A friend of mines daughter uses a 223, and has yet to not take a deer (buck) for the last 3 years. I also know of an a-hole that has shot deer with a 17 cal., i say a-hole because its against the law in Okla..The .22 cal. is legal, but shes a little bigger now an ready for a 243, we think. My own daughter is thinking of deer hunting (and for a 14 year old she is a very tiny girl) and the 223 may get passed around, if so there will not be ant varmint bullets being shot, or fmjs. The legal weight here is 55gr, heavier is better.
Deer hunt w/.223
- Thread starter dbgun
- Start date
DEER HUNT w/.223
Thanks for the opinons & advice. As I mentioned before, all
my shots are at/inside 100 yrds. I was planning on using the 75 grain hollow point boat-tail ammunition from Hornady. Most of the deer on are lease run in the 80 to 110
pound range, which should be a problem with a well placed
neck or head shot.
Thanks for the opinons & advice. As I mentioned before, all
my shots are at/inside 100 yrds. I was planning on using the 75 grain hollow point boat-tail ammunition from Hornady. Most of the deer on are lease run in the 80 to 110
pound range, which should be a problem with a well placed
neck or head shot.
My family in is the U.P. of Michigan. Deer up there are bigger than the deer in Texas. My mom has hunted with a .222 for the past 18 years and has nevere failed to fall a deer. Everyone in my family only shoot neck shots and we very rarely have to track down our deer, it's usually DRT but no more than 15-20 yards away. As has been said it all comes to shot placement and your comfort with your abilities. The last deer I took 11/2006 was with my dads .243(I usually use my Marlin 30-30 but had to leave it in AZ), dressed out at about 150lbs., neck shot DRT
.
.Wayfaring_Stranger
New member
My wife took a doe @ 55 yards with a .223 60 gr NP in the boiler room. It ran 50 yards, piled up and died within a minute.
No apologies here. You're right, there is a mimum for a reason. But the 223 is above that minimum until around 150 - 200 yards depending on the load. And what you're describing is bullet failure, not cartidge failure. Ballistic tips are made to expand fast and have been known to over-expand and fail to penetrate.
dbgun - I'd strongly recommend you go with a premuim hunting bullet like a Nosler partition or Barnes X. That hollow point design might over-expand or fragment if you take a shot at close range. IMHO it's the premium bullet that allows the .223 to be an acceptable deer cartridge within its range.
No apologies here. You're right, there is a mimum for a reason. But the 223 is above that minimum until around 150 - 200 yards depending on the load. And what you're describing is bullet failure, not cartidge failure. Ballistic tips are made to expand fast and have been known to over-expand and fail to penetrate.
dbgun - I'd strongly recommend you go with a premuim hunting bullet like a Nosler partition or Barnes X. That hollow point design might over-expand or fragment if you take a shot at close range. IMHO it's the premium bullet that allows the .223 to be an acceptable deer cartridge within its range.
MeekAndMild
New member
Please! Don't try head shots, whether with a .223 or a .300 magnum! Deer will react to muzzle flash by jerking their heads. 
In the tenth of a second it takes for a bullet to travel the distance you'll end up with a deer whose jaw is shot off 'way too many times.
The only thing more disturbing than finding some young hunter endlessly wandering the woods trying to track a jaw-shot deer is finding the deer itself a couple of weeks later.
In the tenth of a second it takes for a bullet to travel the distance you'll end up with a deer whose jaw is shot off 'way too many times. The only thing more disturbing than finding some young hunter endlessly wandering the woods trying to track a jaw-shot deer is finding the deer itself a couple of weeks later.
I have plenty of "real" deer rifles and I've never actually shot a deer with a 5.56. Well, that's not true. I had an AR in hand one time when I found a heavily injured deer on my property. So I killed that one but that doesn't really count! I wasn't deer hunting at the time; it was April!
Anyway, I've got a Tikka Tactical now. And I've been working up some ultra-accurate loads using the Sierra 77 grain Match bullet. I was thinking about taking it in the deer stand and using it for a neck shot just to check it out. But.... it would be nice to see how that bullet actually performs on flesh and blood. People are using it in combat in the ME. But Sierra says not to use it for hunting. Has anybody taken a chest/lung/heart shot on a deer using the Sierra 77 grain bullet? In gelatin it performs quite well. And they love it in combat.
Thanks,
Gregg
Anyway, I've got a Tikka Tactical now. And I've been working up some ultra-accurate loads using the Sierra 77 grain Match bullet. I was thinking about taking it in the deer stand and using it for a neck shot just to check it out. But.... it would be nice to see how that bullet actually performs on flesh and blood. People are using it in combat in the ME. But Sierra says not to use it for hunting. Has anybody taken a chest/lung/heart shot on a deer using the Sierra 77 grain bullet? In gelatin it performs quite well. And they love it in combat.
Thanks,
Gregg
Please! Don't try head shots
I don't plan on taking a head shot (deer). I have seen neck shots (even
though it's a small target) taken at the lease, that dropped the deer on
a reguler basis. I went over all my .223 ammo in my safe and found a box
(bought last fall) that I bought from one of the gunshow vendors (T's guns
and ammo). They are Match Grade 72 gr, soft points. I see this vendor atleast every 2 months, so I'll have plenty of ammo to practice with, by the time November gets here. I was holding 1" groups at 50 yds. with WOLF
ammo through my Mini-14. Only a lot of practice will tell weather I'm going
to use my mini-14 or not.
I don't plan on taking a head shot (deer). I have seen neck shots (even
though it's a small target) taken at the lease, that dropped the deer on
a reguler basis. I went over all my .223 ammo in my safe and found a box
(bought last fall) that I bought from one of the gunshow vendors (T's guns
and ammo). They are Match Grade 72 gr, soft points. I see this vendor atleast every 2 months, so I'll have plenty of ammo to practice with, by the time November gets here. I was holding 1" groups at 50 yds. with WOLF
ammo through my Mini-14. Only a lot of practice will tell weather I'm going
to use my mini-14 or not.
FirstFreedom
Moderator
Agree with M&M, +1. Head shots, no. Neck shots, yes, if the deer is standing still.
Highly advise against using the match kings for any kind of hunting. I used 190gr match kings in my .308 before I knew better and shot a buck and a doe with them. Yes it killed them both, perfect heart shots at less than 50 yards. However, it basically drilled a hole right through them. Blood trail was adequate, but I prefer not having to track 80 -100m in dense brush and swamp to find them. Switched to game kings + neck shots and no more problems. Military is using 77gr match kings because we can't use good quality hollow points. Hope this helps.
Arizona Fusilier
New member
I'd like to broaden the horizons of our forum; "deer" is a very relative subject when it comes to size.
Here in Arizona, the Coues Deer (variant of the white tail) rarely dresses out to more than a hundred pounds, to paraphrase our Game and Fish Department. It's a very small critter for a deer. I would never dream of using .223 on a muley, or an eastern white tail. But here in Arizona on a Coues Deer, I think .223 with a quality bullet would peform just well. I personally use my .270, since its the weapon I have the most confidence in hitting with at the open, cross-canyon, couple-of-hundred-yard shots these creatures often present.
Nonetheless, I have little doubt that dozens, maybe hundreds, of Coues Deer fall to the .223 every year.
Here in Arizona, the Coues Deer (variant of the white tail) rarely dresses out to more than a hundred pounds, to paraphrase our Game and Fish Department. It's a very small critter for a deer. I would never dream of using .223 on a muley, or an eastern white tail. But here in Arizona on a Coues Deer, I think .223 with a quality bullet would peform just well. I personally use my .270, since its the weapon I have the most confidence in hitting with at the open, cross-canyon, couple-of-hundred-yard shots these creatures often present.
Nonetheless, I have little doubt that dozens, maybe hundreds, of Coues Deer fall to the .223 every year.
Dallas Jack
New member
I am going to try out the Federal 60gr w/Nosler partition bullets. If they are accurate I may try them on game.
Dallas Jack
Dallas Jack