.223

[cullbuck]

Surprising little round. I've got a buddy that buys the Ruger Hawkeye compact rifles for his sons (10 and 9 yrs old) and they have yet to have a deer get away from them when shot, and all but one has been a one-shot kill. One of his sons killed a 150 class 12 pt last year that weighed over 200 lbs. I'm thinking this is a fine combo for young hunters.

[vipermann7]

A .223 will take down a deer just fine, as youve pointed out. I've taken a buck with a .223, high shoulder shot, put him right down. I figure if the military trusts that round for thousands of troops to defend themselves with against human targets possibly wearing body armor, it's good enough to kill a deer. Definitely a shorter range round, I wouldnt try a shot on deer size game at much more than 200 yards, but it does a good job in most hunting scenarios.

[berudd]

This discussion gets worse than a religious debate. If it works for you go for it, if you don't think it will work for you don't go for it. FWIW though I do think that in a combat situation there is more benefit to wounding the enemy than there is in a one shot kill. Wounded consume the time and attention of other combatants. That may have been a consideration in choosing it as a combat round and if so would mean it may not be a great choice for hunting.

[cullbuck]

I wasn't debating anything.........just making an observation. I had no idea this had been debated. I thought it was kinda neat, and a good option for young hunters.

[vipermann7]

Berudd, good point about the wounding vs kill shot for military purposes. Im not a military person, so I wouldnt have thought about that, but its a good point.

[nhdeerchaser]

I know I'm gonna jump into the frying pan, but I thought that when the army chose a cartridge, that one of the conditions that needed to be met was to be able to kill a man at 600 meters.
Hence the tried and true .308 and .30/06.
I would use a .223 on deer. I think that too much is put on horsepower, and not accurate bullet placement. A large caliber rifle, and a bad shot may not equal a recovered animal, where an accurate shot with a lower caliber cartridge can yield very satisfying results. JMHO


Mike