Fortunately, states solve the "snobbery" issue for most people cruel enough to take a 22rf deer hunting by making it absolutely illegal to do so. 22 centerfires are legal in some states, and with heavy bullets will work in the hands of someone who really knows what he is doing. To my mind, that is someone who has taken many dozens of big game animals. Fortunately, I don't know anyone with that level of experience who would make a practice of doing so. I certainly wouldn't. The few extra extra grains of throw weight of even a .243 offers some margin over a .223 and light years over a .22 rf of any persuasion.
When we decide to shoot a deer I think we owe it to the animal to dispatch it as humanely and quickly as possible. My ethical (not snobbish) belief is that decision starts with something in the 6mm rather than 5.6 range.
I would note the same argument continues to swirl about the 5.6 as dispatcher of bipeds during combat. There, the issue is about penetration of body armor and taking the fight out of an opponent. We are less concerned about actually killing him. Indeed, in the calculus of combat, a wounded enemy is actually better than a dead one because of the burden one places on the enemy's support systems to care for him.
Shooting big game is, on the other hand, about taking a game animal's life quickly and efficiently. A .50 BMG would do it quickly but not very efficiently; a 6mm to 8mm (encompassing a small universe of "deer" calibers) will do it both quickly and efficiently. A .22 runs enormous risk of doing neither.
