Are 224 Bullets Too small for Deer Sized Game?

[del2les]

Carrying a .224 to hunt TROPHY white tails that routinely rip the scale at 160-200lbs, I would say you are under gunned. The whole shot placement is key this is a load of crap. The fellas that have the luxury to only take broadside perfect shots must have it made. 75% of the areas I hunt youre shooting a max of 100 yards through the mountain brush.

I would not trust any of those bullets to be threaded through dense brush into a hard quartering away 140" white tail.

Okay....Just as an FYI, one of the deer I killed with a 224 bullet weighed 250#, and the bullet struck him at 20-25 degrees angling away and penetrated just under the opposing hide. The damage done to the lungs was comparable to any 243, 6mm or 30-30 I have seen.

Another buck weighed 175# and was shot while hard quartering away by a 22-250 at 350 yards and using one of the above bullets, and he went DRT. The bullet exited.

No one is debating other calibers may be more suited for certain situations, but that proper loaded 224's are viable, proven rounds for some situations.

 

[birdiemc]

Carrying a .224 to hunt TROPHY white tails that routinely rip the scale at 160-200lbs, I would say you are under gunned. The whole shot placement is key this is a load of crap. The fellas that have the luxury to only take broadside perfect shots must have it made. 75% of the areas I hunt youre shooting a max of 100 yards through the mountain brush.


I would not trust any of those bullets to be threaded through dense brush into a hard quartering away 140" white tail.


If you're shooting a 130 pound doe in a field and going for meat then yeah. Shoot the Accubond or ELD or A Tip and go for a double lung shot. Those rounds will kill the biggest of deer. Under ideal conditions. But around here in trophy deer, ideal conditions don't happen a lot. I carry a 270 with 140 accubond in the mentioned areas

I think this is a big consideration...where are you shooting? If you have to shoot through dense brush like this, maybe a bad choice. Long range, maybe a bad choice. Where I get the opportunities to hunt, it's almost always in a blind shooting down a sendero at animals standing around a feeder. No brush to contend with and usually 100yds or less. And yes always have the choice of head shot or broadside...if I wanted to dial in all the way I could pick which hair I want to aim at.
But we often forget to consider the hunting conditions and skill of others when making blanket statements in general, which typically leads to discussions like this one.

 

[Elkeater]

I think this is a big consideration...where are you shooting? If you have to shoot through dense brush like this, maybe a bad choice. Long range, maybe a bad choice. Where I get the opportunities to hunt, it's almost always in a blind shooting down a sendero at animals standing around a feeder. No brush to contend with and usually 100yds or less. And yes always have the choice of head shot or broadside...if I wanted to dial in all the way I could pick which hair I want to aim at.
But we often forget to consider the hunting conditions and skill of others when making blanket statements in general, which typically leads to discussions like this one.

This is a darn good point.

 

[okie man]

I don't typically ever launch bullets through thick brush at any deer with any cartridge. I have taken quite a few does with my 223 by watching specific trails in creek bottoms. Precision shots at 100 yards or less is something a 223 does very well

 

[JIsbell40]

Okay....Just as an FYI, one of the deer I killed with a 224 bullet weighed 250#, and the bullet struck him at 20-25 degrees angling away and penetrated just under the opposing hide. The damage done to the lungs was comparable to any 243, 6mm or 30-30 I have seen.

Another buck weighed 175# and was shot while hard quartering away by a 22-250 at 350 yards and using one of the above bullets, and he went DRT. The bullet exited.

No one is debating other calibers may be more suited for certain situations, but that proper loaded 224's are viable, proven rounds for some situations.

Go back and read the rest of my post if you're so determined to emphasis what you made bold. My hunting conditions do not allow for perfect shot placement. 2 years ago I killed a 163" 12 point. Guess where I shot him? Right in the tail long ways with a 280. That's the only shot I got and it's what I took and he's on the wall now. That was perfect shot placement for the opportunity I was given. Would a 22-250 have killed that deer? Highly doubt it.

like I originally said. .224 diameter kills in ideal conditions. If you get ideal conditions then congratulations... your varmit round can kill a deer... just like a deer round can kill a polar bear... ideal conditions dude. If you don't acknowledge that then you're only hurting yourself.

for me a round is not "viable" if it needs ideal conditions... BTW, I don't hunt with 6mms either. You're terrain greatly dictates what you can use caliber wise. I would use ZERO of the above listed bullets for deer.

 

[JIsbell40]

I don't typically ever launch bullets through thick brush at any deer with any cartridge. I have taken quite a few does with my 223 by watching specific trails in creek bottoms. Precision shots at 100 yards or less is something a 223 does very well

Good thing you don't hunt here.. you'd either never kill a deer, or give up hunting all together. More often that not shots are right at dawn or dusk on a buck chasing a doe. 3 bench's above or below you in the mountain. The last 11 point I killed I got a great look at him... saw it for all of 6 seconds and then he was dead. 100 yards through the mtn brush.

 

[birdiemc]

Go back and read the rest of my post if you're so determined to emphasis what you made bold. My hunting conditions do not allow for perfect shot placement. 2 years ago I killed a 163" 12 point. Guess where I shot him? Right in the tail long ways with a 280. That's the only shot I got and it's what I took and he's on the wall now. That was perfect shot placement for the opportunity I was given. Would a 22-250 have killed that deer? Highly doubt it.

like I originally said. .224 diameter kills in ideal conditions. If you get ideal conditions then congratulations... your varmit round can kill a deer... just like a deer round can kill a polar bear... ideal conditions dude. If you don't acknowledge that then you're only hurting yourself.

for me a round is not "viable" if it needs ideal conditions... BTW, I don't hunt with 6mms either. You're terrain greatly dictates what you can use caliber wise. I would use ZERO of the above listed bullets for deer.

My first deer ever was a doe facing away and it didnt have an entrance wound if ya catch my drift..she dropped like a rock. I was about 10 and dont quite recall what rifle I was using...seems like those sphincter shots lay em down pretty good...lol

 

[Jluck]

I don't typically ever launch bullets through thick brush at any deer with any cartridge. I have taken quite a few does with my 223 by watching specific trails in creek bottoms. Precision shots at 100 yards or less is something a 223 does very well

No doubt... who's shooting through brush? Yikes!!

 

[Canhunter35]

It's the same with any caliber debate. Select the bullet and know it's limitations. Ur gonna be disappointed taking a poke at deer with a 50gr Vmax from a 22-250 at 400yds. I've had a lot coyotes run over the hill using those, but sadly many hunters say, I want the red tips, or the plastic tips suck I want lead on the front, or I want a hollow point and it's a match bullet, etc.

 

[del2les]

Good thing you don't hunt here.. you'd either never kill a deer, or give up hunting all together. More often that not shots are right at dawn or dusk on a buck chasing a doe. 3 bench's above or below you in the mountain. The last 11 point I killed I got a great look at him... saw it for all of 6 seconds and then he was dead. 100 yards through the mtn brush.

Good job. However, many of us hunt and have hunted in a lot of areas across the nation and in other countries, so we do experience all types of hunting situations. Many of us own and use a multitude of varied calibers based on the game, area, range, hunting situation, dangerous or not, etc, but that is not what this op is about.

 

[adam32]

64gr Hammer Hunter at 3,600fps...the buck didn't like it very much.

 

[nmbarta]

Some of this is just getting silly. Shooting deer in the ***? On purpose?
You can kill a blue whale with a .22lr alright? You can kill a grasshopper with nuke.
You can kill an elk with a .223 or a grizzly with a 9mm.
You can kill just about anything with any gun. It doesn't make it a good idea, but it can be done.
There are better options for different applications.
Doesn't matter to which bullet, it's a .22, if I'm shooting a deer with a .22 I'm shooting it in the head, but I'll never do that, because I won't be hunting deer with a .22.
I've watched a few great bucks walk that never gave me shot, well they gave me a shot, just not a shot I wanted to take. I have zero doubt I could have killed them and recovered them, but an animal that I don't want to eat isn't worthy of my wall. I don't like to eat gut shot animals, they taste......funny, and that ain't funny.

 

[birdiemc]

Some of this is just getting silly. Shooting deer in the *Rule 4 Violation*? On purpose?
You can kill a blue whale with a .22lr alright? You can kill a grasshopper with nuke.
You can kill an elk with a .223 or a grizzly with a 9mm.
You can kill just about anything with any gun. It doesn't make it a good idea, but it can be done.
There are better options for different applications.
Doesn't matter to which bullet, it's a .22, if I'm shooting a deer with a .22 I'm shooting it in the head, but I'll never do that, because I won't be hunting deer with a .22.
I've watched a few great bucks walk that never gave me shot, well they gave me a shot, just not a shot I wanted to take. I have zero doubt I could have killed them and recovered them, but an animal that I don't want to eat isn't worthy of my wall. I don't like to eat gut shot animals, they taste......funny, and that ain't funny.

Dude I was 10 yrs old aiming at the neck nervous, and I dropped a couple inches low.

 

[del2les]

Some of this is just getting silly. Shooting deer in the *Rule 4 Violation*? On purpose?
You can kill a blue whale with a .22lr alright? You can kill a grasshopper with nuke.
You can kill an elk with a .223 or a grizzly with a 9mm.
You can kill just about anything with any gun. It doesn't make it a good idea, but it can be done.
There are better options for different applications.
Doesn't matter to which bullet, it's a .22, if I'm shooting a deer with a .22 I'm shooting it in the head, but I'll never do that, because I won't be hunting deer with a .22.
I've watched a few great bucks walk that never gave me shot, well they gave me a shot, just not a shot I wanted to take. I have zero doubt I could have killed them and recovered them, but an animal that I don't want to eat isn't worthy of my wall. I don't like to eat gut shot animals, they taste......funny, and that ain't funny.

Then why weigh in on an op about proper 224 loads for deer? And we are not talking about head shots but proper body shots at reasonable ranges.

Can we get back to the original op?