223Rem vs Deer

[pruhdlr]

Slammed a doe last PM at my club here in NW Flah-Dah. Her and another doe walked out to the back part of the plot right at 1600(1648 was sunset). Looked hard to make sure she was not a button buck.

Was using my Benelli MR1 with a Leupold VX-R 3-9X40 on top. Hit her low chest with a 55gr Barnes TSX and she went about 15yds. Staggered on impact,thought she was going down,retained her footing ,staggered the 15yds,leaned against a small pine tree and kinda slid down it. Shot was 120yds.

Hung last night,will get to puttin' her in the freezer this AM. --- pruhdlr

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Very nice killed my first deer and first hog with a 5.56.

 

[FrankT]

Those Barnes make a 223 a great choice.

 

[Ratdog68]

Congrats... we're not allowed to use .22 cal bullets on deer here. Crazy, the Columbia Blacktail are some pretty small deer. But, they do have some larger Whitetail and Mulies on the dry side of the mountains.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

We can use the .223 on deer here but I had always used my .308 until the 6.8 was developed.

For my first deer I hunted a spot everyday for a week and only saw coyotes. So on my last day I took my foxpro call and my .223. Not five minutes into calling a buck showed up go figure!

 

[Ratdog68]

That's like me... when it's "elk only" season... I see deer everywhere. Come deer season? Squirrels and chipmunks. And, cougar tracks IN my boot prints.

 

[histopicker]

Congrats... we're not allowed to use .22 cal bullets on deer here. Crazy, the Columbia Blacktail are some pretty small deer. But, they do have some larger Whitetail and Mulies on the dry side of the mountains.

Do you mean you are not allowed to use bullets, period. You do mean that don't you Dog?

 

[pruhdlr]

The Barnes solid coppers + the 223/5.56 are a match made in heaven. The doe was 85lbs on the hoof. The 55gr at 3200fps hit her low chest. It clipped a rib going in. I found a 3/4" piece of the rib IN THE HEART when I went to slice it up for the pan. The bullet cut a rib going out and shattered the leg bone just below the far side knee. Both lungs were mush.

Both tenderloins and one back strap went for lunch. --- pruhdlr

 

[Ratdog68]

Do you mean you are not allowed to use bullets, period. You do mean that don't you Dog?

No, we're mandated to use larger than .22 cal for deer. We're not CA yet.

 

[Harris hawker]

In Texas you can't hunt deer with a rim fire.

 

[Guess]

you can hunt with any center fire in Tx.

 

[DaveABQ]

I've got a bunch of 64gr Nosler Bonded Performance loaded up, going to head out and try to shoot some hogs with them. With bullet technology nowadays, can perform reasonable takes with smaller cartridges

 

[sjb67]

I have used the 60gr Nosler Partition on deer and pigs with good success in the past.