Thread: 223 on deer

I don't have a lot of experience with hunting an animal with a.223. BUT have gone OFF the idea. Surely a calibre needs shot placement to be successful is a failure for ethical hunting of large animals. I recently was involved in wallaby shooting with thermals as it was the only way you were going to see enough and my partner had a .223 and needed 3 shots sometimes before we could confirm whether it was worth the effort of recovery. I was using a .308 and it was one shot one kill. I know it was overkill and expensive but just what I took away with the observations I made over the weekend. NOT a fan anymore. Good for introducing young shooters into hunting maybe. BUT .223 in my opinion only for those with experience

Originally Posted by turtleSO

I don't have a lot of experience with hunting an animal with a.223. BUT have gone OFF the idea. Surely a calibre needs shot placement to be successful is a failure for ethical hunting of large animals. I recently was involved in wallaby shooting with thermals as it was the only way you were going to see enough and my partner had a .223 and needed 3 shots sometimes before we could confirm whether it was worth the effort of recovery. I was using a .308 and it was one shot one kill. I know it was overkill and expensive but just what I took away with the observations I made over the weekend. NOT a fan anymore. Good for introducing young shooters into hunting maybe. BUT .223 in my opinion only for those with experience

There's something wrong if he taking 3 shot from a .223 to kill a wallaby.
The 55grn Hornady is a great pill for them cheap and hits them bloody hard

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Originally Posted by turtleSO

I don't have a lot of experience with hunting an animal with a.223. BUT have gone OFF the idea. Surely a calibre needs shot placement to be successful is a failure for ethical hunting of large animals. I recently was involved in wallaby shooting with thermals as it was the only way you were going to see enough and my partner had a .223 and needed 3 shots sometimes before we could confirm whether it was worth the effort of recovery. I was using a .308 and it was one shot one kill. I know it was overkill and expensive but just what I took away with the observations I made over the weekend. NOT a fan anymore. Good for introducing young shooters into hunting maybe. BUT .223 in my opinion only for those with experience

Shot placement is a key part of ethical hunting irrespective of calibre ...

Hopefully I am Replying to "turtleSO' , new to forum. I have shot hundreds of deer with my .222 shooting 55gn HORNADY SPs . Everything up to sambar. Never neck shots on roaring stags. I used to cull roos in Australia legally with tags with the same setup.
If you hit them anywhere from the shoulder up they will go down . If your mate was taking 3 shots then he probably should also be using a .308 . ALL calibres need shot placement for ethical hunting of any animals.