Deer hunting with a .223

[marineimaging]

Suffice it to say, many, many deer are poached every year by guys with .22 rifles, as in .22LR. Not that I feel that it is an adequate round for deer under ANY circumstances (short of SHTF survival), but true nonetheless. The .223 with 69 grain bullets comes up with just short of 1400 ft-lb energy, the 6mm Rem is in at 2100 with a 95 grain bullet, so about 2/3 the energy. No reason the .223 would not be effective for deer with proper shot placement.

My great grandfather-in-law was a sustenance hunter. In almost 90 years of hunting he only every owned a .22 rifle and he would go into the woods and come out an hour or so later with a deer slung over his shoulders. The game wardens in the area knew him and knew, as we did, that he never missed or made a shot he was unsure of. There was never a case of finding a carcass in his woods or the area around there with a poorly placed .22 bullet. The problem isn't that a .223 isn't capable of being used as a legitimate hunting round. It is those who would abuse the privilege of using it if it were allowed in all 50 states.