zrexpilot

I find that hard to believe, I went to their web site and this is what I found



It is unlawful to:
[ul]buy, sell or offer for sale a deer, bear, moose or any part thereof, other than the head, hide or feet;
take more than one bear in a calendar year;
hunt or take moose without a special moose permit;
kill any deer with antlers less than 3 inches during the ANTLERED-ONLY deer season;
possess a deer or bear that hasn't been properly tagged;
possess a detached deer or bear tag. Upon killing a deer or bear, the tag shall be filled out and immediately attached to the deer or bear;
assist another in taking a deer or bear after you have taken one, unless you possess a valid unused tag;
tag, steal, take or carry away a deer, moose or bear belonging to another person;
fail to register a deer at the closest registration station within 24 hours of killing;
hunt deer or bear with 1) a .22 caliber rimfire rifle, 2) a single barrel, single shot muzzleloader less than .40 caliber, 3) a bow of less than 40 lbs. pull at 28 inches or less draw, 4) or an arrow without name and address and a fixed blade broadhead less than 7/8 inches wide or more than 1 1/2 inches wide, and 5) birdshot or shot smaller than 00 buckshot;
hunt bear with a shotgun using other than a single projectile;
have more than six persons participate in a drive to take deer;
hunt deer or bear on islands, or in the water of any lake or pond in the state;
use telemetry equipment from 1/2 hour before sunrise through 1/2 hour after sunset to locate, trail or tree hounds while in a motorized vehicle or within 300 feet as measured from the center [/ul]

BigTiny

Didn't you just love the M14? There was a base out west (which shall remain nameless lest they get protested by peta) where you could check one out just to shoot prairie dogs. They gave you as much ammo as you wanted. It is still one of the best times I have had with a rifle.

oldsmellhound

I would buy some 60 grain Nosler Partitions, or if you want, some heavier 75 or 77 grain hollowpoints and see what shoots the best. Have your wife practice with it until she feels comfortable. Then when hunting, limit your shots to 75 yards or so and make sure it is a broadside shot. She should do fine- .223 is a popular round in many states for deer. It's gotten a bad rap because people use improper bullets (i.e. FMJ bullets or lightweight hollowpoints) or take bad shots (i.e. long shots, or difficult angles). Used within its limitations, it can harvest deer just fine.

CBM SC

I bought my son a .223 to start him off deer hunting with. He just turned 7 and has not had a crack at one yet.............I however have shot3 with it over the last couple of years just to make sure he will not have problems when the time comes. I have chose "not" to take head or neck shots because I wanted real world results based on telling him to shoot behind the shoulder . I let a buddy borrow the gun and he killed one with it also .

All 4 deer I have killed have went down easily. Thebig doe he shotwas hit in the shoulder at 125 yrds and dropped on the shot DRT(60 grn Nosler partition). I shot one through the lungs that went 30 yrds(60 grn NP), another that went 60 yrds(60 grn NP), and shot one about 2 weeks agothrough the heart with a WIn. 64 grain poer point that went25-30 yrds !Some blead good.........but I would counton weak bloodtrails with a .223 !However.........from whatI have seen it's very effective on lung shots under 150 yrds !

Alpha Capo

why anyone takes head/neck shots is beyond me....
you hit the neck wrong and the damn thing will run for days....
and a head shot is stupid because anything can happen(miss) ....

do the smart thing
.223 is fine with a vital shot...not sure about Yardage....that depends on the ammo used..
going to a bigger round doesnt hurt either....but nothing is wrong with a .223 Deer arent Bulletproof...it will get the job done

i know i dont want to be shot by one(.223).

Palladin8

What is the twist rate of the Rifle? If it is a faster twist 1:9, 1:8, or 1:7 I would suggest a heavier bullet in the 70 -77 grain range. If it is a slower twist rifle then the heavier bullets will not stabalize and you will be limited to nothing over 55-62gr bullets. I would suggest a soft point and stay away from the hollow points because they were designed more for varmit hunting and not larger deer size game.

loanstarhunter

I just purchased a NEF .223 for my 10 year old. I have shot several boxes of shells through it and have some issues I would like somehelp with.

For those of you who do approve of shooting .223 for deer, what is the max effective range you would shoot?

I ask this question because, of the many rounds i have shot, I am having a very difficult time getting a good group at 100 yards. In fact, I am not sure I could even call them a "group".

Is 100 to far for this short barreled, single shot, simmons ATEC 2.8-10 x 44mm?
I have been shooting Rem. 55 PSP trying to getdecent groups before I spend the big money on heavier loads.

I have been told that this type of gun is not going to produce any better than a 2 or 3 inch group at 100yards.

[email protected]

This season I'll primarily be using two rifles, a Savage model 25 Classic in 223 and a Marlin 1895 in 45/70.
The reason is that I love both of them and neither have let me down before.
As for bullets for deer hunting with the 223 my choices are the Sierra 65 gr game king which was designed for deer size game and the Speer 70 gr simi spitzer which I have killed several deer with.
In answer to the replies that insist that the 223 is to light for deer, either you are using the wrong bullets or you can't or don't hit the vitals, or maybe you haven't even tried it and are just arm chair quaterbacking!
I only use the 223 when hunting from a stand or over a green field because bullet placement is critical, if in doubt I'll opt for more gun.
Here we can and do hunt with dogs from Nov22- Jan15, so this is where I use the 45/70 as it will reach the vitals from any angle.
As for the usable range for the 223, 250-300 yds is no problem if you're up to placing your shot at that range.

Briman

I'm going to try to bag a deer with Service Rifle AR this year after reading this thread. I picked up a box of 60gr nosler partitions friday night, loaded them up using my mid-range match load of 24.7gr of Varget in Winchester brass (I figured it'd be plenty safe as I use the same load with a 75gr A-Max). Not nearly as accurate as shooting SMKs, A-MAXs', or Bergers but still submoa and the maximum shot distance that I'm even able to take in the swamp I hunt in is probably 50 yards.[8D]

I went to sight in with a couple of my coworkers this morning who shoot a 30-06 and a .270. They thought the 'pop' of the .223 sounded sort of weak compared to their boomers-told them that shot placement matters more. We set up a lifesized deer target at 100 yards with a 5" cirlce over the vitals to shoot at standing. I spent some time coaching the guys on shooting standing (in case they ever need to shoot that way), and they took turns blasting, only registering 2 hits out out of 20 or so rounds from standing. I slapped in a mag with my last 7 rounds and plop, plop, plop,plop,plop,plop,plop peppered the inner 1/2 or so of the circle with holes. They asked me how I did that and told them that I shoot matches every couple of weeks where the standing 10-ring is about the same diameter but twice as far away.

ipscshooter

Simply untrue. Of the states that allow rifle hunting for deer, NONE of them set .30 as the minimum. In fact, I believe that 38 out of 43 allow .22 CF's... New Hampshire is an "ANY centerfires" State, so you could, legally, use a .17 Remington if you wanted...

As for the M14... Is it still the dominant force at the National Matches? I thought that the .223 AR's had taken over, even in the long range matches.