223 for Deer

[Head shot]

I dont understand that an 8 yr.old is ok with a 223 with adult watching but a 223 shouldnt be used by an adult??? I'VE seen a lot of people blow a shot or miss all around Myself included.But it did'nt have anything to do with the caliber of the gun. A bad shot IS A BAD SHOT, Bullet size is'nt the problem IMO.gun)

 

[Buano]

I dont understand that an 8 yr.old is ok with a 223 with adult watching but a 223 shouldnt be used by an adult??? I'VE seen a lot of people blow a shot or miss all around Myself included.But it did'nt have anything to do with the caliber of the gun. A bad shot IS A BAD SHOT, Bullet size is'nt the problem IMO.gun)

With a reasonably sized cartridge, a less than perfect shot is still humane & lethal. With a .223 many shots that would be clean, humane kills with "deer rounds" will not be. That IS the point.

 

[eyeball 2]

used to be we waited till a kid could hunt and shoot and shoot a deer gun before they got to shoot a deer. it was an important part of becoming a hunter dreaming and schemeing and planning for years to get my own deer. now a 5yr old wants a deer and dads sole mission in life is 'anything your heart desires son-you name it i'll die getting it for you' attitude. no waiting but instantaneous gratification. what kid really just has to kill a deer before they can shoot a 243? those 7 mags are good for long shots, though.

 

[270winshort]

tried a 22-250 once at 250 yrds I would never try it again outside a 100 yrds as for the 223 I dont thin its a good choice for deer size game. IMO

 

[Aldon]

I suggest a 9 twist barrel and the 75 grain Scirocco II with Varget. I prefer more caliber (6.5-06 & 280 for whitetail) but this is deadly combination within reasonable range if legal.

 

[SpencerSS]

53gn or 62gn TSX, 75Amax, 60NP

These are a few pics of what the 53TSX will do:

Rem 722- 222rem, 53TSX @3200 muzzle

This is a different deer killed with same load. Both died quick.

 

[SpencerSS]

P.S. had to shoot through the scapula on one side and the leg bone on the other to keep that bullet in her, under the skin.

This is entry:

 

[Head shot]

Looks like SpencerSS covered that pretty well,IMO the 223 ought to do pretty well with the right bullet.gun)

 

[Boom]

Had a good conversation with a friend last week about this very subject. His children are older than mine and here is the method he used that I think makes great sense: teach the child to shoot lights out with a bolt action .22 and scope (hopefully they already know how to use iron sights!!). Breathing, trigger control, proper mounting, shooting off a stand rail etc. are easily accomplished with the .22 and a lot of fun. When the season opens, get in the stand with them, load and hand them a .243, possibly with reduced recoil rounds, and let them take a shot inside of 100 yards, no further. Adrenalin takes over, rifle does its job, there is not much recoil anyway, and you have a dead deer and an exicted kid. Game over. If the child can't handle the above then, IMHO, the child is too young to hunt. There is nothing wrong with waiting a year and they don't have to kill the first time or all the time.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Good post Boom and I agree with you 1000%. If they can't handle the recoil of a piddly .243 to shoot a deer, IMHO they are too small or young to hunt. The 223 isn't even legal to hunt big game with in the majority of states.

 

[HARPERC]

used to be we waited till a kid could hunt and shoot and shoot a deer gun before they got to shoot a deer. it was an important part of becoming a hunter dreaming and schemeing and planning for years to get my own deer. now a 5yr old wants a deer and dads sole mission in life is 'anything your heart desires son-you name it i'll die getting it for you' attitude. no waiting but instantaneous gratification. what kid really just has to kill a deer before they can shoot a 243? those 7 mags are good for long shots, though.

This sums up my thoughts fairly well. We skip over too much of the basics. A kid should go through the steps, BB gun, 22, etc. I've started a few kids, I never met one yet that wouldn't prefer a trip to a PD town over deer hunting. I'm betting most of us were just beside ourselves to be invited out with the men at this point in our development.

 

[MHO]

Must agree. If its at close range, no problem with a well placed shot.

 

[SpencerSS]

used to be we waited till a kid could hunt and shoot and shoot a deer gun before they got to shoot a deer. it was an important part of becoming a hunter dreaming and schemeing and planning for years to get my own deer. now a 5yr old wants a deer and dads sole mission in life is 'anything your heart desires son-you name it i'll die getting it for you' attitude. no waiting but instantaneous gratification. what kid really just has to kill a deer before they can shoot a 243? those 7 mags are good for long shots, though.

I'm all for good parenting and traditional values, but that doesn't change the capabilities of the small bores. I do however agree with the need for greater care in their use; therefore the skill of the shooter must be considered when choising a cartrige.

 

[ninnamyuk]

Those wounds look pretty similar to the wounds I have seen so many times when butchering caribou shot with m193 ammo. Even 223 fmj is plenty lethal on deer size game as long as the velocity is high enough to make it wickedly destabilize and turn into a meat grinder. FMJs might even be better than a lot of soft points because they seem to penetrate a little deeper before they do their real damage. Again, even 55 grain fmj will work fine on deer size game, I have seen it hundreds of times just make sure you put the bullet in the right place and no worries.