Just been rereading "Pack & Rifle" by Phil Holden. As a pro deer culler in NZ he found that .222s were very popular - for a while.
They certainly did the job, up to a point. But most found after a while that just too many deer were getting away wounded.
Use enough gun!

Also have a copy of Elmer Keith's "Hell, I was There!"
Elmer liked rifles of all sizes, used .300H&H mag quite a bit. Now that may seem large to some, but it isn't a "big bore".
What he really did seem to major on was long bullets with a high sectional density and good construction. He gave up using smaller calibres on animals larger than elk for one simple reason.... experience. Mostly bad experience.
And I don't think anyone here is going to suggest that Elmer was lacking in marksmanship skills and hunter savvy.

Cheers....... Peter
<rabbits with a .444>