.223 enough for deer

[ro2]

Is the 223 enough for deer with good shoplacement? my deer huntig is done with a 25-06, 30-06,or .338 being new to the 223, and an avid handloader I know I can get a bullet to do the job but is the round just too light to deliver the energy needed to create a mortal wound?

[buck-hunter]

Im a deer hunter. I live in indiana and hunt with shotgun,muzzleloader & bow. High powered rifles are illegal to hunt with here.I dont know for sure but i think .223 is to small for hunting deer.

[hogdogs]

.223 is somewhat common here on our little florida deer but the .243 is much more often used. Given ideal situations and premium .223 hand loads it would be pretty substantial.
Brent

[Smokey Joe]

Ro2--A .223 can be used to hunt deer (where legal.) It will kill deer. However (there is always that darn "however!") you will have to be man enough to pass up "iffy" shots that would be easy kills for a slightly larger cartridge.

Should the deer be standing broadside to you, unhindered by brush, and > than, say, 75 yd, you could kill it humanely with a .223--always given that you are a good enough shot, of course, but since that proviso applies no matter what the caliber, it is not part of this equasion.

Now, if the deer is in a more usual situation, sneaking through the brush, running, distant, hiding among trees, etc, etc--all the usual Murphy factors--then you want more insurance than the .223 provides.

You will get posts from people who say they routinely kill truckloads of deer with .223's. I wonder how many deer escape from these people, wounded, to die in agony later and be wasted. All I can say about that is, I wouldn't.

The .243 Win is usually considered to be the MINIMUM humane deer hunting cartridge, and even with that, there are "iffy" shots to pass on.

[tyrajam]

OK, I guess we have to argue about this every few months so lets get it started I bowhunt, and I think a 223 with a premium bullet would be just as deadly as an arrow. It won't break bones and drop an animal from bullet energy, but it will slip between the ribs and poke a hole through the lungs from the side. So what this means to me is yes, a 223 is enough for a perfect broadside close range shot. If its a shot I would take with a bow, then I would take it with a 223. If I would pass with a bow, I woud pass with a 223. Fair enough?

[Hawg]

Not in my opinion.

[Ifishsum]

I pretty much 100% agree with Tyrajam. If you have the control to pass up on iffy shots and just take the ideal ones, it should work fine. There's just not much margin for error - are you willing to possibly pass on the buck of a lifetime because you're using a less than ideal caliber?

[mustang66maniac]

well...223's track record on humans isn't all that great

[Fremmer]

The .223's "track record" on humans is excellent.

But deer are a lot tougher than humans. Use a .243 or greater caliber. Remember, if you wound it, you have to track it. And that can get really tiring really fast.

[BIGR]

With proper shot placement yea it will kill them, but there's not alot of room for error. Use a bigger caliber to get the job done.

[skydiver3346]

I notice that some people set their kids up with a .223 to start out hunting deer. It might be better to wait till they are old enough to at least handle a
.243 (in my opinion).
With that said, I have killed three out of three whitetails with my bolt action
.223 (64 gr.s.p.) while hunting coyote's. But I gotta be honest, (never really felt that comfortable) but the deer gave me perfect shots so I took them. Dropped one in its tracks from a neck shot and found the others without any problem.
But since you are hunting deer with your .30-06 and 25-06 already, why change? As others have mentioned, not all hunting situations call for a perfect hunting shot on a deer sized animal. Iffy shots can occur with any round but a .223 could make it tougher for you and the deer.........
At any rate, I quit hunting deer with my .223 while I was ahead of the game, (use a 7x57 now). Just my opinion and good luck to you no matter what you choose.

[Tommy Vercetti]

one of my best friends uses the .223 on deer

but he only takes does with head shots

[elkman06]

I personally would hesitate to use the .223 but we shoot them western muleys...a little bigger than whitetails. Actually given a close range well placed shot, it should kill just fine. Not legal where I hunt though.
elkman

[hunter06]

i have also been looking around for an answer to this question. im going to try it the upcoming deer season using the 60 gr. nosler partition loaded by federal. on their website it is set for medium game. i also came across a site where they did a test with this bullet to see if it could penetrate a deer shoulder. they imbedded a deer humerus into ballistic gelatin and shot it. Suprisingly the bullet broke the bone and penetrated a total of 13 inches.

If youre gonna try it on deer, i would use this bullet, use careful shot placement, and pass on iffy shots like the others have said.

Heres the website if you would like to read about it:
http://www.gunsandhunting.com/Bullethitsbone.html

[W. C. Quantrill]

In most states, the .223 is not considered a legal cartridge for deer.

Will it do it? Yes.
Can I kill one with it? Yes.
Can you? That is the question.
Is it legal? No.
Is it sufficient? No.

Is it recommended? No


Use the cartridges that you have already proven to be successful and leave the .223 to coyotes. Why experiment with the .223 just to see if YOU can do it after all the advice here recommends not to?

[mustang66maniac]

The .223's "track record" on humans is excellent.

Hmm, well what's your definition of excellent? If you mean one shot one kill, like say a 30-06 on a deer, then yes. But if you mean, after a few shots, they eventually die, that is not exactly excellent.

[W. C. Quantrill]

Excellent!!!

[dtalley]

I think it depends on the size of deer and shot placement. In Central Texas with an average deer weight of 100 pounds it will work fine. I hunted with a 222rem for about 20 years. My father is 80 and has never hunted with anything other than a 222rem. So in my opinion 223 is doable.

[tyrajam]

dtalley, that reminds me, I have some farmer friends in North Dakota with several nice mounts on their wall, and all of them fell to a 222.

[jrothWA]

article in the late 80's.
He indicated that it was acceptable for first timer that were not used to recoil, he used the Winchester 64gr PP load.
I set up my 15 for deer hunting with my daughter, weighs 100lbs (dripping wet)
she was able to group nicely @ 100yds with a scope. Didn't connect though.

[Kreyzhorse]

Ro2--A .223 can be used to hunt deer (where legal.) It will kill deer. However (there is always that darn "however!") you will have to be man enough to pass up "iffy" shots that would be easy kills for a slightly larger cartridge.

Smokey Joe makes a great point and his advice should be taken to heart.

[stevelyn]

A .223 will work fine on deer as long as you use a good bullet and put it where it needs to go.

Bushkins up here take caribou all the time with them. A neighbor lady popped one a couple years ago with a 200 yrd broadside shot using a .223.

[Colorado Redneck]

My family owned a 25-35 model 94. One of my brothers and I combined killed 7 mulies, and one of mine was a nice big robust 4 X 4. That shot was over 200 yards across an alfalfa field at dusk. The 117 gr. round nose hit him high in the shoulders, and went clear through. He dropped where he stood. Neither my brother or I wounded an animal and had to track it.

Larger guns make for bigger bangs, and are fun to talk about, but IMHO too much emphasis is put on the caliber and energy of guns for hunting deer. I read with amusment the ads about "So and So from Texas killed this white tail buck with his 300 winchester mag at 90 yards." Why put up with all of the recoil and muzzle blast to kill a 150 pound animal, when a 243 or 25-06 will do it just fine? If you are elk hunting, then the larger guns may be worth the effort.

[taylorce1]

My family owned a 25-35 model 94. One of my brothers and I combined killed 7 mulies, and one of mine was a nice big robust 4 X 4. That shot was over 200 yards across an alfalfa field at dusk. The 117 gr. round nose hit him high in the shoulders, and went clear through. He dropped where he stood. Neither my brother or I wounded an animal and had to track it.

While I agree with a lot of your post I wouldn't go around shooting deer with a .25-35 either. I don't know how long you have been hunting in CO but I know the ft lb requirement has been in place for rifles for at least 18 years. Even though both rifles will kill deer of that I have no doubt, but I'd hate to explain that to an DOW officals that catch you hunting with that rifle.

With the .223 for hunting deer where legal it all boils down to proper bullet selection. Stick with the premium stuff and in most cases you will get your deer. Just don't expect a varmint bullet to bring one down.

[Lavid2002]

one of my best friends uses the .223 on deer

but he only takes does with head shots

So what happens when you hit it in the jaw and it dies of starvation?