podunk kennels

Oh boy BC that ones loaded. If I had to say Id go with the .223 just because archery isnt one of my strong suits. An FMJ in the melon is definitely lethal.

halfbakedi420

not to mention, aint that what the troops are usin over there? hollow points im sure

podunk kennels

Big Country, I really like your point if its what I believe it is, took me a second look for it to sink in. Even the most dimunitive firearm is still an advance from more primitive technology like archery. Too many hunters forget that deer were killed with far more crude tools.

bigcountry

Your correct, it is a loaded question. I 95% hunt archery and am successful and I believe ethical. But I have other guns than a 223 for deer hunting. . But a M193 FMJ 55gr round would rip thru both shoulders like butter. An 855 would rip thru a deer lengthwise.

Now if you was to change this question to not a 223 but 22LR with remington plinker ammo, I would pick the bow all day, and twice on Sunday.

A 30yard neck shot even with varmit bullets is devastating. I have seen it, but still ain't going to use a 223.

Gunplummer

What about a good old fashioned pointed soft point, like a Remington Corlokt? I have a .22 Savage HI-Power and use 70 grain psp bullets on deer. Works O.K. and is loaded way under a standard .223 factory round. I never shot a deer over a hundred yards with it, and am not sure it would be a good idea, but out to a hundred yards the psp bullets work fine.

Edcyclopedia

Would you take a 2" bladed knife into a knife fight???

Sure it would kill if perfectly sliced.
But as Crocadile Dundee says, as he pulls out his Bowie knife, "now that's a knife"!!!

BarnesX.308

Indeed it was. The quartering-to shoulder shot on the 300lb deer was suppose to be the give away

I wouldn't count on that. Those fast, frangible bullets will probably produce a lot more bloodshot meat. He'd be better off sticking with the 30-06 and using a heavier, slower bullet.

podunk kennels

My .270 win tears up much more meat than my .50 caliber muzzleloader. Most of the time with the smokepole you can eat right up to the hole if someone shoulder shoots them. Bullet diameter has nothing to do with meat damage. Velocity and bullet construction are the factors involved.

elite82

through out history, i have heard of people taking a whitetail with a .22 long rifle. a well placed shot will take down anything permitted you are with in range.

with that said, i started out hunting whitetails with a .243.. not too bad, but i got far more kills faster with less tracking as soon as i went to a .30-06, and honestly, even more yet when i switched to a .308

today, I have four deer guns.. and i love them all:

modern day winchester model 94 .30-30 (for in the brush)
Remington model 700 BDL in .30-06 (for more or less everything)
Browning A-bolt stalker in .308 (favorite gun)
Tikka T3 hunter in 7mm rem. mag. (for hunting on the power lines and open fields)

if i cant take.... anything in north america with one of those four, really, i dont belong out in the woods.

a .223 will do the job, not recommended, but legal in many states to do so. i wouldnt, but thats me. .243 for me would be a very minimum.

the .25-06, .260, and calibers like that are better suited for white tails.

they are considered "varmints" in their literal sense, but they are BIG varmints. they are not woodchucks, ground hogs, or prairie dogs. they are many times bigger.

elite82

controlled expansion. thats what is needed here. i use winchester power points in all four of my guns (175gr. in the 7mm, 165gr. in the .30-06, 150gr. in the .308, and 175gr. in the .30-30) never a problem. they mushroom out nice, usually always get an exit channel, and they bleed out if nothing else.

too many people use bonded bullets, like nosler partitions and trophy bonded. not a good choice.

something with a thin jacket and lead exposed at the tip, so it mushrooms out, NOT fragments. (save that ammo for on the streets taking care of other varmen LOL)

nosler ballistic tips are useless too, in my opinion. they either go in and explode half way through, or go right through and do nothing but ender and exit the same diameter. myself, and my grandfather have had the same experience with these bullets and will never use them again.