Deer hunting with a .223

[sniper7]

I don't think I am whining or lecturing, and I probably should have not said Texas because I don't hold to that garbage that everything is bigger in Texas. I also have mule deer, elk, and moose in my back yard so I know the difference in size and bulk. Yes, they are bigger. I also lived in Alaska and other states and upon moving here (again, I lived in the mountains and front range for 10 years in the 80's) I was surprised to find the prohibition against .223 for at least white tail. The fact is I joined an AR-15/Colorado forum which typically means .223/5.56 caliber uses in Colorado and thought, hey, I'll ask here under the "HUNTING" forum to see if anybody knows why Colorado has chosen to reject the .223 caliber for hunting deer. I have tried to offer at least half a dozen reasons we should force the issue of permitting at least white tail deer harvesting with .223 but like I said, it is pretty much a lost cause.

Probably because you will find most people really don’t care. I hunt whitetail in a minimum of 2 states a year and have never used a .223 and I don’t care. I just shot my late season colorado Buck with a .300 win mag at 352 yards. A .223 might be questionable at that range. So yes, it is a lost cause because if I don’t care, I guarantee a massive majority don’t care.

[eddiememphis]

Where are you seeing that? I've looked and asked CPW and they just said I could hunt fall Turkey with whatever I had with me, which I thought was a weird answer.

In the Turkey book. Page 3- legal methods of take. 4-B.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Ru...ure/turkey.pdf

[Irving]

Thanks.

[spqrzilla]

I also lived in Alaska and other states and upon moving here (again, I lived in the mountains and front range for 10 years in the 80's) I was surprised to find the prohibition against .223 for at least white tail.

Again, its not about .223. .223 Remington is NOT specifically prohibited. All rifle calibers less than .243/6mm are. As well as any ammunition with less than the required muzzle energy or bullet weight. And as TFOGGER mentioned, the regulation reflected a belief at the time about bullet construction.

Colorado regulations do not distinguish between mule deer and whitetail deer except for a handful of tags on the plains.

Wyoming only allowed .223 Remington for antelope a couple of years ago and I believe just this year allowed it for deer, lion and grey wolf for the first time. They still require larger caliber for elk, bear etc.

[marineimaging]

I guess we have beat this deer to smithereens. Thanks for all of your answers. .243 or larger. Got it.

[TRnCO]

as was mentioned, it isn't about limiting the use of AR's. You can carry any AR that meets the minimum requirement. As an example, an antelope buck that I shot back in 2011 with a .243 wssm. I might also mention that this caliber, using a modified 10 rd. mag. only holds 4 single stacked rounds, meeting the 5 rd. max allowable rounds in the rifle.
004 by Tim Richard, on Flickr