I have a weblog (see my signature) in which I reported fairly early that Indiana had changed its rules for 2015. As a result, Hoosiers have been hammering my weblog for months looking for info on the rule change as well as looking for help picking new deer rifles.
In the feedback I get, the response to the rule change has been about 3:1 in favor, but the opposition has some pretty far out objections.
1) It will ruin private land hunting, because no IN farmer wants centerfire rifle on his place. It will increase the number of No Trespassing signs.
2) The land is too flat. It will be a circular firing squad.
3) Shotguns are safer to operate.
4) It is destroying a tradition.
5) It will kill all the deer
etc.
The funny thing is that I'm a Buckeye that does 100% of his hunting in KY. I really don't have a huge stake in this, but I get a whole lot of flak.
In regards to this whole .223 vs. 243 vs. . . thing: I hunt KY, where .223 is legal-- so is .25 ACP for that matter. Truth is there is not enough interest in .223 to make it a big deal. The guys who shoot .223 REM at deer seem to know what they're doing. They guys who complain about it are all talking hypothetical armchair schoolmarmisms. They don't do it, so no one else should be allowed, blah, blah.
I started a .223 REM-for-deer project about 15 years ago, and frankly I enjoy my ought-sixes so much that I keep forgetting to finish it off. If I ever decide to do it for real, I'm certain from the writings of the folks on this august forum and elsewhere that it will work just fine.
Bottom line: Shotgun-only is wrong. Pistol-Caliber-only is wrong. Any proscription on centerfire chamberings is wrong, and the sooner we do away with them the better.
