223 for deer?

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dct

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I usually hunt with a 270 but I’m working on getting a suppressor. My deer rifle ready to host a suppressor but until I get it (probably a month or two into deer season), my rifle now has a relatively short barrel and a brake (as a mount). And if I zero it now (haven’t shot it since I had the barre cut and threaded), I’ll just have to rezero it again when I get the suppressor. But mostly I don’t want to hunt with it unsuppressed with a shorter barrel and brake since the whole point was to make this quieter!

I’m considering using something else to start the season. I could borrow a budget 270 from family. That is probably the low fuss and smart thing to do.

But I could also bring an 5.56/223 AR and shoot monometal loads like the Barnes TSX or Federal Trophy Copper. Looks like they are designed to expand and have 1000 ft lbs of energy to 100 yards. I would be careful of the shots I took and stay under 100. I’ve always considered 223 lighter than I’d prefer for deer, but I’d be more comfortable with this rifle than the cheap loaner…

So anyone shoot deer with a 223? Good/bad experiences? Loads that work well?
 
shot one at 100 yards with a barnes tsx. perfect double lung shot broadside, with entry just behind left shoulder and exit just behind right shoulder. Deer ran 30 yards and crashed. No real blood trail to speak of though.
 
You can but I dont recommend it. Wasted enough “lost” deer at my hunting property that I won’t allow anyone to use .223/5.56 there anymore. Nothing more infuriating than having a buddy shoot one of the biggest bucks we had on camera and then not being able to find it because it didn’t leave a blood trail. That tested the hell out of our friendship.
 
Pogue said:
You can but I dont recommend it. Wasted enough “lost” deer at my hunting property that I won’t allow anyone to use .223/5.56 there anymore. Nothing more infuriating than having a buddy shoot one of the biggest bucks we had on camera and then not being able to find it because it didn’t leave a blood trail. That tested the hell out of our friendship.
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Never thought of that. That just makes sense. Hard enough to find them sometimes with a blood trail.
 
Shot a doe with .223 / 5.56 last winter. Nicked the heart and it dropped just after making it into the woods (maybe 100' or so). No blood trail, though.
 
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I wouldn't recommend it for beginners.

Which is kind of an odd thing to say since it's what both my daughters killed their first deer with.
But, they didn't have any ego of past experience getting in the way. They were a clean slate with a seasoned hunter sitting with them. They didn't have to judge yardage because I was telling them. And they were on strict orders to not shoot until I told them it was okay.

That being said, for the past 12 years or so, I'd say 3 out of every 5 deer shot by family is taken with .223/5.56.

We've never lost one, but we always take shoulder tip shots.

No special loads. We started with Federal LE Tactical Bonded .55 Grain and when those became a little scarce we switched to Federal Fusion 62 grain.
 
I'm switching to a .223 this year if I can get it sorted out in time. Factory load will be a 62gr federal fusion (gold dot). Looking to hand load some 77gr tmk rounds.

I shoot monos out of my 30-06, the risk with monos in a .223 is that they are very velocity dependent and so you've got to really know your effective range.
 
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Why not just go ahead and sight in the 270 and use ear plugs/ear muffs? Sounds like if you use the .223/5.56, you will need to sight it in and the same if you borrow a rifle.

That way you are getting used to the rifle you plan to use going forward.
 
I’ve killed a fair share of deer with .223/5.56. But, I’m very critical of my shot placement. If I cannot get a tip of the shoulder shot like @thrillhill said, I let it pass and wait on the next one. And keep my distance under 75 yards, with 100 the max.

Hunting with a .223/5.56 requires patience. And in my experience few trophy hunters have enough to use one. Buck fever can make a person take some unnecessary risk. Meat hunters tend to make a more conscious effort with shot placement. Not only do they want an ethical kill, they also want the least amount of damage to the meat as possible. Of course this isn’t absolute, just what I have gathered from my years hunting.
 
Average Joe said:
I’ve killed a fair share of deer with .223/5.56. But, I’m very critical of my shot placement. If I cannot get a tip of the shoulder shot like @thrillhill said, I let it pass and wait on the next one. And keep my distance under 75 yards, with 100 the max.

Hunting with a .223/5.56 requires patience. And in my experience few trophy hunters have enough to use one. Buck fever can make a person take some unnecessary risk. Meat hunters tend to make a more conscious effort with shot placement. Not only do they want an ethical kill, they also want the least amount of damage to the meat as possible. Of course this isn’t absolute, just what I have gathered from my years hunting.
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Patience is key. I watched that Michigan buck walk all the way across the front of my blind towards the spot I knew I wanted to shoot him at. 83 yds on a broadside shot did the trick. He went about 20 yds then piled up.
 
It's exhilarating when a deer comes out after hours of waiting.

Your heart rate jumps up.
You picture the shot.
You want to squeeze the trigger.
You don't want to track it long.
You don't want it to suffer.
You really have to have patience.

My mind is always telling me when I take a doe, that there is a coat rack of a buck standing just inside the woodbine waiting.

Shoot with what your comfortable with. There will be other seasons to try something new and have a properly sighted in rifle.
 
A .223/5.56 will work fine for smaller deer but I wouldn't use it if I am looking for that trophy buck. I own four deer rifles: a Savage 110
.270, a Savage 110 30-06, a Marlin 336 30-30 and a Marlin 336 in 45/70. If I know I'm going to going after be something big I will use the 30-06
or the 45/70. If you miss a vital spot, you will have a long walk trying to locate the deer you just shot if you use the small calibers in most cases.
 
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I can't remember if it's cool to link to other forums or not, but there's a western hunting forum I'm on with an entire thread of kill pics from using a .223. Antelope, deer, elk, moose, bear. Out beyond 300 yards too.

All extremely bullet dependent by people who are shooting a bunch though. But the .223 is what allows them to shoot so much because of how mild the recoil is and comparatively cheap the ammo is.
 
dct said:
I usually hunt with a 270 but I’m working on getting a suppressor. My deer rifle ready to host a suppressor but until I get it (probably a month or two into deer season), my rifle now has a relatively short barrel and a brake (as a mount). And if I zero it now (haven’t shot it since I had the barre cut and threaded), I’ll just have to rezero it again when I get the suppressor. But mostly I don’t want to hunt with it unsuppressed with a shorter barrel and brake since the whole point was to make this quieter!

I’m considering using something else to start the season. I could borrow a budget 270 from family. That is probably the low fuss and smart thing to do.

But I could also bring an 5.56/223 AR and shoot monometal loads like the Barnes TSX or Federal Trophy Copper. Looks like they are designed to expand and have 1000 ft lbs of energy to 100 yards. I would be careful of the shots I took and stay under 100. I’ve always considered 223 lighter than I’d prefer for deer, but I’d be more comfortable with this rifle than the cheap loaner…

So anyone shoot deer with a 223? Good/bad experiences? Loads that work well?
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Dropped a few with 223

Winchester 64gr PowerPoint and 62gr Barnes TTSX (I loaded both myself).

I believe Barnes sells 55gr TSX (open tip version of the same bullet as the TTSX).
 
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Or go with 300BO, that's what I currently hunt with on a can and I have yet to have a deer get up and complain...

I would look at a very solidly constructed, bonded bullet for the .223 if that's the way you go. Shot placement will be key...

That said, I have a buddy up in British Columbia that uses nothing but 25-06 with 115gr partitions on moose, elk and deer. If he's lost an animal in the last 15 years we've known one another, he hasn't told me about it...

and he would...
 
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thaifighter said:
Or go with 300BO, that's what I currently hunt with on a can and I have yet to have a deer get up and complain...

I would look at a very solidly constructed, bonded bullet for the .223 if that's the way you go. Shot placement will be key...

That said, I have a buddy up in British Columbia that uses nothing but 25-06 with 115gr partitions on moose, elk and deer. If he's lost an animal in the last 15 years we've known one another, he hasn't told me about it...

and he would...
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Dang beanfield gun in the Rockies. More power to him

If I move out west I’m buying a 300 Win Mag or PRC
 
Curious - anyone take a deer with a neck shot with a .223?
 
cubrock said:
Curious - anyone take a deer with a neck shot with a .223?
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Good friend has been hunting with his 5.56 AR for the last few years and has done well. He hunts from a blind and doesn't take any shots over 50 yards. Shoots them in the head or upper neck from a corn pile. He is a meat hunter and could care less about antlers and such. For those of you who have heard of QDM we refer to it as "Quality Deer Meat". So, to answer the question, yes, neck shots work.

Is it just me or does it appear that the younger crowd is getting more "recoil sensitive"? I here and read about "men" complaining about recoil from a .308 or a 30-06? I was shooting an '06 when I was 14 with no problems and I was a skinny kid. Never thought much about recoil and still don't. There are better calibers out there than a .223 for medium sized game. The .223 was and still is a great varmint round. In the hands of a good shooter that doesn't get "buck fever" it will do the job at close range. Personally, I like to pull the trigger and see a white belly laying on the ground. If I have to follow a blood trail I feel like I "screwed up" somewhere.
 
I mainly hunt with a 308, I have since I was about 13 or so, but I thought about using a 223 just to try something a little different. Most of my shots are within 50 yds.
 
beamernc said:
Why not just go ahead and sight in the 270 and use ear plugs/ear muffs? Sounds like if you use the .223/5.56, you will need to sight it in and the same if you borrow a rifle.

That way you are getting used to the rifle you plan to use going forward.
Click to expand...
Ended up just going to zero my deer rifle. Figured I could get a reasonable zero for shorter range hunting without too many more shots than I’d take to zero with the suppressor. So I can hunt now and should be on paper when I mount the suppressor later. Thanks all.
 
thaifighter said:
Or go with 300BO, that's what I currently hunt with on a can and I have yet to have a deer get up and complain...

I would look at a very solidly constructed, bonded bullet for the .223 if that's the way you go. Shot placement will be key...

That said, I have a buddy up in British Columbia that uses nothing but 25-06 with 115gr partitions on moose, elk and deer. If he's lost an animal in the last 15 years we've known one another, he hasn't told me about it...

and he would...
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Goal is to use a rifle I have, not looking for excuses for new guns (at least not currently!)
 
mellocollins said:
Why? Take the break off the 270 and go hunt.
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It’s on there with rocksett (had to cut the barrel / get it threaded, so the gunsmith who did the threading installed the muzzle device too). So I could take it off but I don’t want to add more work for myself. Waiting for the form 4 approval is bad enough already!
 
dct said:
Ended up just going to zero my deer rifle. Figured I could get a reasonable zero for shorter range hunting without too many more shots than I’d take to zero with the suppressor. So I can hunt now and should be on paper when I mount the suppressor later. Thanks all.
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Shot a buck with this rifle tonight. My biggest buck ever: small 6 point (with tiny brow tines so an 8 pointer if you are _very_ generous). Also a bigger body than any deer I’ve gotten, which is good from a “meat in the freezer” perspective but less good from a “load it in the back of my Outback by myself” perspective. Anyway, rifle worked, plenty of muzzle flash. The shot was only 20 yards, so probably could have used a 223/556 but no complaints. Although I am getting antsy to try it suppressed now…
 
phideux said:
and mostly, where you put that bullet.
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Absolutely. I think of the bullet as "forgiveness", meaning a Silvertip on the shoulder( aiming just behind it) might be problematic. A Barnes in the same spot just won't give a F.
 
We shoot them with plain old win 223 55g soft points and 222 50g soft points. 10 drt from 50 to 125 yards shot in the boiler room. Have had broadside exits and recovered bullets on 2 with front to rear shots, both times bullets came to rest back by the hams. Another Texas heart shot, dead in 30 yds. Monometal is fine, so is cup and core. Use what you can hit with.
 
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