Deer hunting with a .223
 

i recently bought an ar15.....was thinking of taking it deer hunting. it is legal in alabama with "mushrooming" ammo. thoughts on this....??? if you feel its ok, recommendations on ammo and grain weight......thanks in advance. also, i currently deer hunt with a 270. im just searching for advice, not looking to upset anyone.

Use the 270. Keep the 223 for the varmints.

Thoughts on the matter are a little further down the page in the thread "223 HPBT Reliability"

I would summarize my experience with 223 again, but would run the risk of being called a troll by fellas with differing opinions, so I'll just let you read them there.

As far as ammo goes, I've been fine with 75 and 69 grain HP, in whichever brand you shoot tightest, but know guys who use 55 with no noticeable difference.

Use enough gun! If you want to play around punch paper, don't experiment on animals!

I'd never use a semi-automatic rifle on deer
 

With five shots in a deer, one of them surely would be in a bad place. The guts.

Since I butcher a deer myself, I take great pains to miss the guts with my one shot.

i shot a coues deer with a bolt action weatherby .223 a few years ago with 55 gr. barnes bullet and it piled that deer in a heap.and it didn't destroy any meat not that there is much to begin with. a 55 gr barnes bullet is plenty of gun for a whitetail or mule deer you have to put it in the boiler room as with any shot. i talked to the folks at barnes and they told me out to 300 yards you should be good!

they make several .224 bullets designed for deer hunting, the Winchester 64 gr power point, the 60 gr. nosler partition, and the 55 gr fed. trophy bonded, they will work for deer. all totaled I've taken over 100 with a 223, it works, not the best but it is adequate.
RR

I killed my first Deer, A 10 point, with a single shot .223

It killed him, dropped in his tracks. But it is not something I would suggest. I was real little was why I used it.

It turns out the bullet hit him in the shoulder & broke in two.
1 half stuck in the shoulder, the other broke through a Rib, punctured a lung, And lodged in his spine. Otherwise there might have been a different outcome.

Stick with the 270....

+1

Right tool for the right job !