Largest animal CLEAN kill you've made with a .223 ??

Hidalgo

Hidalgo

Well-known member
Kinda slow around here lately, and it gives us some time to ask those "Does it really matter?" questions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

So...what's the largest game animal that you have made a CLEAN kill on with a .223? Even if it ran several yards afterward, if you consider it a clean kill, please list it.

There's a LOT of discussion (at least here in Tennessee) about the game regs being changed to allow ANY centerfire cartridge for deer hunting. Lots of complaining, and much discussion about the .224 caliber bullets not being big enough.
 
Well it wasn't me but he was sitting on my lap when he pulled the trigger /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. My 8 year old took his first deer this last year with a Handi 223 using 55gr psp's. Shot was 80 yards and it fell like a ton of lead.

100_4501.jpg
 
In CO we cannot hunt anything larger than coyotes with a .223 so the point is mute but even if it were legal I would chose something bigger. I believe there are better choices in larger chamberings that still provide minimal recoil and adequate power.

Your answer for me is a coyote.

All deer are not created equal and because of that the blanket statement ".22 cal CFs are suitable for deer" doesn't apply everywhere. A 40 lb. WT doe shot at 40 yds. is not quite the same animal as a 350 mule deer buck taken at 300 yds.
 
i don't use a any .22 centerfires, but i could see where you could/couldn't use them. i mean, a 223 loaded with a 50gr ballistic tips just isn't smart, but with some of the bullets out there you could. like a 22-250 or 220 swift loaded with 75gr scirocco, i would feel ok taking a shot 100yds at a whitetail. i would prefer my 243, but i think that the .22 would work.

but like skb2706 is saying, there's such a difference in a close shot on small doe, and a 200yds+ shot at a big mule/whitetail deer.

i think the right person, with enough common sense to load a good, heavy bullet, and to take a well placed shot could kill a deer with a .22 but.... you get the regular joe out there with store bought bullets, and not alot of thought on bullet selection, lil to no practice, and you end up with a wounded animal running through the woods.
 
Sorry if this started a debate about the ethical use of .22 caliber bullets in large animals. That wasn't my intention at all. I was just curious what HAD been done with the .223 and not what you WOULD do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

There was a long-standing fact in this area (East TN) that the poachers in the Cherokee National Forest used .22LR rifles to poach with because of the low noise levels. If they didn't work, I doubt they would have taken the risk of poaching with a cartridge that didn't get them an animal. So I suppose you could kill a whitetail with a slingshot if you knew what you were doing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

I just was curious what had been taken, especially those "unexpected" things. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Shot my first deer with a Mini 14.
Smallish mule deer shot at 80 yards standing there staring at me broadside waiting for my 14 year old self to shoot him.
Shot behind the front shoulder and hit a rib and took out his heart. DRT.
After that i switched to 30/06
 
FIRST OFF: I'm not saying go out and do this or even if it is right, BUT...

A guy I hunt with (older guy, can't get around too well), shot a 306lb black bear with his .223 (uses for squirels and turkeys in the down time) running this past season. The shot was in the neck and the bear collapsed after probably 15 seconds. So a well placed shot can do the job, but I would prefer a larger round.
 
Quote:
Sorry if this started a debate about the ethical use of .22 caliber bullets in large animals. That wasn't my intention at all. I was just curious what HAD been done with the .223 and not what you WOULD do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



Steve, you aren't one of those guys that likes to throw matches into a brush pile, and then set back and see what happens.... are you? LOL!

Folks that worked with me, told me my motto should be:

"If it doesn't stink...... Stir it!"

Perhaps that should be "our motto" LOL!
 
Hidalgo, good topic!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

This was a 223AI kill at 115yds using a 62gr TSX at 3300. He was heavily quartering toward's me, bullet entered in front of the right shoulder, exited behind the left shoulder, and absolutely wrecked everything inbetween. I was hoping to recover one of the little 62gr TSX's, but had complete pass through's on this buck, and a couple of does. None of the 3 went 15 feet combined as all 3 kills took out their running gear. This buck went about 3ft straight down and never kicked. He must have thought he had been hit by lightning. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That buck must have read that a 223 wouldn't work on deer, I swear I could see him laughing at me when I shot him. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

100_1904.jpg
 
I have killed so many whitetail with a .222 mag when i was a youngster that i have lost count i know a least four a year from when i started hunting at about age 6 to 16 and maybe more. I know it is not a .223, but it doesn't get much closer. After that I thought I needed a bigger gun so I moved up to 30.06. I have since realized that I don't like shooting big bores anymore. Now, I don't even own anything bigger than a .243. I plan on letting my kids use the same gun I used when I was growing up as well. My daughter will turn 5 this year it's about time to pull out the old .222 Mag
 
Last edited:
Not condoning this behavior, and the person committing the crime has been punished. A guy I use to run around with when I was younger shot a black bear with a Marlin model 60 .22 LR from about 50 yds in the headlights of his truck. It was about 190 lbs. It was DRT with a single headshot. He is now a convicted felon because of his actions, and could not own a firearm and lost his hunting rights for 5 years before he could petition for his rights back. A well placed shot can drop just about any animal.
 
In my opinion the .223 is not large enough in diameter to relibly take deer sized game. Not withstanding that many deer have been taken both ethiclly and unethically with it. Many poachers use 22 LR that don't make it a good chambering, just what is used.
 
Quote:
Steve, you aren't one of those guys that likes to throw matches into a brush pile, and then set back and see what happens.... are you? LOL!



But DAD!.....It was Old Turtle's idea!......I promise it was! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Quote:
Hidalgo, good topic!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

This was a 223AI kill at 115yds using a 62gr TSX at 3300. He was heavily quartering toward's me, bullet entered in front of the right shoulder, exited behind the left shoulder, and absolutely wrecked everything inbetween. I was hoping to recover one of the little 62gr TSX's, but had complete pass through's on this buck, and a couple of does. None of the 3 went 15 feet combined as all 3 kills took out their running gear. This buck went about 3ft straight down and never kicked. He must have thought he had been hit by lightning. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That buck must have read that a 223 wouldn't work on deer, I swear I could see him laughing at me when I shot him. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

100_1904.jpg




not one person thus far has said it wouldn't work........ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Quote:


not one person thus far has said it wouldn't work........ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif



That is true....most all of the guys posting in this particular thread have DONE it. It's the guys who haven't done it or have had one bad experience, that start crying foul and tell you your unethical blah blah blah /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry-smiley-055.gif . I've been called alot worse than that over 223 and deer threads /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif . Surely this isn't the first "223 on deer" thread you've read, most can get pretty heated, and both sides are pretty set on their POV and can't/won't be convinced otherwise. Have a good one!!!
 
Back
Top