.223 for deer?

canadaman30 said:
Not all provinces allow the use of 223. If it's legal where you hunt, and you have confidence in your gun, go for it. Like others have said use a deer bullit, TSX, CoreLokt, PowerPoint, NoslerPartition, etc., not a varmint bullit. There's countless hunting video's to be seen of Elk, Moose and Black bear being harvestest with a 243 win., and deer with 223 for deer, leaving no doubt over their ability. I'm sure many will disagree, but I'm sure more wounded animals are from people with hard kicking guns that can't handle them and or don't often shoot enough to be proficient with. These are the same guys that crowd out the gun range a week or two before hunt week, fire a couple shots to make sure their "on", and won't be seen till next year the same time, the same guys laughing at "junior" over there, telling him his little gun is no good for deer. Truth be told "junior" is usually the guy with a freezer full of meat. To the OP good luck hunting, and give us some update pics when you harvest one.
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Thanks for the good info. I'll be sure to post some pics around hunting season. I do have larger rifles. But of all the rifles I own I have the most confidence in my scout
 
9Guns said:
... my theory is use a smaller caliber and put it exactly where you want it.
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Any reason why you can't use a larger calibre and put it exactly where you want it?

A .223 won't leave you any margin for error when things go wrong, and if you hunt long enough something will go wrong eventually.
I suggest you peruse this thread if you think you can do it perfectly every time:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?895186-Worst-(luckiest-)-shot-you-made-for-a-one-shot-kill
 
3-9 will work fine, thats what I have on my .223 and it has taken a deer and will take more. Do I prefer it to my .30-06 or other medium caliber rifles, no. Do I worry that I'm under gunned, not at all.
My .223 shoots very well with federal 62 grain Fusion loads and performed exactly as expected, poked a whole through both sides of a deer at 89 yards, the deer tried to take a step and face planted.
 
Unfortunately the way the Manitoba reg is written I could hunt deer with my 17 hornet, personally I say nothing smaller then a 243 and preferably a 270
 
Part of my theory behind 223 as opposed to a larger caliber is ammo is common to an extreme degree and if I want to get supremely confident with a rifle I would feasably use as a survival rifle I would like to get even more trigger time with this scout. the 223 enables more ammo to be carried for a given load and ammo could be found almost anywhere. Also I might try the Leopold scout scope as it seems to have been made almost completely for this rifle.
 
I need to do a deer hunt in BC or even Manitoba to do a little testing and see what's up. There are a lot of good bullets made in .224 for taking big game. Barnes, nosler, swift and hornady all make a great bullet suitable for letting the air in and blood out of critters. Is the 223 for every one? No, but it's all about putting the bullet where it needs to be. Poor shooting with a big gun won't make up for poor shooting.
 
9Guns said:
Part of my theory behind 223 as opposed to a larger caliber is ammo is common to an extreme degree and if I want to get supremely confident with a rifle I would feasably use as a survival rifle I would like to get even more trigger time with this scout. the 223 enables more ammo to be carried for a given load and ammo could be found almost anywhere. Also I might try the Leopold scout scope as it seems to have been made almost completely for this rifle.
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But you're not in a survival situation. Ethics play no role in survival... you do whatever you have to, legal or not. You're just going hunting, so ethics do count. And since you're just going hunting, there's no need to carry hundreds of rounds, and a dozen rounds of 6.5x55 or .308 is no great burden.

You also need to ask yourself what shots you're willing to pass up. Would you pass on a shot at a buck of a lifetime because all you can get is a quartering or frontal shot that you shouldn't be taking with a .223?

And like I said earlier, anybody who thinks they can do it perfectly every time has just been lucky so far.
 
Yes , 223 is an excellent beginners round. You are getting great advice. lol

Choose the lightest recoiling load you can find so the recoil doesn't throw you off!
And short of 22 rimfire the 223 is safest for everyone in the woods ( deer included )!
 
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