Deer with .223?

[5RWill]

This would be the first year that i've shot deer with a match bullet. Honestly bullets don't mean crap without shot placement. I'm not saying that shooting match bullets is right it's not, i was just doing it to get a kill with the rifle, thin some deer out, and get some meat. None the less neither moved. Both hit in the neck both dropped. Thats not a guarantee by any means but placement comes before bullets. I wish sierra would make a line of match hunting bullets like berger does then you get the best of both worlds and i would never have to worry about any of this the point of my post was really just to point out if your really set on it, yes you can take deer with .223. Hell find a 80/90gr hunting bullet and shoot them in the head if you feel you need a desired hit and drop. It's just as lethal as behind the front shoulder, lung shot, etc.

I took a 165yd shot on a doe with a 6.5mm 129gr triple shock out of my .260 right behind the front shoulder. Last i checked the rifle was grouping 1/2Moa, breathing was fine, trigger pull fine, and so i shot. She started to hunker as if she was hit and then started to trot. So i figured i'd put her down, i suck at shooting a moving target so i missed. I couldn't find any blood, she ran into a slew and didn't show the slightest sign of being hit other than the hunkering over. I can't figure out what went wrong. I was on a slight slope laying prone in a field and the only two plausible explanations i have is either a range miscalculation or due to me being on a upward slope the shot went into the ground. My Father thinks that i hit her and it just went through. Idk something isn't right.

 

[Gunplummer]

You are not the only one this has happened to. I reload and have had problems with certain type bullets opening up at close range. It sounds backwards, but it happens to a lot of people. It looked as if I pushed a pencil through on the first shot. Some bullets are just not a good design and I throw out the rest of the box and never use them again. When possible, I reload with Remington Corlockts. Never had them fail me. A lot of these "Super Dooper" bullets fly like crap and do little when they get there.

 

[5RWill]

Could be that the triple shock just went straight through her not expanding. Usually i would've shot her in the neck. But i wanted to see if the triple shock would really drop here with a behind the shoulder shot. IIRC i remember reading that problem with triple shocks.

 

[jimbob86]

Animals are unpredicatable when shot- I shot a year and a half old buck a couple of years back with my 270 WIN (150 gr SGK mv of 2900) @ 200 yards broadside.... at the the first shot he hunched up a bit, the second shot was no reaction (I thought I missed), and the third shot, I held in front of his shoulder- he stumbled a little, walked in a circle and laid down and died. Upon closer examination, it had 1 shot through the liver, 1 through the lungs and one through the top of the heart. All 3 exited with 1/2" exit holes ......

I had not zeroed my rifle on paper- just put 3 rounds through a paper sack placed over a tumbleweed, offhand at 100 yards...... turned out I was grouping almost 3" right @100 when I checked it out on a range later that afternoon......

 

[Art Eatman]

Well, since we're drifting from .223 on deer: I've used Sierra Game Kings for years and years. Sub-MOA, often half-MOA in .223, .243 and .30-'06. Mostly dead where they were standing when hit.

 

[jimbob86]

..... When my 12 y.o. niece shot an older and larger deer at the same spot at about the same range with her 7-08 A-bolt II (140gr @ 2800) this fall, "poop" sprayed out his behind, he mule kicked, hunched up and ran 10 yards to the creek and piled up..... shot through the heart, bullet went in through the the nearside "elbow" and out the far side a couple inches forward....

When I hollered, "Hit him?" from the other side of the creek, my brother answered, "Dunno! He ran into the creek......"

"And he pooped!" My niece (P) added......

I'm thinking, Great! Gut shot deer...... "See any blood?"

..... (pause while I ran to get further down the creek, to get between the creek and an unpicked cornfield, and brother and niece walk to where the deer was at the shot) ....

Me-"Do you see any blood!?!?!"

P-"No, but there's a lot of poop!"

Me- "Deer poop all the time .... and everywhere .... that could be days old."

P- "UncleJim, it's still steaming- I saw him poop when I shot him!"

Me-??????

BrotherJohn- "Here's some blood .... and hair!"

P- "More blood.... here he is!"

The deer had made it out of sight, and fallen down into the creek...... and kicked a little..... including the slide into the creek, he had not gone 20 yards.

I've shot deer through the chest in one side and out the other and had them go 100 yards .... or drop to the shot. I've even lost a couple .....

you never can tell.

 

[Saltydog235]

I wouldn't do it but I have a neighbor that has never lost a deer shooting them with his .204 Ruger and he's up to about 25 with it now. Most are DRT head or neck shots. He's shot the gun, is confident in it, never uses it in windy conditions and limits his range to 100yards and under, though he did bust a sookie with a neck shot at 120 this year that was DRT.

Conversely I've lost one deer in my life with a 30'06 165grn Nosler Ballistic Tip at 130 yards. I didn't make the best shot but the bullet failed to expand passing between two ribs on one side and out between two on the other. Bullets do weird things when they leave the barrel sometimes, animals are resilient and tough and shot placement is everything when hunting.

I have as much or more confidence in my .243 than in my mags or .30 caliber rifles. Every shot I have made with it this season has been a one shot smoker that resulted in corn pile dead or 20 yards of tracking.

 

[bamaranger]

sure, but...........

It's done, and I have seen it done, w/ bamaboy and a Mini-Mauser and a 6x Leupold. Federal Tactical (read bonded) 62 gr slug the first time and a Fed bonded 55 the second.

Both deer went no further than deer have gone shot w/ heavier calibers and were every bit as dead. Both were hit properly (lungs) under very controlled settings, me coaching, rifle on a support, ideal angles, much practice prior.

First deer got a pass through and easy trail, about 75 yds.

Second deer we got absolutley no blood trail, (no exit either) though the deer went only 50 yds or so, it got into some VERY thick cover and the followup was interesting.

Proper bullets, proper placement, and ideal conditions, and the .223 can take deer. We moved to a bigger caliber the third year and the .223 is for practice and varmints now.

 

[lil_bro]

As others have said it is certainty doable if you do your part. I shot a 120lb doe this season using a MFS 62gr, granted I was only at 35yds but I was impressed with the damage that it did. The round broke right shoulder bone, broke a right side rib, turned the top of the heart and the tips of both lungs into jello, broke a left side rib and kept on going. The only trace of the bullet I found was small 1/4" piece of the jacket. I have photos of the carnage if anyone to see them.

The doe fell backwards and made it about 4' from where I shot her, blood all over the place.


Anything other 100yds I feel would be pushing it but if you hunt in an area like mine anything over 75yds is a long shot.

And yes I know that is a 30rd mag and yes it was blocked to 5 rounds. I didn't get a 5rd mag ordered before deer season.


Mike.

 

[5RWill]

Took mine around 150yds. I wouldn't try to take a deer over 200yds with a .223. As it loses energy pretty fast. Anything under that IMO is fine for me.

Didn't get a picture of the deer but here's the spot i was in.

 

[Clifford L. Hughes]

XXXLeafybugXXX:

I'm sure that the .223 will kill a deer out to 200 yards with a well placed bullet. The same goes for most center fire rifles. The key here is well placed bullet. Most deer hunters are not going to get the picture book shot of a deer standing stationary broad side. With a larger caliber rifle you have a larger kill area because the larger bullet tears up more vitals, and with a marginal shot you are more likely to down the animal.


Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC RETIRED

 

[langenc]

So many 'weekend warriors' cant kill em with a 30-06 or larger.

They sight the gun in once a year, maybe. Cause when you try to help them, they dont want any help and they know that a few clicks will lower the group 6" at 50 yards-or they move the windage and then the elevation rather than both at once.

If they hit the paper 'that is good enough'.

The same hunters want to move the opening of deer season from a long time Nov 15th to the second Saturday of NOV so they can hunt more.

They need more shooting. Go out and shoot 2 or 3 boxes of ammo/year and after a couple years you will find out how to load the magazine.