Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Have you used the .223 for deer/antelope?

Well...if its legal, and considered ethical for deer and antelope, how would it be for elk? Or maybe some of those exotics down in Texas?

While I have a .223 Rem I would never use it. Use Enough Gun. Let me ask you do you use a tack hammer to drive spikes ? Not saying you can't do it, but there are better choices.

Sheer profundity.

There is a lot more that separates deer from elk. besides size....... Size is the lesser of them. To me cost is the biggest issue.

It costs me locally less than a "C" note to hunt deer and I get to kill two of them. Their numbers are high and a nuisance on the roads. This is not at all the case with elk where I hunt them. The absolute minimum cost to me to hunt elk is $2,000 and that's for a cow tag. Further the distance of shots taken while elk hunting is more than 250 yards. IMO that's beyond the range of the .223..

If one chooses to hunt elk with a .223 have at it.......it's your money...you bought the tag, paid the trespass fee, drove the 1,000 miles each way and it seems to me that it's YOUR call as to what cartridge to use.....bear in mind that bow hunting is also a favorite sport on that ranch....but we don't challenge the "ethics" of that use do we?

As to me the gun I used in 2017 for deer was a .264 Win Mag and the gun I used for elk hunting was a .300 H&H.....I consider that "using enough gun"!

I've given the issue of "ethics" a goodly amount of thought over the years and it always boils down to this....."ethics" is a criteria we impose upon ourselves.....If it's so important t will become law and be imposed on all of us.

Lets not impose our ethics on each other.....one might just decide that bow hunting is unethical.....

Leopard Man hath spoken, and the truth be his..... Brother Maynard, bring forth the Holy hand grenade of Antioch....

Yes, just a few days ago. First deer I've ever taken with a .223.

I was calling for coyotes when I saw a doe. Though not specifically deer hunting, I had a doe tag in my pocket. She was 70 yards, slightly quartering away. The shot went in the rear ribs, exited and hit her elbow, almost severing the leg. It was like one of those magical JFK bullets.

She made a jump and then a 20 yard stutter-step run before dropping dead.

That was with a Hornday 55 grain soft point.

Would I use a .223 were I hunting a B&C buck? Probably not. But for a target of opportunity, it'll do the job.

That sounds more better, and cooler than even The Hammer of Thor!

LOL. My hunting buddy's grandson has been killing deer with grandpa's AR for 3 or 4 years now; well actually he claims it as his AR now. The biggest buck was 180 or so on the hoof. I think the young fella is 11 now, don't try to tell him a .223 isn't enough.


Oh, this last season he said he wanted grandpa's 06 now. I cracked up.

I'm still trying to figure out where I tried to impose any ethics on anybody...

But I can sure do that if you'd like...but I'm not a democrat.

I know a couple of young Alaskans who've taken plenty of big game, including moose and grizzly, with their .223's. They're kind of puzzled when people say it isn't enough.

Thank you for the go ahead to use my 223 😂😂😂

I haven't figured out a way to kill deer more dead but apparently it can be done


Trystan

It has worked fine for me, even on good sized bucks.

Whenever these.223 for deer threads pop up, I always wonder what criteria is used to determine what is (or is not) an adequate cartridge for killing deer. I wish some of the naysayers would fill in those of us who have no problem killing deer and stuff with.223’s why they feel said cartridge (or similar) is not adequate.

I had never used a 223 to take big game before and was not a fan of trying it. I am not a big fan of Barnes bullets, had horrific results with the original X bullets!!!!!!
Last fall I had a Mule Deer hunt where the DNR begged me to use mono bullets to save the F'n Condors. didn't want to use one of my custom barreled rifles with the vile Barnes so I used my 223 with the 62gr TTSX................One shot and was obvious it was dead before it hit the ground, worked much better than I expected.

62 gr soft point in my CZ 527 has been a real gem on hogs, deer and others. I've been sold for the last 10 years on the killing power of the 223 in a good bolt gun..............

Razorhog

+1.It's very unethical and unsporting. A man should at least be able to handle a 22-250 so he can make clean kills.

I used an AR to take one whitetail doe. She didn't go 10 yards.

It works, I've done it a lot, but then came a day that I got into a situation where I wished I was packing something bigger.

there are a lot of deer shot with a 223 ,mostly by sharp shooters at night in cities that feel they need to control deer population without the use of public hunters. its kinda a dirty little secret being done they usally start on sunday night about 10;30 pm - 5;30am thru Thursday and always at night when most of the public are sleeping.,sharp shooters shoot all deer in the head when possible,all meat is givin too food shelf ,horns go to the states DNR.

Pete- you have struck Internet gold with this comment. I look forward to some inner city nightime deer hunting with some of those nameless sharpshooters. Of course since its a dirty little secret I bet its hard to get invited:)