First off, I want to humbly admit to myself, to Ingwe, and to all of you that another deer season has gone by without my shooting a deer with a 223 REM. I've got three rifles all sighted in. I have 50 rounds each loaded for the task, but I just didn't.
I think I first started becoming 223 REM-curious in 2000, back when I was on shooters.com. At the time, I was trying to figure out how to come up with a good round for my Mini-14. The idea was that most of my stands were still for bowhunting, and a 223 REM inside 80 yards would be a slam dunk.
Two 223 Rem rifles later, I'm still at the edge of the precipice refusing to step off.
There are a couple of things left standing in my way. The first of these is my habit of acquiring deer rifles. I keep finding new projects for myself, and I never let myself settle down and finish everything off. This year, I got one of my long-hanging projects completed, having taken a buck with The Mauser From Hell. There was no doubt 8X57 would take a deer. The problem was the particular rifle. There's this whole stack of deer rifles on the rack right now begging for my attention. You could almost say I've filled my rack with deer rifles to keep from using 223 REM.
The second problem goes back to the very beginning of my shooting and hunting experience. Back then, I was under the tutelage of some very fine hunters and shooters and they turned me on to 30-06. Once you have a 30-06 on the rack, it's always hard to keep from using it. At one time, I used a 30-06 for everything. 223 REM was the first centerfire rifle chambering I acquired that wasn't a 30-06. I've shot groundhogs with 30-06. I've shot coyote with it. It does such a good job on anything, you'd wonder why I didn't just stop there.
The timing of our deer season here in Kentucky is such that we usually have good weather for the first week or so, but it nearly always turns cold towards the last weekend. By then, I'm usually hunting for the freezer. My buck tag is already filled. I'm pretty much done with the sport of it all. This should always be a good time to bring out the new stuff. This should be the moment when I work a new chambering into the mix. For a decade, I used a 35 Whelen on that last weekend. I finally went back to 30-06 just a few years ago. I can only blame a lack of character and strength. The most 223 REM has gotten is a couple trips to deer camp as the backup.
