Here we go again
....I am willing to bet most of you posting on this topic is never shot a deer with a .223! So don't knock it! A .223 is a very efficient deer killer with the correct bullet and shot placement.....now tell me shot placement is critical on a .308, .270, or my most hated cartridge the '06. I have used everything. I am a handloader and can tell you if you put a 60 grain Nosler Partion, 70 Grain Speer, several Grain Barnes X bullets, or a 65 Sierra Game King behind the shoulder of a whitetail it is all over! It is going to kill just as fast as any other rifle cartridges you guys say are better. Now my father, uncles, cousins, and myself have did it many times. Never even lost a deer on a bad shot. I live in Va now and it is not legal but I do still hunt West Va a few days a year and when I do I carry my .223. Now if your using factory ammo shoot em in the neck.... I will give you 223 haters that, but if you reload or can get your hands on a "premium" 22 cal deer bullet don't hesitate taking that shot (in the body). I will give you 223 haters one more example....I shot a 10 point 158 lb buck last Friday chasing a doe thru a laurel thicket....I was using my Ruger M77 7x57 aka 7mm Mauser loaded hot with a 139 Hornady Interlock....I saw the size of the deer and antlers saw brown and pulled the trigger....dead deer. I would never had did that with the 223 because shot placement is a lot more critical with a .22 cal deer bullet. By the way contact Nosler, Barnes, or Sierra and the bullets I mentioned above were designed and built for guess what.....deer! Now that my blood pressure has dropped a bit I will say this. If you have the patience to wait on a perfect broadside, quartering to or away, neck or a perfect straight on chest shot you can't go wrong with a .223. But hold on look at the shots I just listed....that is what you should do with any "deer killer cartridge/caliber". Now if you hunt an area like I do that was logged 20 years ago and no clear shots over 20 yards and your lucky to see a deer let alone a buck....go with a rifle....like myself and my 7X57 Mauser. And the bull crap some of you guys saying a 223 is a marginal man killer.....come on and get your head out of your a^&^s. Talk to a Vietnam vet and ask them how there "223" did. If Va ever legalizes .22 cal for deer hunting it will see action on some areas I hunt. My daughter who is 2.5 years old already has a .223 and I will bet anyone her first deer will be taken with a 223 as was my first probably 15 deer!
I did not proof read any of this...please exuse any bad spelling/grammer.