I’ve never tried personally but have been reading different takes. There’s the “just because you, can doesn’t mean you should” group. And then there’s the “use a 64 grain and placement is more important than caliber group”. Anyone have experience good or bad for this caliber on whitetail? Thanks

I personally won’t use a .223 as there are enough conditions that exist in real world hunting conditions where the perfect placement may not happen. It definitely can and has killed many many deer and I’ve personally shot hogs DRT with the caliber, but I tend to not worry about the cons with pigs.

It’s a marginal deer round. It works when shot placement is perfect and the ranges short. . Margin for error is very small.

If I had any other round available to me I would choose that over a .223. A .243 is a big step up

Not my thing, smallest I shoot is .25-.06 and work up from there, 7MM-08, .308, .30-.06...

Turn the question around a bit: Why should a .223 be used for deer hunting? If the answer is, "It's all I have and I am 100% confident I can ethically kill a deer with it", then ok, I guess..........
It's too easy to select a better option.

I have used .223 on deer and on pigs. I wasn't really happy with it, and I do not have confidence in it. .243 is better, but I still prefer a larger bullet. I have also used a .223WSSM on deer. Kicking the speed up to 4000 fps does increase my confidence, but I'd still rather have a 30-30 or 300BLK or 357.

I'm stealing that quote. I've never heard someone argue the point this way. It makes too much sense.

With a decent bullet, limited shot, and good placement, it should kill them. 100-yd wide-open broad-side shot on a central TX doe in an oat field? Sure. 219 yd shot at a 200lb STX 12pt, a little quartering-to, standing close to some heavy brush that goes on for acres? I'm going to want more.

Well said, I have used a lot of various cartridges over the years on deer from 22 Hornet up to7mmSTW, 300 belted mags, 350 Remington Mag, 45-70 and 50 cal ML. All killed deer cleanly cleanly and reliably. When using smaller cartridges I am much more selective on shot placement and if there is any doubt in my mind at all a shot is not taken. Now days most of my shots are within 200yards and the last 6 were from 10to 70 yards.

If alI had was a 223 I would still hunt deer just stay within what I am comfortable with bullet and shot wise. Understanding I might turn down a shot if it wasn't right.

This year having had shoulder surgery last week I might be hunting with the Contender 7mmTCU or long barreled 357 Mag but will hunt. Ifwe use the 223 this year will be loadedwith the 62gr Swift Siroccos I have loaded for it

I'm sure a .223 will kill a deer with proper shot placement and a decent bullet ... but ... I would opt for something else unless that was my only option ... has killed a lot of humans over the past 60+ years in war conditions where life & death mattered most, not necessarily pretty either, but effective

Not my personal first choice by a long shot but it can has and will continue to do the job fine. Ive had a lot of success and no failure with it. I keep shots within 150 yards and shoot 60 grain nosler partitions. Never had one not go through. There are several other bullets I would consider and are likely even better if you have the twist to stabilize them.

Is shot placement important? Of course, just like it is with any rifle. My wife and sister in law have hunter with our 223. Less than stellar shots have occasionally occurred and a little tracking has collected the game.

I bought a 300 BO for my son to shoot deer with and honestly at this point I’m wondering if I would have been better off getting a fast twist 223 and shooting 80+ grain bullets. In the end low recoil serves a purpose use the tool within its capabilities and you will be fine.

I’ve seen guys kill deer with it, but personally I wouldn’t shoot a deer with it.

The "in war" validation needs some scrutiny. A nation needs a cost effective cartridge. Think about the cost of 500,000,000 rounds of .5.56 vs. .308. If you're ok with a center mass hit, and a wound is acceptable as it could be "in war" then maybe that point that is worth considering. But in hunting, we're not ok with it.

I've killed several deer with a 223 and a bunch with a 220 Swift. I'll still grab one or the other every now and then if I'm planning to kill a doe at a feeder 80 yards from a stand. But neither is my first choice for general deer hunting.

It’s legal so I’m not going to judge someone who wants to use it. It does remind me of the trendy practice of using a .410 for turkey hunting though.

I won't judge them, but I'll look at them same way I would as someone in a Smart Car on the freeway.

.223 single shot is what I started my son off with when he was a little fellow. He piled up 20 something deer with it. Mostly does but he did take more than 1/2 dozen mature bucks. No deer were lost or required more than one shot. Most went 30 or so yards. The furthest went 80 or so. All were shot fairly low tucked up tight behind the shoulder. All the deer he shot were either completely broad side or slightly quarrying away. Range was capped at 200 yards. He got an exit on less than 1/2 of the deer. When he grew enough to handle the recoil of a 7-08 he made the jump. To this day he and I both still kill several does with a .223 each year to eat. 65 grain Sierra game king hand loads are what we have used the most.

If that is the track record for evaluating effectiveness, the .223/5.56 is a miserable failure. Depending on which study is looking at it, the kills per shots fired ratio is 1 kill for every 100,000 - 250,000 shots fired. That is not a typo.

Can the .223/5.56 kill a deer? Absolutely. Are there better choices? Absolutely. Some hunters will drop every deer with 100% effectiveness with most any cartridge provided the bullet is of sufficient quality to penetrate reliably. Others cannot drop a doe using a .300 Weatherby, have seen that more than once.

Shot placement trumps power, but with equal shot placement, a heavier bullet will increase the likelihood of success. Where I have noticed a real difference is around the 100 grain bullet weight whether from a .243 or .264. I've dropped deer with less than that, but around 100 grains and up, the terminal results are decisive.

These days, I mostly hunt with a ..308 Win with a Barnes TTSX 130 grain at 3100 mv. That is plenty enough for very large deer and pigs, but I still take out bigger ones occasionally just for the heck of it. I never pick up a .223/5.56 as first choice.

.308, my all time, for the rest of my hunting life cal.

I don't remember using a 223 myself
A relative used one as his one and only for several years.
Old style AR15 up in a tree in the back of the head.
None ran away or needed additional shots.
When I used to get to go to hunt places far south and
far west of the metromess, a good many of the ranchers
used 22-250's and 222's as their deer rifles
Ive used "obsolete "bows and slow moving lead balls
out of a muzzleloader and (relatively) short barreled
peestollas and killed deer and used cheap "crack barrel "
single shot rifles and shotguns and killed whitetail deer.
After killing my first few deer with a bow, a 223 rifle
seemed like a death raygun

If somebody wants to use an expensive rig with a
XXXXL scope, more power to them. As long as
whatever is legal and ethical it doesn't matter to me.
Hunt your own hunt and let me hunt mine

Amen!

Very well put.

I used to take doe with a 222rem using a 40gr vmax regularly, neck shots only. controlled circumstances That being said, on just a general deer hunt where shooting conditions will vary I am not likely to grab a "22" anything. Can it work? Absolutely, Are there about 100 other common cartridges that would suit medium game hunting better IMO? Yes

I agree with what most are saying, stand/feeder hunting keeping it easily within its limitations is where I have used it. That said I used to be one of y’all who thought it was too small. Hunted a lot with a friend from school and after seeing it work I kinda had to quit thinking it wouldn’t. To me it’s no different than how much deader a 300 win mag or 338 etc makes an elk than a 308 or 30-06, they are all the same level of dead and our perception of the size of the casing has more to do with what we think about killing power. Put a 60 or 80 grain 223 bullet next to an 80-100 grain 243 next to a 130 grain 270 etc. without the casing and they all start looking more similar than different.

Got my first ar 15 many years ago. As ammo has improved over the years I decided to take a doe with it . Using federal fusion 62gr. I shot a doe at 150 yards . Double lung shot . She didn’t go 10 yards. Bullet never made an exit . After cleaning the deer I came to the conclusion that it was enough to get the job done but decided that I would prefer my 308 or 270. Just my conclusion. But like they say dead is dead.