Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .223 vs 250 Savage?

How many deer have you killed with the 223?

I have no personal experience with the 223 on deer, but my vote would be for, "The spiteful crack of the 250-3000". - Jim Bashline.

250 Savage hands down unless your shooting dog size deer.

That depends where you hunt in Pa. .There are areas in the Allegheny National Forest where deer probably have never seen a human ....I shot a buck and a doe this year on public land (missed a buck clean in bow season) and during the whole season only saw two other hunters in the field and one coming down a road in his truck.

Both work well on deer. I would use premium bullets in both and break the shoulders when possible

Really depends on how well that 100gr CoreLokt matches the .250. A person would have to have actually used both plenty of times to answer. 6.5G looks like .250 Sav on paper. 6.5G is definitely better than .223 for blood trails, but it's not using the same bullets.

I would not use premium bullets in the .223. 62gr Fusion makes a nice exit hole that lets the blood out down the trail and holds up plenty well for high shoulder shots.

Now put that .250-3000 in a good bolt action with decent glass. Shoot it enough to know it...it becomes a no-brainer. Even with 100 gr corelokts fine, but load it with 100 grain Partitions or maybe better—Accubonds and you have a deer rifle hard to beat.

I would not hesitate to whack any size Whitetail with a 250-3000. 87 grain Speer HotCor.

Seems like a pretty easy choice(250 Savage), but these days everything starts an argument.

Nice shot roundoak. I assume that's the exit. How far away was that buck?

That is the exit and he was about 100 yards away quartering towards me.

I like both of them, but feel I need to be more selective on shot placement with the 223. As one who read Larry Koller's "Shots at White Tail" in my formative and impressionable years and at least twice since I have to say it just feels good to hunt the "buck skins" with a 250-3000. I have only used it in the 99 but that is another classic too. I always wanted a diminutive bolt gun in 250 or 250 AI with a shorter barrel and a Stutzen full length stock, that would be a class act. I think Paul Petzoldt had one or a 257 Roberts done up this way.

For larger PA deer hands down the 250 for effectiveness, nostalgia and class.

Several. Don’t count anymore. You?

Well, lookie there.
I never seem to read where anyone from the northern part of the US (and Canada) frets the need to "cartridge-up" to shoot big deer.

Quite a few. And have had zero rodeos of any sort. I doubt you could tell which cartridge was used if you watched 100 deer shot with both randomly. And none of the deer I've shot with a 223 have gone as far as deer I've shot with 25 cals. I know there's a bunch of factors involved in that, but there it is.

250

It would make no difference to me.

Your understanding of Pa Deer hunting is wrong. It is relatively easy to go days and not see another hunter if one hunts the big woods.

Get lost in "them woods" and your "understanding" will take a wicked turn for the worst....PA is about 75% woods, some near urban areas, but the National Forest land as well as Northern tier counties like Potter (God's Country), Tioga, Cameron, etc. has some remote woods.

.250 because it's cool.