.223 For Deer???

[oneforthewall]

Federal premium w/ 55 grain Barnes trippleshocks break through BOTH shoulders and leave a thumb sized exit at moderate distances.

[dormin]

My grandfather has taken many of deer with his .222 in the neck or behind the shoulder. He has even dropped axis in the dirt with it. It's all about shot placement.

X2 .....location location location

[Texastaxi]

The first ten years that I hunted deer, ALL were killed with the 222 that my dad bought as my first centerfire rifle. Depending how I felt determined where I shot ... some in the head, some in the neck, but most in the shoulder. Never lost one, knock on wood.

As many have said, stay away from the ballistic tipped varmit rounds, pay attention to the shot placement and you'll be fine.

[Tylerbost33]

.223 works great I'd say!! That's the only gun my friend uses for deer!

[rferg84]

I've used 55gr Corelokts and never had a problem, take out my AR all the time.

[blfx4]

ammo

I have seen quite a few deer killed with either the .223 or .22-250 shooting 55 gr. corelokts. Most of those deer dropped in their tracks, others were a short track. Good luck hope to see some pics soon.

[Shane]

Behind the shoulder is fine. It will kill a deer. The deer will probably run a ways before dying, and there probably won't be a lot of blood. But it will kill the deer dead.

I assume you're wanting to have her shoot behind the shoulder because it's bigger and easier to hit than the neck or the head. There's a great compromise between the two, literally, that is a better option in my opinion. The front shoulder is the best of both worlds. It's just as big as the ribs behind the shoulder. It doesn't wiggle like a head or neck. And if you hit a deer there, they drop dead in their tracks just like a neck or head shot, so no need to try to track small drops of blood. Also, if you miss a little one way or the other, you're not going to hit guts like you might by aiming behind the shoulder. You either hit neck or lungs if you're off.

I had my son shoot his first deer behind the shoulder, just to be safe - with a .223. The deer went 60 yards and piled up. No problem, but there wasn't much brush to hide the dead deer in.

After that I had him shoot everything in the front shoulder where it joins the neck. He's killed 25-30 deer since then with that shot (with .223, .22-250 and .25-06), and every one of them hit there dropped in their tracks. Here's his 2nd deer ever - the 1st one with that shot placement. She's literally laying where she stood when he shot her. You hit spine and major arteries there. They're immobilized instantly and die just about instantly as well, as the blood flow to the brain is gone.

Bloodtrailing is for bowhunting. Guns are for dropping stuff.

[Shane]

Zach's latest deer from a couple weeks ago.... He was hunting alone, so he got cocky and shot neck this time since I wasn't there to tell him to shoot front shoulder.

[kilroy230]

I second what Shane is saying up and in the front shoulder it will drop them in their tracks!!! My Buddy just killed a large body 8 point with 223 and this shot last weekend!!

[chancito1]

223 has no problem at all on deer my daughter has shot that caliber for years her farthest shot has been 170 yds right behind shoulder deer didn't go 10 ft. Nothing has ran over 20 yds. We use 55gr Hornady vmax, it is a nasty cleaning job liquifies the vitals

[curtintex]

My oldest daughter, when she was seven killed a big ole Red Stag with a perfectly placed .223 round right in the pump house. It stumbled about 20 yards and fell over DEAD! My girls have killed several deer, rams and hogs all with the .223 round.

[JDH875]

I shot a doe with my 223 Friday afternoon with a 55 grain Nosler ballistic tip. She ran about 40 yards. The exit wound was about the size of a fist. I also shot two hogs with the same round and there was no exit and no blood trail for either. Will the 223 work, yes. Are there downsides, yes. Possible longer tracking for a big bodied animal and or no blood trail.

[Curtis32]

My nine year old son just took a fallow buck with a 55 gr Hornady from a .223, this past Saturday. 86 yards and ran about 30 feet and dropped. This was his first buck and boy was he excited!

[chief longshaft]

Iv shot them in the sholder and killed them.

[Skullworks52]

I shot a doe with my 223 Friday afternoon with a 55 grain Nosler ballistic tip. She ran about 40 yards. The exit wound was about the size of a fist. I also shot two hogs with the same round and there was no exit and no blood trail for either. Will the 223 work, yes. Are there downsides, yes. Possible longer tracking for a big bodied animal and or no blood trail.

Switch to 60 gr. Nosler Partitions and you'll get an exit hole and blood trail. Ballistic tips are for varmints.