Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum .223 for deer hunting?

Saw a pile of deer die this past weekend at 10-150 yards with a 17 WSM.

My buddy used 62 gr federal fusion exclusively for 2 years. 6 dead deer. Zero losses. Heart and lung shots.
I have used the same round and killed 3 deer, 2 heart and lungs, 1 neck shot. The 'limitation' on .223 has to do with it's kinetic energy at the point of impact. A ~60-70 grain round loses its velocity rather quickly, in comparison to a .308 150 gr. Inside 100 yards and you hit the heart/lungs...you'll have no issues. Provided you utilize a good bullet for your purposes. I have made a neck shot at 45 yards on a doe and she dropped on the spot. Yes a faster, heavier bullet will do the deed with more room for error.

https://imgur.com/a/zyM4o1F

went 15 yards

This is a story worth hearing. Please share.

Just don't see why anyone would want to shoot a 60 grain bullet when you can shoot a gun with a 150 grain if the purpose is to give yourself the maximum advantage of bringing that animal down as clean and efficient as possible. You leave no room for the day you will make an error not if, but when you pull the line of fire a few extra inches. I could see a young person learning with a small round due to kick on small deer. I wouldn't want anything smaller than a .243 with the right load at least.

223 will kill deer quick and clean all day long. A bad shot is just that, a bad shot. Shoot a deer in the leg or through the guts with a 223 or a 375 H & H magnum and the results will be the same.

you must not shoot a 375H&H....

If the plan comes together, I’ll see what a 50-gr TSX 223 does to one before lunch today.

Yes, I have one. Only shot a couple deer with it, but never in the guts or in the leg. I have hit one deer in the leg with my 338 win mag out of the dozens I've killed with that gun. The result was a lost deer.

Why do people shoot 410's, 28, 20, 16, and 12 gauge shotguns when a 10 will undoubetly maximize your range and give you the best chance to bag game with marginal shots in a dove field or on a squirrel hunt?

It's not exactly the same... but it kinda is.

If you disagree with a .223 for deer hunting, you have to also disagree with archery hunting. Ultimately you’re saying that a .308 or some other large caliber is the ONLY way to ethically dispatch a deer. If you do agree with archery hunting, then you must also agree that a hunter has the right to know his limitations with his weapon of choice and you trust him (or her) to make that call. I don’t see any other way to look at it when boiled down to its core argument.

Doe culling at a buddies place in GA. I wasn't using it, but a couple guys were. Head shots. I don't agree with it, but its not my place and was glad to be invited. Group took 35 does in 3 hunts. Place is crawling with deer.

I shot a 1800 pound Eland in Zimbabwe with my 375. 150 yards laying down, leaning towards me, angling 45 degrees away. Entrance hole high in the guts just ahead of the hip...bullet penetrated four FEET of Eland guts, bone, and muscle, lodged just under the skin on the front of the left shoulder. He ran 100 yards and down. all hits ain't the same and bullet placement isn" everything. Stilll have to use "enough gun".....

I can't argue with this. People push their equipment to the absolute limit, and beyond. In the past week, there has been a thread about folks killing deer at 1,000 and 1,200 yards.

archers have killed 1,000,000,000X the number of deer killed with 223s, we wouldn't be here today if they hadn't.

I'm talking about a broadside shot through the guts. Yeah, if you penetrate the guts and the lungs and break bones critters will die quick. Not so much with just a shot through the intestines. Folks buy bigger guns thinking it gives them the ability to hit a deer anywhere and expect it to die, it just ain't true. I've seen them take hard hits through the boiler room with a 338 win mag and keep chasing a doe. Shot one buck three times at ranges from 10 - 70 yards with a 338 through his vitals before he figured out he was dead.

I suspect your 338 is much like my 375 is on deer. Even the 270 gr bullets do not open fast on a deer, over penetration without fast expansion. Hence, they don't kill as "fast" as a 257Weatherby say.

I shot a 250 pound buck in the neck, facing me, hit him just off center in the muscle. Turned him a flip but he got up and ran. Three running shots later he was down. I believe my 270 would of killed him with that neck shot.

I used to use 200 gr ballistic tips in m y 338 win mag. Sometimes the expansion was dramatic and sometimes not. The buck I referenced took first shot broadside through the lungs and he took off running. 2nd shot entered in front of his right hindquarter and exited in front of his left shoulder. That one REALLY messed him up but he was still trying to get back up so I popped him one more time for good measure. One doe I shot I could literally stick my forearm through her from entrance to exit. Had one of those BT blow up on a buck's shoulder about 15 years ago and I switched to Accubonds and all deer are either DRT or just a couple of leaps and down.

I'm using a 338-06 AI I had built last year more these days for woods hunting. I load it with 200 gr Hornady SST bullets and have only shot a couple with it. I like what I've seen so far. Does not expand too rapidly on entrance but leaves a large wound channel and exit hole. Both deer DRT with barely a quiver. I will also try the 210 partition at some point in this gun.

I used the 300 gr Sierra in the 375 before and its made for big tough game. I've loaded up some 300 gr RN Hornady bullets but haven't had a chance to test them on a deer.

It can be done but placement is critical

shooting off hand, for me, I'm way more accurate with a heavier rifle.