a few years back oregon banned anything smaller than .25 for deer or elk but because of back lash the changed it to .22 centerfire for deer, antelope, cougar and bear and .24 cal for elk and sheep but I think bear should be on that because in my opinion anyone that goes bear hunting with a .22 cal needs to spend some time in a padded room especially in a state where 300+ pounders are pretty common and 500+ are taken every year. I know alot of guys that use 22-250's for deer and a couple use them or .243 for elk and bear but I would never recommend either. the 223 and 22-250 are varmint rounds, the 243 is a small to medium game round and I think that's where they should stay, just because something will do the job doesn't mean it should be used to do the job.