Bear Wallow

From experience have any of you used a .223 for mule deer, and what were the results?

Shootstuff4570

i dont hunt mule deer, but i'd think it might be a small round for em. idk, not really sure.

Tall Pine

I would say that is too small, of coarse a well placed bullet in the boiler roomiswhat makes them drop to their knees!!

hillbillyhunter1

although they may have been killed with a .223. It is generally NOT enough for mule deer. They're generally more big bodied animals then whitetail ( .223 for whitetail is marginal at best under a range of circumstances). Plus you have to figure that there may be some distance on an average shot for mulies. After a couple hundred yards the .223 doens't have enough power to be adequate (unless you're a marine sniper).

6mm would be at the bottom for mulies, imo,but it would be adequate for shorter range stuff.

If the .223 is all you got, borrow from a friend. If you have a choice of guns then use something like .270, .25-06(at least).

bpjeep

i would agree with statements above, thinkn a .223 is lil small for mule deer. I shot a mulie out close to 300+ somethin with a .270 130grain and it still had enough to go completely through it.

JagMagMan

Personally, I'd say the .22's are a little small, even for Whitetails! Much less Mulies!

skeeter 7MM

Agreed .22's are to small for any deer IMHO. Will work if everything goes right but if things don't O BOY.

North Texan

I know of mule deer that have been killed with .22 magnums. So it's not that the .223 won'tkill them, but if you've got access to something bigger, I'd suggest going with something bigger. A .25-06 or something similar would be a much better choice.

If for some reason you do use the .223, make sure you are using a premium game bullet and not a varmint bullet.

cardeer

a bit small,unless you are using a 30 round clip and put all rounds in the head.that will stop it.In Texas semi autos are legal. I shot a whitetail with my mini 14 in the head with a burst of 30 rounds

gregholland

I have killed 2 Mule Deer with .223 rifles. They work just fine.