A good deer round

[Deadeye]

Kind of interesting the different results we all have with basically the same things. Personally, we've had much better blood trails with the .223 round than with the .308. Both kill just fine, just harder to track when they don't bleed with the .308. With that said we mostly bow hunt and have a pretty small sample size with rifle rounds. I don't discredit anything anyone has posted here as I'm 100% sure you all are honest and just sharing your experience. For all I know our experience may take a complete 180 in the next couple of years. Just interesting how different people have different experiences.

Great Points.

I'll add something else to the Thoughts: Bullet Type.

I bought a .243 and then also bought my middle Daughter (the only one interested in hunting) one for her for Christmas one year. Opening Morning and 8-point Buck trotted right up to the Rock we were standing on and stood there at 25 Broadside. I told her to "shoot" and she froze. I mean like Buck Fever Froze. I held until my arms were starting to hurt and the gun was weaving. Seeing the Buck starting to get nervous, I shot it. Due to all the weaving I shot i a little far back and hit the Liver.

It jumped then walked about 20 yards or so (was still about 25 yards away) and stopped again. I told her again to Shoot and she did. She was weaving worse than I was and she hit it in the guts. The Buck really never acted like it was shot and ran off to about 75 yards and stopped again. Knowing there were a LOT of guys hunting this piece of woods I shot it again on a quartering away shot and it ran about 50 yards and dropped.

Now here is where it got interesting. We were using Remington Core-Loks. I had always shot them and killed a lot of deer with them. As we approached the Deer I could see it was still alive and just as we got there, here came another guy from the Camp we were part of and said "thanks for finishing my deer". He claimed he had shot it and it dropped then took off. He had his young Daughter with him and I didn't want two young girls to see us arguing over the Deer so I left him have it. Later he tried to give it to her (after the other guys at Camp got on him about it and especially when it was found all he did was graze it) but I told him NO he had taken the best part of her first deer away from her that that was something she would never get back. Anyway, NONE of those .243 Rounds EVER EXPANDED, they punched right through.

I almost quit using it due to that. Then a guy where I was working asked me why and then I must be using the wrong Bullet. He loading me some up and after that the Blood Trails looked like someone used a watering can and was dropping blood everywhere .I now use the Winchester PSP (their soft lead tip is just like his handloads were) and they give me great Blood Trails.

I've even switched to them in my 30.06 and the last Buck I shot dropped within 30 yards and his heart and lungs were exploded.

So long post I know, but the point of it was the Bullet Type can make all the difference. A softer quicker expanding Bullet should give better Blood Trails than a thicker to the point Bullet that doesn't expand as quickly.

 

[stonegraham]

Kind of interesting the different results we all have with basically the same things. Personally, we've had much better blood trails with the .223 round than with the .308. Both kill just fine, just harder to track when they don't bleed with the .308. With that said we mostly bow hunt and have a pretty small sample size with rifle rounds. I don't discredit anything anyone has posted here as I'm 100% sure you all are honest and just sharing your experience. For all I know our experience may take a complete 180 in the next couple of years. Just interesting how different people have different experiences.

you right, i love the way you express you opinion while not disrecpecting others

 

[Mennoniteman]

I have a friend who mostly archery hunts for whitetails, when he does rifle hunt it's a single shot T/C encore in .223, which he uses with surgical precision, to great effect and success. So the .223 is the perfect weapon for him. However, I wouldn't give one to my junior hunters, for in the hands of an inexperienced hunter with a less than ideal shot placement on a deer, the .223 might lead to a very disappointing hunt, and even be the cause of a young hunter being turned off from the sport due to bad results.
So, IMO, the .223 is a good deer rifle in if used in it's rightful place, but with some definite shot placement limitations, just like archery equipment, that needs to be fully understood by the person using one before they head into the deer woods.

 

[weekender21]

.223 or 5.56 NATO can be effective sure but only in the hands of a very proficient marksman and experienced hunter. Even .243 can be a marginal caliber but as mentioned above, bullet construction is more important than caliber.

Admittedly it’s been 15 years since I rifle hunted. At that time I was hand loading 140 grain Nosler Accubonds for my .270 WSM. I only shot one deer with that combination that took a step after the shot.

I don’t have any plans to shoot a deer with .223 but if I did it would include lots of research and working up a perfect load for the rifle I was shooting.


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