anyone hunting deer with a .223 ?

[barthmonster]

Ethical or not, I was raised by a Depression-Era old-timer. Back then they shot Does in the head right behind the ear for food to survive. Works with even a .222 Remington or smaller just fine, but you have to be close enough to have golf-ball accuracy to be 'ethical'...

The .223 barrel I got for my Encore is very accurate and I wouldn't hesitate to put a 55 grain Soft-Point behind the ear of a fat Doe at all...

[Captain Finlander]

I am not a fan of hunting everything with a 223 myself but it is up to the task. The northern Canadian Inuits have been using it for decades. Shot placement is key to any round and especially the 223.

[possum1]

I too was curious about the 223, tried it this year. Shot a spike, thought it was a doe; eyes ain't what they used to be, at 100 yds. broadside with a Nosler 60gr spitzer. Watched him run 30yds, reared straight up and dead. Chest cavity was jello.

[stormspotter]

I use a Sierra 65 grain Gameking and haven't had any problems so far. Just be careful and use good judgement when taking your shot.

[sha-ul]

Back then they shot Does in the head right behind the ear for food to survive

brain stem shot, if you can put it there, it will put them down. quick.

[Yoda]

Killed 1 8pt approx 125 pounds dressed, Bullet was a 55gr Remington Corelok factory load, the gun was a savage/stevens model 200 22" barrel, range was about 50yards, broadside shot, deer ran 60yards, no exturnal bleeding, was in a field so that was not a issue, deer died within site, inturnal damage was slite, bullet came unglued as soon as it entered the chest cavity. Moral to this story is : Yes the .223 will kill deer, would we do it again YES, but with this side note we'd be Using a Barnes Triple Shock or the Nosler Partition.

[leather5to1]

A quick note on shooting deer in the head. I am extremely against it. I don't doubt that you can and I can, if we know our rifles and everything goes right. I hunted by a guy who use to do that, one late morning I heard him shoot, going out for lunch I walked by him on the ground and asked him how he did. He took me over to a lower jaw and a mess of blood and hair. He was using a 270, but says it must have hit a twig or something and this is all he got. I never had a more gut wrenching feeling, thinking about the slow demise that it was going to have.

[bubbinator]

forger-sorry about the negative posts- I heard them before too. I hunt in AL where ANY centerfire expanding caliber is legal for deer-Rem 17 Fireball is "legal", just not ethical. I have hunted deer here since 1970, by stalk, dog drives, tree stands and ground blinds with everything from 221 Fireball to 3" 12ga slugs/buckshot. I have taken deer cleanly w/ .221/ .222/ .223/ .22-250(handgun)/ .220 Swift/ .243/.25-06/ .308/.30-06/7mm-08(rifle & handgun)/ .44 mag(rifle and handgun) and 12ga shotgun(slug & buckshot). My point is shot placement-period. I shoot a lot(LEO/ Firearms Instructor/Hunter/Reloader/Target shooter-teaching grandkids to shoot). The last hunt I hosted on my lease last year I dropped a 100# doe in her tracks with a Rem 788 .222(50gr Hornady VMax/w748), my guest shot a doe smaller that mine from a shooting house with a Weatherby .300 Mag/180 Rem bullet at less that 50 yds and we tracked it into a creek 75 yds from the greenfield where we recovered her. Exit wound was about 3" wide and most internal organs were jello? Except for 1 steep down hill shot where I knee-capped a buck( long before ARC technology), I have never lost a deer I shot. The longest blood trail I saw was 200 yds+(but down hill towards me then into a creek-about 30' wide) from an 8 pt 130 class buck I shot w/ a .30-06 130gr. Speer JHP load over 3K fps. The tree I was in was on the creek bank.

[forger]

Thanks Guys;
Due to extenuating circumstances and the snow being too deep, I didn't get out very much during big game season and didn't score. I didn't take any chances though and took my 30/30 for the 6 hours or so that I was able to get out.
Now my .223 will be aimed at coyotes and foxes although for the foxes if I have a choice will be my .17 HMR or .22 Hornet...don't want to be too destructive..
About a week before big game season I got a nice red fox with my .17 HMR . About 100 yards with a Federal 17gr poly-point..he dropped like a rock.

[Blackwell bikes]

The first deer i ever shot was with a Remington 7 .223 loaded with blue box black hills 55grs which i believe are speer or sierra bullets. The deer was broadside at about 140 yards he bullet seems to have entered right in to his lungs before blowing to pieces. One small .22 caliber hole one the out side and not much left on the in. I have heard good reports about the sierra 65 Gamekings being a great tough bullet for 100 pound + whitetail. I do the feel the least bit under gunned with the model 7 in 223.

[r29l20]

Saw my hunting buddy shoot three deer with a .223, all ran less than 30 yards. All hits were in the heart/front shoulder area, and lots of damage.

[Tim300wsm]

it is totally possible to kill a deer with a 223 farmers kill sick cattle with 22lr but with so many better and more ethical choices out there why would you? if you want a challange shoot paper at long range i dont feel its right to use a cartridge that small for a 200+ lb animal. what you do is your choice but i don't feel anything smaller than a 243 is good enough i hope i never wound a deer and have it suffer and die of infection days later

[Hammer]

.

Have no personal experience with the 223 on game animals.

But have spent time with African PHs who do a lot of culling with their 22 Hornets, which they preferred to the 223 Remington.

Some PHs downloaded 223 Remingtons to match the ballistics of the 22 Hornet.

They took animals as large as eland with their Hornets.

.

[lomfs24]

If you were to consider all the deer that have been shot and killed in the history of man, both legal and illegal, since the invention of gun powder probably the cartridge that has single handedly killed more deer than any other cartridge is the 22LR. It quiet, deadly and effective.

With that being said, and lots of folks will agree, a .223 will do a number on a deer and kill them as dead as any other cartridge with proper shot placement. On the other hand, with poor shot placement, a 375 H&H will let a deer run as far as any other cartridge.

[jraney]

exactly!!!! bigger does not always mean better if you still cannot hit
what you are aiming at. another thing to be carefull with is your surroundings with the 223 small limbs and even grass can effect where you hit your target. but in open terrian i would not hesitate 1 second to shoot as far as i am comfortable shooting at a deer or anyother animal. i personally have killed deer and a hog with the 223, the deer just happened to come in close he dropped right there, the hog was close to 200yds she also fell where she stood and if i would have been quicker on the reload i could have gotten another at the same time. so in my oppinion the 223 is every bit capable, the question is are you.

J

[stevec]

Killed quite a few with a 223 using 70gr speer soft points. never had one run away.


Steve

[sinman]

It is more important to be accurate with your rifle than the caliber. I have shot deer with a 223, my grandpa only used 222 remington. Of course they were accurate. The biggest thing I found is for you to be comfortable with your rifle, I'll take a deer on the run at 150 with my 223 because I know it so well but i wouldn't take a shot at a deer with a borrowed 30-06 that I don't know how it shoots.

[SuperChuck]

Accuracy / bullet placement / bullet selection and practice, practice, practice..

I dropped to lower recoiling rifles, and my success rate went up. I practiced shooting more, lost any semblance of a flinch and was able to observe the situation better immediately after the shot.

If the US military consider a steel jacketed bullet lethal enough for their forces, the new engineered bullets for game ought to be able to do the right job - IF placed properly, but that applies to any bullet.

SC

[chewcudda]

in my younger days i did hunt deer with a .223 ruger mini-14. since then i have moved up to other rounds. at the time i used remington core lockt ammo bought at walmart.

the only person i know who still hunts deer( white tail not mule) with a is my nephew. he would hunt with something more powerful but last time he shot his fathers .243 it almost tipped his wheelchair over. he needs the super light recoil from .223 because of his disability. ( not trying to say only disabled people do it just saying the only person i know is disabled).

if you are going to do it you need ot become a master of shot placement to be humane or get yourself some really good optics

my two copper coins

chewy

[borg]

...he would hunt with something more powerful but last time he shot his fathers .243 it almost tipped his wheelchair over. ...


If you laughed, snorted, or even smiled after reading this sentence, you are going to hell.