Back in '02, I shot a doe maybe around 80 lbs, right in the vitals from about 50 yds. The deer dropped and started kicking... it took more than 10 gut wrenching minutes for that deer to stop moving. I was only 12 years old at the time. I didn't know if I should shoot it again, or just wait. The whole time that deer suffered, I suffered. I don't think that a .223 would be an acceptable deer caliber.
That is unless you shoot it in the head or neck...
And that is a whole other "ethics" situation... let's not get started on that.
