Im curious, how many of you have used a 223 rem on deer or hogs
 

Im curious, how many of you have used a 223 rem on deer & hogs ?
now I have several hunting buddies that have both bolt action rifles and AR15 clones of various types here in Florida,
and admittedly Florida deer tend to be smaller than most, Ive even hand loaded for several of these guys,
currently, the prefered load most are requesting and using,

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010401268?pid=292014


THE HAND LOADS USED BARNES TSX BULLETS OVER 25 GRAINS OF VARGET POWDER,
AND WINCHESTER SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM PRIMERS

Im perfectly happy using my marlin 44 mag lever action or my browning BLR in 358 win,
perhaps I'm old school and just don,t trust a 22 caliber centerfire rifle
but Ive seen the trend (and yes the 223 caliber rifles so loaded does work)
guys fill freezers regularly
the fact is that a well placed shot is lethal, regardless of the case head stamp,
and most deer in the areas we hunt are shot at well under 200 yards.
no matter what your thoughts are on the matter, you can,t ignore results and a good shot can kill a deer with a single 223 bullet.
now Im certain that some people are dead set against allowing the use of semi-auto millitary looking rifles for hunting,
but from what Ive seen theres no (SPRAY AND PRAY) shooting incidents and here in fla your limited to a 5 cartridge capacity magazine.
yes Im fully aware many people think a 243 win is marginal so a 223 rem is absurdly underpowered,
..youll have a hard time convincing the deer and hogs of that from the results I see!
and NO I'm certainly not one of the guys thats about to abandon my 358 WIN BLR for a 223,
but I would certainly not feel I was hopelessly under armed if I carried one either.

No doubt a well placed shot with every caliber from a .223 up will kill a deer. My own preferences is to use something a bit larger but dead is dead.

Something to be said for having a quick second or third or fourth shot or more when hunting Hogs. Hogs hang in packs and that one time in a hundred when they don't run away and decide to attack you'd be glad to have a semi auto rifle. IMO shooting a one and half to two year old (or older) Hog with a .223 is kind of foolish unless you get a perfect shot. Anywhere in the body and they are not going to fall. And the .223 isn't going to leave a big enough hole to bleed much for tracking.
Deer can be taken with a .223, I've taken yearlings with a .222, but wouldn't count on it doing the job on a full grown Deer unless you have a perfect shot.
You really have to ask yourself how many hunters are going to wait for a perfect shot? And secondly how many Hogs or Deer were shot never to be seen again using a small-caliber bullet?
Sure you can fill the freezer, you can also fill the brush with decaying carcases.

A 22 rimfire CAN kill a deer or a hog, that doesn't mean I will use one if I have better medicine, I use either a 30 caliber in .308 or a .45 in 45-70 caliber for both. Sometimes it is a matter less than an inch between a quick death or a slow one, for the animals sake I choose the quick death. I am not enamored with the ,223 for big game, in my opinion it is a varmint caliber, not a big game caliber

.223 is plenty for deer as long as you're using a good hunting bullet design (ie not a varmint bullet) with good shot placement (I think good shot placement is key pretty much regardless of caliber, so...)

I have. Then made the switch to 6.8 to have a little more power. But it works. Shot placement is all it is.

Not with a .23 but I have shot both with a 7mm TCU which is basically a .223 necked up to 7mm. For me a .223 just doesn't have enough bullet weight for big game. I know it will work on perfectly broadside shots but not every shot is a perfect broadside shot and I want at least 100 grs of bullet so I know I can break through bone. I have however shot men with the 5.56 (ballistically identical to the .223) and that would be about the same size as most deer. It caused graphic wounds but not what I want in a hunting round.