.223 for deer

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My friend took three shots with his 223 before the doe dropped. First shot did not phase her. Second shot caused her to look at her shoulder and walk around. third shot she fell. Not a humane way to kill deer IMHO. I was not there, so I don't know shot placement. He was around 50 yards I believe. Can't vouch for his ability. I do know that he went with me this week but could not hunt because he left his wallet with hunting license, at home. Especially frustrating because he saw two nice does and bucks after he realized his mistake. At that point he just got up and went back to the trailer and waited for us. : (
 
If your only rifle is .224 caliber there are some good choices in bullets you can make that will make it more legitimate for deer hunting.

60 grain Partition and 64 grain Power-Point out of .223 Rem consistently give enough penetration on large deer even when striking bone (exit or stuck in off-side hide) and in testing produce larger measured wound cavities than 243 Win shooting 85 grain TSX and .257 Roberts shooting 100 grain TSX.

If you had a thread about the 243 Win or 257 Roberts with those loads, it would be hands-down consensus that they are good enough for deer.
 
blackops, do you mean 90 percent of the hunters out there feel it is inadequate....or are you stating the fact that 90 percent of hunters out there use a different cartridge?
 
DannySeesUSMC - I beleive that he is saying that 90% of hunters don't have the necessary skills to ethically kill with a .223 while hunting as it is, in his opinion, barely up to the task and requires perfect shot placement.
 
Well I can only speak for myself in that the only person I need to convince is myself. I've read all the accounts and done the research all of which convinces me .223 is more than adequate.

Now all I need is firsthand expertice. Which I hope to rectify in the next couple hours. As I'm literally sitting in a tent passing time till it gets light out. I hope to use my retro AR15 shooting 55g Sierra gamekings to fill my doe tag on a early morning stalk through a overgrown creekbed

We shall see
 
shooting in kentucky

two words .......SHOT PLACEMENT......

all my deer have been taken with .223 but one it was taken with a .308 pistol

i have only had to shoot one deer twice with .223

it is all about getting the shot in the right areas and knowing those right areas

beleive this or not i saw a deer that a guy shotwith a .375 and it took out the two front legs and this deer ran till it pumped all its blood out
now if the shot had been place in the right area it would have been a drop in the tracks shotwith that size cartridge

so use a good quality soft point bullet
and place a good shot and the .223 will do the job and do it very well
 
recently went through this since I am setting up a Tikka T-3 in .223 as a 'backup' long gun/a low recoil hunting rifle in case one of the guy's wives goes out with us; I chose the Federal Fusion 62gr soft point due to the bonded construction which promotes the bullet to stay together (deep penetration and higher projectile weight retention); for those who reload I got recommendations for Nosler Partition and Barnes full copper bullets
 
kmrcstintn I would just roll with the Partitions or those Fusions that you purchased. The Fusions will probably be close to the 64 grain Power Point.

Barnes in .224 bullets though is going to do minimal damage to the vitals...the 100 grain .257 Barnes TSX does less than the 60 grain .224 Partition so imagine the Barnes .224 caliber bullet.

Barnes will usually win the penetration championships, but the others which do more damage are not going to stop in the middle.
 
If you had a thread about the 243 Win or 257 Roberts with those loads, it would be hands-down consensus that they are good enough for deer.
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I have to respectfully disagree. The smaller/lighter .243 bullets work reliability when you have broadside shots. If you have to shoot the deer at an angle and drive a bullet into the boiler room from the rear (for example), the 100 grain bullets are much better performers.

I have a seven year old son that will tell you .223 is plenty if you do your part.
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I think it is great that you take your son hunting and that he got a deer, but it is tiny, and not much argument for the effectiveness of a .223. Again, I congratulate you and your son.

If you can't kill it with a .223Rem. you can't kill it with anything.
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Killing the deer is not the problem, that is easy. Killing it cleanly, and finding it soon all of the time is the issue, in my opinion.
 
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If you take the proper shot with the proper bullet there is no issue at all. Many stories of the .223 working for deer all over the place, but how many where it "failed"? I think it is more people looking at ballistic tables and what others decided was best who brought them up in hunting tradition. People could take all the different sizes of mule deer and whitetail across the country with most shot angles using a .223 with a 60 grain Partition bullet but that doesn't sell in magazines or make for interesting talk.

There is not going to be much difference between the favorite popular calibers when put in the right spot, the larger wound cavity of a larger caliber bullet with proper construction will give you more room for error and that is all. Deer are not large, imposing beasts no matter what area you are in, unless you are talking about their bigger cousins.

If you want to shoot a deer length-wise with a bullet up the rear-end then you will probably be happy with a larger caliber using a heavy-for-caliber bullet...but in no way would that give the .223 an issue. Hunt with your feet and take proper hunting shots and it will perform just fine.
 
the larger wound cavity of a larger caliber bullet with proper construction will give you more room for error
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Room for error certainly has a place in deer hunting, especially considering the need for a quick, clean kill, and all the "tracking" issues with a .223 referenced above.
 
Kind of a mute point now, I decided to just use the .44mag. Don't want to shut the thread down though, makes for some interesting reading when I'm bored.
 
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