Ok I got to thinking about why a .223 isn' t considerd enough gun for whitetail deer and did a few calculations on bullet energy and big game animals. What I came up with is pretty interesting. Looking at these numbers why do we need so much bullet weight and energy to kill a whitetail deer? The 223 produces more weight per pound and energy per pound than any of the other cartriges. This is assuming that you use a properly constructed bullet in the 223. What makes a cape buffalo so much easier to kill than a whitetail.

This is how I got these figures:
weight of bullet divided by weight of animal = grains per pound of animal

grain per pound of animal (velocity squared)
_____________________________________ = foot pounds per pound of animal
450400



2000# cape buffalo, 416 Rigby, 400 gr bullet @ 2400 fps. = .2 gr of bullet per pound of animal and 2.56 ftlbs per pound of animal

1200# moose, 338 win mag, 225 gr bullet @ 2750 fps. = .188 gr of bullet per pound of animal and 3.15 ftlbs per pound of animal

600# elk, 300 win mag, 180 gr bullet @ 2900 fps.= .277 gr of bullet per pound of animal and 5.17 ftlbs per pound of animal

150# whitetail. 270 win, 130 gr bullet @ 3000 fps. = .867 gr of bullet per pound of animal and 17.32 ftlbs per pound of animal

150# whitetail, 223 rem, 70 gr bullet @ 2900 fps. = .467 gr of bullet per pound of animal and 8.71 ftlbs per pound of animal.

The answer is no. I will say that a larger bullet with more energy will kill them faster and that is why larger calibers are used. I have tracked many animals (to far) shot with smaller calibers. I lost some and found some. I could not tell if it was because of not enough gun or not enough shooter. I own a 7mm Rem. Mag. and have never had one run more than 10' . I " probably" could have shot them with a 223 and have the same results, but I personally would not chance it nomatter what the numbers say. I shoot a 150 gr bullet and feel a 70 gr is to light to shoot at that size animal.
To the best of my knowledge the 223 cartridge was designed for the military to wound people so it would take two other soldiers to drag the wounded person. This would take three people out of action instead of one.

Yes I know that the bigger the bullet the faster it will die. To get the same numbers on a 2000# cape buffalo that your 7mm mag would have on a 150# whitetail you would need a 1866 grain bullet traveling at 3000 fps. That would give a muzzle energy figure of 37,286 foot pounds.

Your thinking to much

I know someone that uses a .223 for deer. They had venison this year!
ACCURACY IS WHAT IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO!!

i have used a 223 and i had an uncle and his friend both use a 223 this yr. in fact his doe he shot droped faster than the buck i shot with my 30-06 with 165 grain. i hit in the just behind the heart. he hit the heart. droped the deer my buck ran(or should i say stumbled) 5-10 yrds. like pahunter86 said just depends on the accuracy

I know someone who shot a deer with a .223 the deer was still alive after the two hours we spent tracking it. My friend shot it with my 7mm and killed it. When i looked at the body the 223 shot went through both lungs and hit the side of the heart. I would have to say that the bigger the calibur the better. I use a 30-06 Rem. and I havent had any problems.

I used a 222 for my first deer rifle and the biggest whitetail I have to date fell to that caliber. Lost a few deer too!

The flaw in your logic is that the total weight of the animal in question has little to do with how much force it takes to bring it down. The thickness of the hide, muscle, rib bones, shoulder bones, overall anatomy, etc controls what it takes to make a clean kill.

As anyone that has used a 222/223 for deer hunting will tell you: it is an adequate caliber for limited range and perfect double lung heart shots. It is inadquate or marginal in most of our hands. It is certainly inadquate for me.

Bigbulls, if you have this much time on your hands could you stop over to my house and clean my garage out?

I know, I' m not working right now. About to start attending Colorado School of Trades so I have too much time right now. I did manage to get out and catch the first trout of the season today. [:-] I' ll pay for it tomorow when I can' t walk. Sorry I just got done cleaning mine out a couple of days ago. One' s enough for right now.