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.
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