... a 223 with the proper bullet is an excellent deer round.
I certainly concede that a .223 is "adequate," especially within a reasonable distance. But "excellent" means that it excels or is superior to most others. I wouldn't go that far, personally. I have killed deer with 10mm pistols, when that's all I had with me, but I would prefer to shoot one with a .223, which has about a third more energy than the 10mm loads I shoot. I live on 5 acres and sometimes just hunt my backyard. When I grab an AR for that purpose, I always grab my AR10 and not my AR15. The .308 is just way better with no downside. If I only had my AR15, I would use it without reservation. But the .308 recoil is nothing to me. If I was shooting hundreds of deer and was in terrible financial shape, I could see using a .223, but that's not because it excels, but because it likely would do the job in most circumstances. It's adequate.
