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Wounded Deer...
pwillie
Member Posts: 20,253 ✭✭✭
....at my lease today....shot with a AR15 type rifle....Black ops stuff....can't find deer Coyotes having a fine supper...anybody else hunt deer with an AR15 rifle?...
Comments
Man needs to take responsibility, well before, and after he pulls the trigger.
Dan
A caliber at least more in the mid-range of capability for the animal doesn't guarantee a clean kill, but it does increase the odds significantly. I think the animals deserve the better odds.
Shooting any animal with a caliber at the extreme low end of capability is always a risk. It removes much in the 'margin of error' category. I have seen guys shoot elk with a .243, moose with a .270, and bison with a .30-06. Some have made a clean kill. Most have not.
A caliber at least more in the mid-range of capability for the animal doesn't guarantee a clean kill, but it does increase the odds significantly. I think the animals deserve the better odds.
Well said.
even when it was 243 I saw and heard of lots of lost deer.
the rich lease most of the best hunting places and are turning the state into a 8 point or larger or trying to. the insurance companys want every deer killed no mater what size or sex.
My hunting days are over now, but I would have never used a .22 center fire on deer. I know there are people out there that could be trusted to cleaning take a deer with one, but I also feel there are many who would shoot without proper concern to shot placement.
My vote is that it is a bad idea.
I have killed over a hundred deer. I have made two bad shots myself and left deer to suffer in the woods, so I am not going to get high and mighty.
No doubt, the .223 can kill a deer, and if you make a good lung shot no whitetail can survive it, most would drop in their tracks. However, that tiny bullet is pushing it for being a good deer killer, whether legal or not. I have never hunted with a .223 and would never do so.
If you are looking for a blood trail....well, you probably won't get much of one.
Don't expect the same results from a 50gr VMAX that you will get from a 60gr Partition or a 65gr Sierra GameKing. You won't get it.
Shooting any animal with a caliber at the extreme low end of capability is always a risk. It removes much in the 'margin of error' category. I have seen guys shoot elk with a .243, moose with a .270, and bison with a .30-06. Some have made a clean kill. Most have not.
A caliber at least more in the mid-range of capability for the animal doesn't guarantee a clean kill, but it does increase the odds significantly. I think the animals deserve the better odds.
thumbs up
Hope he made an effort to find it. I hate unnecessary suffering in anything. Myself, even though it's legal in Kansas, I don't believe in the 223 as a deer slayer, UNLESS you are extremely secure in your shot placement. I have never taken a deer with anything less that a 50 cal muzzle loader, 30-06, 0r a 303 brit. Just me. A whole lot just as suitable, but a 223 takes a real experienced hand, to make a clean kill on a deer.
Man needs to take responsibility, well before, and after he pulls the trigger.
Dan
Careful, Dan.
This kind of talk can get you labelled.
Don
Brad Steele
...he was up a tree...
We don't have any tree deer in this part of the country. What do you use to tree them with, dogs? I'd hate to have one of those suckers jump out of a tree on top of me when I wasn't expecting it.
Question for .223 advocates. If you were shooting a big buck, say a 250 pound eight pointer, and you messed your shot up a little and hit right in the shoulder, rather than behind the shoulder, will the little bullet go through and make the clean kill, or, would it blow up and not get into the lungs?
With the correct bullet, it will kill it cleanly.
If the hunter is using a bullet that blows up on a deer shoulder, in any caliber, he needs the rethink things.
I shot two deer ( mature doe and button buck)with a .223 in 2015. Both bullets hit within 1-2" of intended placement. Both deer were in a wide open field over 200 yards across so followup was a non-issue(1 ran 50 yards and 1 ran 100 yards). Does this make the 223 a "do it all" deer hunting cartridge? Not in any way. In this case, I needed a couple of meat deer and these were in a perfect location and the everyday carry AR was in my hands. If I were actually going hunting with the intention of killing deer, I'd pick a more effective round.
quote:Originally posted by pwillie
...he was up a tree...
We don't have any tree deer in this part of the country. What do you use to tree them with, dogs? I'd hate to have one of those suckers jump out of a tree on top of me when I wasn't expecting it.
You always make a story out of a infraction of fact...good for you,now you are no longer competing with Obama...You are he!
if I had my way, only 25 caliber and larger for white tails...platforms is anybodys preference....
Good thing this is America and we have choices, huh? [;)]
Personally, I use a CZ550 in 6.5x55 for my deer hunting. I would go smaller....and I have, but there be 400+ pound black bears in the woods around here.
Have seen many, many deer lost after poor hits with 12 gauge deer slugs.
Have seen lots of deer run off after hits with mid caliber rifles using too heavy, thick jacketed bullets that don't expand on ribs or lungs.
Don't blame the gun. Blame the operator either for his poor marksmanship or lack of knowledge in ammo selection.
For those taking the superior moral attitude that "the deer deserve better", read above one more time.
No personal experiance with the 223 in deer hunting .Cousin ,who was amuch better shot than i am tried it for a while .His opinion mirrors most .If placed correctly it will do the job ,otherwise it is a lost deer .Use enough gun to do the job .I suspect that it is a stunt for most to hunt with a 223 .
No, actually the "stunt" is amateurs hunting deer with 300 Magnums that they flinch so bad they cannot hit vitals. Watch these yahoos try to sight in their new rifles with new scopes and super premium ammunition. It's a joke. Sure impresses all of his buddies, though.
It's easy to OVERGUN for deer. It's also easy to UNDERSKILL.
For a lot of years I hunted with a NEF single shot .223 and never once had a deer take more than 2 steps from a hit with it, it's all about ammo and placement. Using surplus military ammo for hunting is the biggest mistake made. I've also had deer double lung shot with a 30-06 run for well over 100 yards, but lung shot deer with a .223 with 55G Nosler Balistic Tips would fall over right there.
I will never buy the argument that a .22 cal rifle is inadequate for deer, if it is inadequate I blame the person using it.
Me personaly, I've hunted regular season and had the priveledge of hunting farm culls when I worked on PA dairy farms. To this day I have legally killed more deer with a .22LR than I have with a centerfire.
Illegal in Georgia.
I have killed over a hundred deer. I have made two bad shots myself and left deer to suffer in the woods, so I am not going to get high and mighty.
No doubt, the .223 can kill a deer, and if you make a good lung shot no whitetail can survive it, most would drop in their tracks. However, that tiny bullet is pushing it for being a good deer killer, whether legal or not. I have never hunted with a .223 and would never do so.
I would not use it , but GA is any center fire of .22 or greater last I checked
And I bet it was a 6.8 spc
ros
.223 used to be illegal I haven't checked the regs lately.
I said I have killed over a hundred deer, and most all of them were in Georgia. Mostly I used a 30-06. I usually went for the lung shot, I made that shot fifty times at least. On average a deer would run 110 yards when lung shot with the 30-06. Good blood trail, though.
I hunted a lot in Georgia, quite a lot, but haven't hunted there in 15 years.
.223 used to be illegal I haven't checked the regs lately.
I said I have killed over a hundred deer, and most all of them were in Georgia. Mostly I used a 30-06. I usually went for the lung shot, I made that shot fifty times at least. On average a deer would run 110 yards when lung shot with the 30-06. Good blood trail, though.
Really? 110 yards average? I am surprised!
While I probably have not killed as many deer as you, my experience has been markedly different. I have never had a deer, except for one poorly placed shot with a 30-30, go over 50-60 yards after being shot.
None of those shots were over 100 yards either. That may make a difference. This includes the three or four taken with the 22-250 and .223.
A .30 entrance wound and a .50 exit. Wouldn't expand at all unless you hit a rib going in. These were close range shots in the thick Ga. woods, average range 40 yards.
Some of those shots I hit low and blew the heart up. Damn deer would go 80 yards with his heart blown to bits. Unreal.
I was always astonished at how far a deer would run with a hole in both lungs. I was shooting Silvertips and Remington Core Lokt, 180 gr.
A .30 entrance wound and a .50 exit. Wouldn't expand at all unless you hit a rib going in. These were close range shots in the thick Ga. woods, average range 40 yards.
Some of those shots I hit low and blew the heart up. Damn deer would go 80 yards with his heart blown to bits. Unreal.
I had a ten point pass under a tree I was in, and shot him behind the front shoulder(only shot I had) he ran away over a hundred yds,into a swamp and on an island(small)...200 lb buck,with heart looking like jello....They are amazing..[;)]
3 examples: Group of 3, all 3 made the zig at 75yd, 2 made the zag at 80yd and the 3rd was piled up 150yd further on. Another made a 75yd straight run before crashing into a rotted stump. Both had golf ball sized holes through their hearts. Another covered 250yd of knee deep snow while leaving a 10' wide blood trail before falling over.
I was using a 30-06, launching 150gr NBT's at 3000fps, over open hay fields, at relaxed deer.
If they don't drop at the shot, they'll cover some country before dropping