223 fine for varmint hunting - not suitable for deer sized game.
12-34hom
Yeah, I have a buddy that gave me a hard time about the caliber, citing some African big game hunter whose catch phrase was apparently, "Bring enough gun." I had panic shot one of the lead hogs of a sounder that walked in on me while I was checking a feeder. The bullet came apart hitting the humerus at 15 yards and failed to penetrate the torso. So the razzing continued about how I needed to bring enough gun. It certainly wasn't a good choice for the shot I took, but the shot I took wasn't the shot I had expected to be taking. .223/5.56 is fine for hog CNS shots which it what I prefer to shoot when using the caliber.
A few months later using a 12 ga slug gun, he shot at a deer coming to the feeder, hitting the leg, and he lost the deer. Unlike my pig, the deer was just fine. He completely missed it. It was the feeder's leg that took the impact. Even then it wasn't a great shot and he failed to bring down the feeder. So now I ask him about how much is enough gun for a complete miss to bring down a deer and he has stopped razzing me about my lost hog.
As Art and others have indicated, it isn't about the gun or caliber so much as the shot. Smaller calibers require better shot placement and trajectory such that they penetrate to the intended vital organs. Smaller calibers are less forgiving on larger game when it comes to poor shots.
When you take the shot open both eyes, take your finger off the trigger and get out of the scope. If more pigs are present, its gonna be absolute mayhem and you wanna be alert.
It is a very exciting time. Since nearly all of my pig hunting is at night, when multiple pigs are present and especially if there are some light colored pigs in the group, the first pig I will shoot is darker and/or not in front of the group. Once the pigs start to run, the lighter pigs are easier to pick up and track than the darker pigs and so are easier to shoot whilst on the move than the darker pigs.
The first time I did this, I was just so amazed by the amount of commotion that I never picked up a secondary target and lost the opportunity.
Check out this video!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln1qLy3xSf0
is that good shooting or what? someone passed thru the military at some point
I would hope that any hunter could make 30-40 yard shots, but it does show that the caliber can be used effectively.