anyone use a .223 for deer

M

muttman

Guest
hey y'all wondering if anyone uses a .223 for deer hunting.
my buddies & I have been tossing back the pros & cons of this caliber.

what do you all think?


"MUTTMAN"
 
I am sure the ethics police on here look down their nose on this but. Yeah I have and will in the future. I've taken down bigger than deer with my 22-250 too. Just make sure you have good shot placement!
 
GEEZUS MUTT,Buy a mans Gun!

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-11 AT 08:14PM (MST)[p]NO
And I cant think of a single pro to it ether

ITS ALL ABOUT MEAT-IN WITH THE TAXIDERMIST
 
I know of 3 different deer taken down with one this year, All were one shot kills, 2 of which were by 12 year old boys. I would not hesitate to using one, I though about buying one for my wife and kids to start hunting with.


I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!
 
>GEEZUS MUTT,Buy a mans Gun!
>
>God is Great!
>Life is Good!
>And People are Crazy!
>
>I love not acting my age,
>
>Damn I love my NASCAR race,
>
>And Hell yes I love my
>Truck!
>And a good BBQ!
>I am Medicine And I am
>Poison!
>What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are
>you running & what's your
>quickest Drive-By at hackin the
>Horns off of RoadKills?

yo i have a mans gun - .22lr!!!!!!!!!

anywho i have a 30-06 & 300winmag

i have an 12yr old hunting this year & so does my friend.
we have been discussing what rifle to let them use.
he is 5ft - 98lbsright now, probably will grow to over 6ft, so just pondering on letting him use my .223 this year, he shoots this rifle all the time hitting pop cans out to 200 yds.

don't really want to buy a smaller caliber, when he will outgrow it in a few years.


"MUTTMAN"
no guts, no story!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-11 AT 08:48PM (MST)[p]I've had limited experience with both calibers but having taken deer with both, I'd never now recommend a .223 to even the most accomplished hunter unless they were desperate. The 22.250 on the other hand is backed by a larger charge and with careful shot placement seems to be more capable. Regretfully, I tried the .223 and didn't like the results. I should have known better but I was young and allowed my misguided confidence to cloud my judgement. The 22.250 did a much better job however having said that, I would hunt big game with it very judiciously.

I have two friends I consider marksmen, both accomplished hunters. One has taken numerous yearling elk and the other took a central barren ground caribou with the 22.250. Still, in all, both wisely generally choose a larger caliber for big game including deer.

DC
 
I have killed 3 bucks with a .223 one was a forked horn black-tail and the other 2 were mature 4 point Muleys. and at the time it was legal to shoot...all shots were neck shots and under 100 yds. Using my own hand-loaded 55 grain hollow-points they were devastating and quick kills.
 
243 winchester ....its twice the gun of a 223 and any 12 year old can handle the recoil....seen a lot of mule deer fall to that caliber..it makes a great coyote gun to...
 
It will get the job done. I have never used one hunting deer. I feel with proper shot placement, it will be just as effective as a bigger caliber.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-11 AT 10:03PM (MST)[p]any 22 caliber rifle used in big game will leave a very small entrance wound and exit if it exits at all. if it is shot in the heart it will work fine. but anything else will leave you tracking a very small blood trail if any at all the tiny hole will coagulate and close off leaving it to bleed internally. making it very hard to track and a mature buck can go for miles.
 
.223 is good enough to kill deer. I wouldn't use it because i'm hooked on my .270. And I don't own one. Don't let anyone tell you it's to small for deer. Shot placement and not excedding it's effective range and your son will do just fine. The right load as well.
 
The projectile is far more important to me than the headstamp.

I'd much rather have a 53gr Barnes TSX out of a .223 through the boiler room than a 180gr Partition through the guts or in the azz from a guy who can't handle the recoil generated by his latest wizzbang magnum...YMMV
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-11 AT 10:55PM (MST)[p]>any 22 caliber rifle used in
>big game will leave a
>very small entrance wound and
>exit if it exits at
>all. if it is shot
>in the heart it will
>work fine. but anything else
>will leave you tracking a
>very small blood trail if
>any at all the tiny
>hole will coagulate and close
>off leaving it to bleed
>internally. making it very hard
>to track and a mature
>buck can go for miles.


Bullchit! Put a 53gr Barnes TSX, 55gr TBBC, 60gr Nosler Partition, or a 64gr Winchester Power Point through the vitals of a deer and you'll have venison in the freezer.
 
Very true, a hole through the lungs, the spine, and the brain, equals a dead deer or anything else. As you say, placement is the key. Young hunters might have a high rate of buck fever than seasoned vets. Depending on distance, wind, movement, etc. a spine and a brain shot isn't always a sure thing with a youngster (or others) because of the size of the brain and the spine. The lung and heart are a larger target but they are behind a shoulder, a leg, and the ribs.

I had some of my kids use a 22.250 on deer with good results and careful target selection and range.

The .223 we tried was not dependable on bone. Sometimes it penetrated, other times it did not.

More experienced hunters may be able to get it done every time with the .223 but we tried and failed so went to a large caliber with good results for both hunter and hunted.

I would never recommend an .06 or a .270 for a small framed beginner but there are a lot of choices between a .223 and a .270.

Then again, your experiences have been different than mine, no argument with what others find effective, just sharing our kicks at the cat.

DC
 
Really? You probably wouldn't be interested in the opinion of half a million real dead Vietnamese commies, many thousands of assorted water buffalo, pack mules, etc, etc, etc.

Does that mean I think it's a good idea? Not.
 
A .223 with a 60 grain Nosler Partition at 3100 fps will give great results out to about 200-225 yards with great shot placement.

However with similar recoil for a small shooter a 243 Winchester with a 100 grain Nosler Partition at about 2800 fps will give outstanding results out to 350-400 yards. Just handload it down a little and your recoil drops dramatically.

Having shot both and raising an upcoming hunter I would lean towards the 243. That way if that big old buck gives the shooter an opportunity at 300 yards you can be confident in the gun. They are both cheap to load and practice with.

My son took his first buck deer this year with my 257 Weatherby and handloaded 115 Partitions at 3350 fps. He weighs 100 pounds. The 257 WBY Mag is hard to beat for an all around easy to manage gun that shoots flat and hits hard.

However, he also took his first cow elk with 243 and 100 grain Nosler Partitions at 210 yards. I took a black bear with the same 243 and bullet. Good performance on both. Just hit them where it counts..... KT
 
Wanted to clarify, I don't think the .223 is ideal for deer, but I also know they won't bounce off and know that if you place a GOOD QUALITY bullet where it's supposed to go, stuff dies.
 
All true. Regarding war, people and .223. Not that I want any part of any bullet hitting me but I'd heard that wounding an enemy was sometimes the objective. ie: a wounded man takes two or three men out of action, a dead man only takes one. As a vet you would know, all I'm going on is rumor?

Dc
 
I have a friend who used one this year on the whitetails here close to where we are stationed on Camp Lejeune NC. As many have said with the right bullet and shot placement of course this gun will work. dleonard4 hit the nail on the head though. My buddy filled all six of his tags here but it was a pain in the but. For example the last deer he killed was shot at 120 yards double lung shot clean pass through. Both holes coagulated with blood after 10 yards and we were left pattern searching for lack of blood trail. We found the deer (a yearling buck) within 200 yards of the shot but it was a pain! This was the story with every deer he shot with it but one that he neck shot.
My suggestion would be trade in the .223 for a .243 with a little extra oomph and still a great varmint gun.

Sgt. Petersen
USMC
 
.223's were built to wound not kill,DUH!

Ya they are OK for Small Game!

Of course,if the animal was hit 'just right' with a Flipper it'd kill him!

Wanna track Big Game?Just keep packin your Pea Shooters!

Hear that REDDOG? Somebody up above mentioned a 64 POWER POINT,just might make a Rifle out of that 223 yet!:D

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
If they can't handle the recoil to properly do the job then maybe the individual needs to look at another sport, game animal, or means of pursueing their game of choice. Way to small IMO. Heck with proper shot placement I can kill a deer with a 22LR.
 
I have taken several deer with my 223. You can be deadly accurate with the shot placement, matter of fact the deer I have killed with my 223 have been with head shots...no tracking necessary! For you skeptics, they do make tough bullets for this caliber as some have already meantioned (partition, barnes etc...).
 
No, I know an 8 year old that can handle a 243, I don't think I would go any smaller than that. Shot placement is important. But my thought is, get something that you can kill with for sure, not something that HAS to be perfect every time...

CSO

It's all about the good times...

MonsterMuleysLogo.png
 
Same round we have been killing men with can't see it not working for deer too.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Go with a .243 or even a 25-06 for the youngun and with a decent buttpad he will be much better off than with the .223 IMO!!!
 
A deer shot with a .223 will eventually die reguardless of shot placement. A benjamin pellet gun will also kill deer with the proper shot placement. doesnt mean im packing a pea shooter next year.
 
I shot my first deer with a .223. One shot through both lungs and the little buck flopped down and died right there. With that said, I wouldn't recommend a centerfire 22 caliber for any big game unless you're using a heavy bullet and can place your shots very accurately. If you must, be sure to keep on shooting until the animal stops moving, then shoot it a couple more times to make sure.
 
Why not load or buy some reduced rounds for the 30-06 that you own? That would be alot more effective on a deer at 200-250 yards than a 223.






"Velocity erodes mass doesn't"
 
Been there done that with a 223 at 100 yds, but the conditions were perfect. I had my 257wby in the truck but chose the AR 223. The buck went about 40 yds and piled up.
That being said, I would recommend a 243 for a youngster. They can shoot it for a couple years and then get something bigger later. Plus a 243 is a great little coyote gun that they can use forever.
 
I have killed 4 whitetail with a 220 swift. A 22 caliber is enough to get it done but it all comes down to shot placement. If he is hitting pop cans at 200 yards he would kill a deer no problem.
 
So You Guys always get/have time for a perfect shot with your Pea Shooters?

A running Long Range Shot is no job for a 223/Pea Shooter!

And for the comment up above about 223's killing Humans,they were used to Wound more than Kill!

Takes 0 help for a dead Soldier,takes 4 or 5 to help a wounded Soldier!



God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-17-11 AT 06:51PM (MST)[p]

bessy says ".223's were built to wound not kill,DUH!
Ya they are OK for Small Game!

Of course,if the animal was hit 'just right' with a Flipper it'd kill him!

Wanna track Big Game?Just keep packin your Pea Shooters!

Hear that REDDOG? Somebody up above mentioned a 64 POWER POINT,just might make a Rifle out of that 223 yet!"


If I had your knowledge of cartridges and ballistics, I'd shut my hole and take notes. oops, edit to add :)

was that close enuff HH?
 
I know what a good slug is DAWG!

Initials are PP!:D

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
my dad would make me shoot a 300 win. and everytime i was shootin at a deer or elk it felt like i was shootin a bb gun and i was probably closer to 80 pounds when i started.

but if he does shoot a 223 i think its all about shot placment.
 
Is He as proud of his .223 as he is of that PISSCUTTER saw he runs?

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
HH!

Quit going over to that other Site & Stirrin SShit up!:D

is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
Cant think of any pros lots of cons. If your woried about him out growing a rifle just buy a cheap stock and cut it down for him, then replace it when he grows. I would atleast get him a 243 or 270.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-17-11 AT 07:37PM (MST)[p]>HH!
>
>Quit going over to that other
>Site & Stirrin SShit up!:D


You know you want him over here Bessy.
Is there better popcorn crunchin fodder than BigStick revvin up the ballistic thesaurus?

LOFL.
:)
 
I doubt it Highly HH!

I'm more interested in how many posts he'd make here before he got an e-mail?:D

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
>I doubt it Highly HH!
>
>I'm more interested in how many
>posts he'd make here before
>he got an e-mail?:D

Prolly just one.
HeHe
He do have a gift for waddin up panties.

:)
 
Yup!:D

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
223 is a wounding gun only now is BS. It all about range close up no problem, It's not a 300 yd gun but neither is a 30-30 and neither is bow and arrow. I think a arrow will work better if the range is under a 50 yds, But is it a wounding round too? got to call BS on that too.
I would take a 223 over a 30-30 any day of the week for shooting deer or anything else at any distance over 100 yds.
I have seen alot of WT Bucks die to those little 22-250's rounds and those guys are still killing coyotes with those same little popguns and the kill zone on those little babies is smaller.
Me I would buy that kid a 30-378 because that is my favorite gun of chioce but it a wounding gun too on Dinosaurs.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
223 is a great cartridge for preditors varmits virmin. It was designed for the military. Shoot one person and it takes 2 more to take care of a wounded victom. There for ya take 3 out of action at a time. That and you can pack more ammo.
Why take the chance. Even if it will kill with the right shot. You don't want your son to chance wounding a deer that would surly mess up his hunt. The possiblity exsists far greater with a 223 of wounding the animal then say a 243 or something a little larger. If your son can shoot a 223 he can shoot a 243, 25-06 .270 no problem.
Rutnbuck
 
boy did i stir the hornets nest!
just wanted to say thanks to all the replies, i knew i could count on y'all.

i believe i have a .243 lined up for him to use this year.

"MUTTMAN"
no guts, no story!
 
Again, there are a chit load of DEAD people who were shot DEAD in excess of 500 yards with that round that, "was designed to wound"........It was designed to KILL, and devastating wounds are a side effect/bonus!
And, that is with ball ammo...add a hollow point or softpoint and tell me again how it won't kill deer.
Next thing you know, someone will revive the rumor that the .223 bullet actually "tumbles" in the air!

Geez..where do you guys come up with this stuff?
 
Cool it nickman!

We are talking Hunting Big Game!

Yes,My .22 magnum will kill an Elephant with proper shot placement!

I guess in every bodies perfect world of hunting they can pull perfect kill shots off at 500 yards with that Gun huh?

Never said "it wouldn't kill a Deer"!

With all the f'n wounded animals that were lost in the Hunting season of 2010 you'd think some of you would get a clue!

It's a great Gun/caliber for it's intended use but have you ever heard of a tool not quite big enough for the job?

GEEZUS!


God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
And a good BBQ!
I am Medicine And I am Poison!
What Voltage of Cordless Sawzall are you running & what's your quickest Drive-By at hackin the Horns off of RoadKills?
 
back when i was a guide, I had a compittion shooter come hunt with us, I never asked what cal he was shooting first, but it was 223, he killed a blacktail alright, but it took three shots to put him down.....
 
if you have a 30-06 get some light loads for it and let the kid shoot that. remington makes managed recoil loads that they claim are good out to 200 yards. if you dont want to buy a new gun the cheap way would be to get some light ammo. 125 grainers out of a 30-06 would be great for deer.
 
Do you hand load? If you had load get him on the 30-06. You can load up a light load for him to practice on, 110 - 120 grains at moderate speeds and he will not notice the recoil.

During the hunt he won't notice a higher recoil with a 165 grn bullet.
 
Kills them dead, real dead, but go with the .243, a much better option caliber wise and el perfecto for a 12-year old. I sent a nice 140 class whitey to heaven with one of my .243's this year, killed him dead!

WP

"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"
 
I wouldnt shoot at a deer with anything under .30 caliber... but thats just me.


Team_UNC
 
For all you guys thinking that the .223 is a wounding round you are grossly removed from current operations throughout the conflicts we have going on over seas. No it is not a round designed for shooting (terrorists) over 200 yards but any thing closer than that it is devastating. And it will sure as hell kill a deer at that range. If it's legal by the state then do it if you want to and MAKE A GOOD SHOT. Any thing we can do to help the younger guys into this sport is ok by me. They will eventually want to get a large caliber on their own. We all did didn't we?
 
Team_UNC, You shoot deer? Doesn't that interfere with Nature's balance? I thought you wanted us to leave that up to the wolves, cougars, and coyotes.
 
Great cal. for preditors and varmits but i would recomend he shoots a 243 or even go up to a 27o
 
I have some first hand experience with a 22-250 and a 60 gr nosler partition on mature whitetail does- absolutely devastates them at 100 yards through the front shoulders exits every time and you pretty much have to throw the off shoulder away. A 223 would be 500 fps slower so it would be different but I don't know by how much. These does go about 0-5 yards on average so how much deader could they get from a bigger gun??
 
In my opinion anything through the lungs will kill a deer. With that being said, with a .22 size hole you will not get much of a blood trail. Now that's fine if the deer drops in its tracks, but if they run that's a problem.

I would not use that round for the lack of a blood trail.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-25-11 AT 09:09PM (MST)[p]Antelope are a light bodied animal that will go down without too much trouble if you put one through their ribs with any decent size bullet! Getting into deer-sized game is different!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-25-11 AT 10:47PM (MST)[p]>Antelope are a light bodied animal
>that will go down without
>too much trouble if you
>put one through their ribs
>with any decent size bullet!
> Getting into deer-sized game
>is different!

Everyone knows deer require at least 180 grains out of a .300 Wizbangsupermag!.....rolls eyes
 
i don't want a 100 or 200 yd gun in my hands when the buck of a lifetime, "stops for one last look" at 400 yds.

IMO, for hunting big ol bucks in big open or rugged canyon country, the .223 has no place!

Joey
 
You guys have any wounded critters running around next year..send me the coordinates via GPS and I'll take care of your problem for you....I can reach the Wasatch front from my house with this....roll eyes..
1020p1010658.jpg


9408p1010657.jpg
 
Yep, that's one little whizbanger, LOL! I just feel that when you get into deer that you should move up to at least a .243, 25-06, etc., but no need for a howitzer!!!
 
Why not a 260 remmy or a 6.5 Mauser. Both are deadly on deer and have very little to no recoil. People on Northern Europe use them on moose, I would not but for deer or a cow elk (within 300 yards) I would not have a problem with it.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-01-11 AT 05:52PM (MST)[p]I will be honest...I have used a .223 along with my dad and sister.

Here is a list of what I have personally seen dropped with a .223:

scimitar horned oryx
numerous axis deer
my sika deer
numerous wild hogs
mouflon sheep
aoudad
and a water buffalo (took two shoulder shots and he was down)


That being said....my wife will be using her .223 on muleys, doe pronghorn and cow elk(head shot) this year if she gets drawn. Her previous caliber was a .204 and a 280 pound hog didn't take a six inch step when she shot it.

I have a very good friend who uses a .17 Remington and killed everything from deer to a gemsbuck with one shot.


Is a .223 a 400 yard gun....no. But neither is any other caliber. There is just much that can go wrong in that span of range. But a .223 at 100 yards or less and you will be packing out all day ;)
 
When I was 12 I used my dad's .308. I was smaller than most at 12. I had no problems with it.
Any .22 caliber is illegal in CA.
 
>When I was 12 I used
>my dad's .308. I was
>smaller than most at 12.
>I had no problems with
>it.
>Any .22 caliber is illegal in
>CA.


You're wrong... .22 calibers are legal as long as it's centerfire..

horsepoop.gif


Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.
 
I've got a .223 H&R Varmint Ultra Light and i've shot a buck with it about 150 yards that dropped instantly (wasn't a spine shot either) and my brother and sister have each killed a couple doe's with it in Kaibab on the jr. hunt, all one shot with no tracking needed. I use the ballistic tips which i would say help a lot cause i shot a coyote once with a target round and had to chase it around a field for an hour to finish it off with a ballistic round.
 

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