make a run for it. It may not be that far if you luck up & hit/wound the liver. Either way, he will eventually die, either from hemorrhaging or infection. Your right, if you shoot here (guts), it will be benificial to have a larger caliber.
Now if you can shoot a little more toward the front and hit the deer in the lungs, things are going to be better. Sometimes deer shot in the lungs (classic broadside shot) fall on the spot and but most times they run 20-80 yards (typically). This happens when shot with a .577 Tyrannosaur, 30/06, .221 Fireball, or an arrow, (heck even a sharp stick will work). When you poke a whole in the lungs, stuff dies!!! As Ack said earlier, I have seen smaller (usually faster) cartridges make a real mess inside, they just work.
Don't forget that shooting at bad angles also brings the need for more penetration that USUALLY, comes with larger calibers and/or tougher bullets.
The moral of the story, if you TAKE & MAKE good shots, the .22CF’s (with decent bullets) will work 100% of the time.
It amazes me that lots of people get upset at the thought of using a 22CF on deer because it doesn’t carry enough energy. Run the numbers. My bow shooting a 388gr arrow at 280 fps puts out enough "optimal game weight" energy to kill a 5lb animal /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. Don’t tell anyone that I'm that "undergunned" during early season, you'll get me banned.
The 22CF’s are not a marginal cartridge for deer. It's a bad caliber choice for marginal shot placement. There are better choices out there for quartering shots/bad angles when that one comes along and you don't want to pass.But they will work.