There are about 11.4 million whitetail deer hunters in the United States. More specifically, there are about 9.4 million people who hunt deer with both gun and bow, and an additional 2 million who hunt deer only with bow (that includes all archery). If you are a casual reader, do not misread these numbers. I’m going to get geeky here, so keep reading for more specific numbers.
One of the most common, uneducated comments we hear these days are when folks say something like, “You don’t hunt deer with an AR. It destroys the meat.”
Sound the gong. WRONG.
I know she didn’t type it, but she certainly implied it. AR doesn’t stand for “assault rifle.” It stands for Armalite Rifle, after the company that made the firearms popular. But I digress. The most common AR platforms for deer hunting are .223 caliber. They are excellent choices for when you’re hunting deer at, say, 150 yards or less. If you want to shoot longer distances, you’re going to go with “more gun” in terms of distance and terminal performance. If you want to “destroy the meat” (which of course nobody does), you’re certainly not using an AR.
Of the 9.4 million gun-deer hunters, more than 2.3 million American deer hunters go afield each year with an MR-15 rifle or other similar modern sporting rifle when pursuing white-tailed deer. According to the NSSF, the term “modern sporting rifle,” aka MSR, was coined to describe today’s very popular semi-automatic rifle designs, including the AR-15 and similar variants. These rifles are used by hunters, competitors, millions of Americans seeking home-defense guns and many others who simply enjoy going to the range.
There are options, but the .223 Rem. is a clear-cut favorite caliber among deer hunters who use MR-15s and other MSRs. And, contrary to popular opinion among nonhunters, the AR-15 does not inflict massive damage. In fact, it’s a pipsqueak when compared to venerable whitetail loads such as the .30-06 Spgfd, .308 Win., or even the vogue 6.5 Creedmoor.
Muzzle velocities and energy comparisons vary depending on load specifications. On the three examples shown in the photo included with this blog post, the Hornady load led the pack with a M/V of 3,465 feet per second. The Federal load came in at 2,825 fps, and the Remington load registered at 2,930 fps. However, the .30-06 load was pushing a 150-grain Core-Lokt bullet, and the Federal load featured a 130-grain Barnes bullet. The Hornady Superformance was loaded with a light, 63-grain V-Max. That’s a good load, as are options like the Federal Trophy Copper, Nosler Partition, or Hornady’s American Whitetail.
For more information on calibers and hunting preferences of gun-hunting whitetail hunters, click here.
