My boy shot his first deer with a 223. It was a skipper. He aimed a little high and spined it but it dropped and never went another step. It's not ideal for deer but we had practiced a lot and had good deer rated ammo. I have some family member that also used the 223 for there young ones with excellent success. I am currently considering a Howa mini action in 6.5 Grendel. I just ordered a box of the 6.5mm 85gr Hammer bullets. I can use them in my .260 I don't buy a Grendel. What is holding me back is lack of spare mags for the Howa Mini in that cartridge.
Try a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Grendel instead. I have the Howa Mini in 223, but I don't care for the mag. I also didn't care for the mag that the Ruger Came with, but its an AR mag, unlike the Howa. Tried looking for a Mag for the Ruger, that was polymer, but the factory told me they didn't make any. No one seemed to carry a Polymer mag listed for the 6.5 Grendal chambering.
A Marine vet friend at the range tossed me one of his polymer mags and told me to see if that worked. It worked perfectly right off the bat. I left and went over to Sportsman's Warehouse and bought 5 polymer mags for an AR for $10 each on sale. Ruger's metal mag sucks. An aftermarket polymer mag that will fit an AR works just fine with the 6.5 Grendal rounds.
The two deer I have taken ( we're only allowed ONE a season in Oregon ) were with a 129 SP Hornady and the other with a 140 grain Speer SP. One at a little over 100yds and the other right about 200 yds.
