...used in successful Pennsylvania deer hunt.  The hunter kept his shots under 50 yards.

The factory .25-20 round fires an 86 grain bullet at a nominal 1460 fps. 

The first shot is taken just after frame 5:00

Nice old rifle still getting the job done.   

Proof that you can take deer with a .25-20, but that you probably SHOULD not.  Head shots with .22LR would make more sense, frankly.

I consider that round too light to reliably and humanely count on certain lethality except with extremely careful shot placement at very close range.

That .25-20 only has about 400 ft lbs of energy.  That's about the same energy as a standard (non +P) 9mm Parabellum and with less frontal area.  Maybe about only 1/4 the energy of a .30-30.

Yeah.  It's amazing how little it takes to render a vital organ useless.  Just a little hole in the right place.

Of course, step one is putting that hole in the right place.  I've seen guys with the newest and bestest rifles and calibers miss five or six times over a weekend at deer within 100 steps.

A .308 to the gut will have a deer running for another 500 yards through brush too thick to crawl through.

But a .22 to the spine or heart and a little patience will have a deer down in less than 50 yards.

Should you use that?  I wouldn't.  But I'd never doubt that you can.

The Jordan buck was killed with a .25-20.  Pretty cool story.  Google it.

That is a cool story. Sounds as though it took 4 shots to bring down the deer though.