Late to the party and kind of a different response. I don't know which state you're in or where you're hunting so it's hard to give you specific advice although I would not select a 223 for deer hunting. In my state (CA), 22 caliber is not legal for deer hunting but I wouldn't use one by choice anyway. That's JMHO but you did ask for opinions. Perhaps more importantly (at least for me), black bear season starts with deer season so I always buy a bear tag as well as deer tags. In most seasons, maybe a 1/3 of the bears taken are taken while the hunter was deer hunting. Most deer seasons, I at least see a black bear although don't always have a shot. For that reason, I use a 270 Winchester which has worked fine on deer and black bear for me. I don't know if black bear is on the menu with deer hunting in your state or not but it's something to consider.