crazedbowhunter

I personally thinka 223 is plenty for deer. A couple of years ago i watched as my dad dropped a buck on the first day of rifle season at 150 yards with his 22 hornet! And where did he place the bullet?In the lungs, the buck dropped on the spot, and didnt even kick!That was using a 45gr soft point made by hornady, i am not sure why the buck dropped after being shot where it was with a 22 hornet but it did and suprised me.

harter66

The .224 bullets will do a fine job I've personaly seen 8-9 mulies kille within steps of impact with a 22-250 "old school" with 55gr flatbased sp by speer at about 3100 at the muzzle . I see now that with new loadings the 223 is doing the same . Don't hit a shoulder blade at 200 yrs and you'll have no worries.

fishead

Yes It will kill deer, My kids killed deer with it and I killed deer with that calibur. But You also asked is it humane ? or practile ? Humane yes , but practile thats debateable when you got a 30-06 sitting in the gun cabinet. My personal opinion is like this , when my wife bought a 243 mod 7, the kids killed deer with it why,? bigger cal . when the boys grew up they wanted what I had so they bought 7 mags. It depends on what you want to achieve, if you read enough on this forum you will get different opinions ,but with all the different bullets and caliburs you have so many options. One of my sons and I are also going to buy AR15s this spring, but we will use them on the gun range and varmit hunting. If all I had was a 223 I would be killing deer with it. This is just my opinion after all I'm just a fawn.

SwampCollie

My short concise answer to the original question: Yes it is a viable option, providing you are the right canadate for the job. I have killed litterally truck loads of deer with cartridges smaller in caliber and in energy than a .223 with a 60+ grain bullet. There is no margin for error.

tobyobie1

never shot a .223 ether just shot a .308 thats is the gun use when I go white tail hunting.

retrieverman

Been there; done that. Both my sons started shoot a 223, and it did the job just fine. I have killed a few deer with 223 and 22-250, and both performed perfectly. If you have a 30-06 though, I would definitely stick to shooting deer size game with it. There is just too much margin for error with the 223 or 22-250.

Yooper45

Any 22 caliber center fire cartridges will never be my choice for the taking of any big game animal. I will use the proper caliber, adequate cartridge and bullet selection for the job at hand. If people feel they need to choose such a cartridge because of the low recoil or other such needs I don'tcare. I have been hunting for over 30 years and never had a need to use one unless fox, bobcat or coyote were in my sights.

falcon

Have killed a couple of deer with the .223. Both were short range shots and they bang flopped. Have killed a considerable number of hogs with the .223 and the original USmilitary ball round. When shot low behind the shoulder, they just keel over and die. That little bullet completely comes apart inside a hog and shreds the heart and lungs.

Pavomesa

We rarely encounter anyone whoquestions the effectiveness of the "hot 22s" on deer unless they have little or no experience with these calibers. Those of us who HAVE hunted with them know better. With any sort of heavier bullet, the .223 on up gang of rifles will kill deer as dead and as fast as anything Weatherby ever built. I've seen it too many times to even consider doubting it.

But I know the old beliefs die hard and hunters are traditionally very loyal to their pet calibers and cartridges...which is fine with me. I really don't care what a guy hunts with so long as he is competent with it.

Deer especially are NOT hard to kill. I've seen jackrabbits take much more "killing" than any deer.

TUK101

If it where legal in my state I would surely use one. That is the easiest centerfire rifle in my gun cabinet to shoot accurately on a consistant basis. To me, accuracey is the #1 factor in a humane kill. You could be using a 50BMG and if you dont place the bullet in the right spot you arent going to get a humane kill.