Whitetail with .223?

thebaron

thebaron

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Ok, so I was arguing with my dad the other day about .223 and deer. He is very confident that a .223 with a ~70grain bullet is PLENTY for whitetail. His argument is that "if it's good enough to use on people, it's good enough to use on deer"

My argument is that the bullet will just fly apart when it hits the deer and not penetrate nearly enough.

What do you guys think?
(If I win the argument, I will print it out and show him :p)
 
I don't think any provincial wildlife departments allow .223 for "big game" which includes deer. Sure, the bullet probably can kill without any difficulty, but will a one-shot-kill be assured? The whole idea of ethical hunting is to hit the animal with such force and accuracy that it dies without suffering. That said, Ontario has maximum cartridge rules too in the Southern most zones.

For a while in the '90s the Quebec game rules had some silly formula that eliminated 30-30's and the like. It was a mathematical exercise based on faulty values. It took a while before the people who know were able to convince the people who make the rules.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
I don't think any provincial wildlife departments allow .223 for "big game" which includes deer.
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This was taken from the 2006 Ontario Regs:

The following cannot be used for hunting deer:
• A rim-fire rifle
• A shotgun smaller than 20 gauge when loaded with shot
• Any shotgun loaded with shot smaller than SG or No. 1 buck.
 
(this post excludes any evidence from out native brothers to the north and the expoits with the .223)

why would you want to? I'm sure a .223 will EVENTUALLY kill a deer, under close quarters and perfect shot placement.

there are so many other calibers that will be a better job, why waste your time with a .223. a hunters primary responsiblity is to ethically harvest his game.

personally, I don't see using a .223 on a deer as being ethical. deer are 100x harder to kill then people. the .223 being a military round is NOT a valid argument.
 
this post excludes any evidence from out native brothers to the north and the expoits with the .223)

why would you want to? I'm sure a .223 will EVENTUALLY kill a deer, under close quarters and perfect shot placement.

there are so many other calibers that will be a better job, why waste your time with a .223. a hunters primary responsiblity is to ethically harvest his game.

personally, I don't see using a .223 on a deer as being ethical. deer are 100x harder to kill then people. the .223 being a military round is NOT a valid argument.
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.............x2
.............Quite frankly, i wouldn't feel comfortable with a perfectly "legal" .243 with our bigger whitetails here.
 
why take the chance on a wounded deer just pick up a cheap .303 or 30-30
does the job and you can almost garuntee a clean kill on the first first shot
 
Your dad is right you can kill anything with a .223.... but the vast majority of experienced deer hunters will not choose that caliber for deer.
Anyone who considers a 70 grain bullet PLENTY for deer is speaking from limited experience.
A .223 in a military application with the right ammo is fine for combat... as far as a hunting caliber goes it is considered a varmint round.
 
personally I think your all crazy for shooting such pussy rounds.... the .338 or 375 H&H are the only calibers that should be used for anything over the size of a robertson ground squirrel.
 
yes well we may be crazy but a)we like the challenge
b)we like to keep at least half of the animal intact for butchering
c)338 & 375 make to much noise LOL
 
SignGuy said:
yes well we may be crazy but a)we like the challenge
b)we like to keep at least half of the animal intact for butchering
c)338 & 375 make to much noise LOL
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for the most part the bigger calibers do less meat damage then the zippier little ones..... and they are no louder then any other gun, remember after 140 decibles your on the ground crying anyway.

proper shot placement is what is critical, that and bullet construction and your set to go.... frankly caliber has very little to do with "killing".

a 36 caliber black powder rifle has a FPE factor of under 500 at the muzzle..... and yet our four fathers killed a mess of der with them,,,.... otherwise none of us would be here.
 
loaded with the right bullet it will surely work

there are literally dozens of better choices though, so its basically a stunt. :)
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223

A 223 has absolutely no problem killing a whitetail deer, I have done it but it wasn't my first choice of rifles. A well placed shot is the most vital part of the kill. I also beleive a 223 would kill the largest grizzly alive but something tells me it wouldnt be my best choice for that either LOL.
 
A 223 isn't a beginners un, it's an experts gun.

If I was touse the 223 on der, I woudl use an X bullet and make sure of exacting shot placement, there is no room for error.

As said befire, it's basically a stunt. We have zillions of better options.:)
 
i wouldnt use anything smaller than a .243 on deer myself. but then again, look at how many deer are killed with one shot in the US. go on US hunting sites and theres more people than you would think that use .223 or .22-250 on deer.

if i were to buy a dedicated whitetail gun, id go with a 25-06 ;)
 
canadian hunter312 said:
i wouldnt use anything smaller than a .243 on deer myself. but then again, look at how many deer are killed with one shot in the US. go on US hunting sites and theres more people than you would think that use .223 or .22-250 on deer.

if i were to buy a dedicated whitetail gun, id go with a 25-06 ;)
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Well there's the answer. If americans are using the .223, then its probably not a good idea. Their idea of a "great hunt" is shooting a deer from a tree stand at 400 yrds, tha doesn't even know their in the same county.:D

By the way, I know a chap that has shot several deer with a .22 mag, definetly not legal, but neither is he.;)
 
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