The .223: The Most Underrated Deer Cartridge

The .223 Remington is one of the most popular centerfire cartridges in history and has seen renewed attention as a big-game round in recent years. The truth, however, is that it’s been a topic of discussion as a deer cartridge for many decades. While it’s been banned in some states under .243/6mm minimum regulations, it has been a mainstay in others — particularly in Texas and other southeastern states. 

The .223 is inherently accurate, ammo is affordable, and modern purpose-built bullets have elevated its effectiveness even further. The key here is that the .223 is fun and affordable to shoot. So deer hunters preparing for the season have no excuse to not practice shooting from field positions.

Shot opportunities can come, and disappear, in an instant when hunting the rut. You don’t want to be one of the many unprepared hunters who can’t get a shot off or, worse, whiff and make a bad shot. Meaningful practice is critical to seizing every opportunity, and very few magnum-cartridge-obsessed deer hunters will train with their rifle. This practice is even a little cost-prohibitive with cartridges like .30/06 and .270 if you’re buying factory ammo. 

For decades, many deer hunters have been using the .223 as their go-to deer-hunting cartridge  — maybe it’s something you should consider too.

Is the .223 Really Suitable for Deer?

Most hunters probably consider the .223 as a great plinking round that’s useful for prairie dogs and coyotes. You’ll even hear serious tournament coyote hunters disparage its killing effectiveness, so how could it be a good — or even reasonable — deer round? Are the scores of deer hunters that use it successfully wrong? The key to understanding that dichotomy is in the details, and it requires us to answer three questions:

• What bullets should or can we use?
• What are the situational parameters we are shooting within?
• What is our expectation for the animal’s reaction?

Deer Hunting Bullets for the .223 Remington

One of the most important factors for any hunting ammunition is using a bullet that will function appropriately on the intended game. For deer, that means a bullet that has a good balance of expansion and penetration. As it pertains to the .223, most common ammo for plinking — like FMJ — is not appropriate for shooting game. 

Though some varmint bullets have certainly been used with great success on deer, they’re designed for explosive expansion on smaller animals and can sometimes lack the penetration to assure quick, clean kills on deer. Traditional monolithic hollow points offer much better penetration and work well, but at the cost of somewhat narrow wound channels. 

Some of the best options are heavier tipped, lead-core bullets that offer dramatic expansion that is controlled by a thicker jacket. These offer the expansion that causes larger wound cavities but will often penetrate deeply enough to pass through a deer entirely.

Ethical Shooting Parameters for Deer Hunting with a .223

No matter the cartridge, there are some things that we should strive to understand as hunters. One of those is the set of parameters or conditions that we can effectively and ethically take a shot. For many years, we focused on the kinetic energy of a bullet at the muzzle and downrange. But that’s not a very useful metric to look at. We simply can’t articulate how a certain level of retained energy will influence a bullet’s killing ability, because there are more important factors.

A more valuable metric to consider is simply impact velocity. With doppler-verified BCs and chronographs that are better than ever, we can precisely predict impact velocities at different distances. Paired with knowing the velocity window in which our hunting bullet of choice is designed to work, impact velocity can give us a realistic expectation of how far our bullet will produce adequate wound channels. Though many bullets will expand reliably between 1,600 and 1,800 fps, setting a threshold of around 2,000 fps for a smaller cartridge like a .223 will ensure proper performance with a healthy factor of safety.

Considering that impacts at 2,000 fps and greater will result in decisive bullet function, most heavier .223 bullets are within their effective zone to 300 yards — sometimes to 400. For most deer hunters, especially Eastern and Midwestern whitetail hunters, that means that any realistic shot opportunity would be within the capability of the cartridge and bullet. With a reasonably-chosen shot, a modest 10 to 12 inches of penetration will pass completely through the vital organs. Quality bullets in the 69- to 80-grain range are more than capable of this.

Realistic Expectations for Hunting Deer with a .223

A big part of what influences many of our opinions as hunters is our expectation of what should happen when we shoot an animal. This is perfectly illustrated by many hunters who don’t bat an eye when an arrowed deer runs off and expires from a perfect shot, yet believe anything less than instant incapacitation from a rifle shot to equal cartridge or bullet inadequacy. That’s simply not a realistic expectation.

Whether an animal drops at the shot or not usually has much more to do with bullet placement than cartridge or caliber. There are hunters that both understand this and need deer to drop in place — and they are specifically aiming to break the spine. That’s the only way it works. Large calibers often won’t instantly incapacitate a deer — even in videos of hunters using a .50 BMG. Either a high-shoulder shot where the spine dips between the scapulas, or a shot in the neck will drop deer in their tracks. The downside is that it’s a small target and easy to miss. Many hunters have stunned a deer only to have it get back up and run off. If this is your method, you need to be accurate and able to quickly place a follow-up shot.

I’m a fan of a double-lung shot for all critters. They will almost always run off, but never very far. It’s a shot that offers a forgiving target size and one in which the .223 excels at the closer distances common to deer hunting. Larger bullets can sometimes offer more consistent exit wounds — something that some deer hunters believe makes blood trailing easier — but the deer and bears I’ve killed with these .224-cal bullets have all penetrated deeply and left good, trackable blood. 

Advantages the .223 Offers as a Deer Cartridge

Cost, accuracy, and shootability are the biggest advantages that the .223 gives the deer hunter. Cost is straightforward. Ammunition is plentiful, including cheap, great-shooting practice and hunting ammo. Rifles of different styles are abundant and accurate. 

Shootability is simple, but often misunderstood. Lack of recoil is a big attribute of the .223. That makes it physically and mentally easier to shoot well than a lot of other cartridges. Some hunters, particularly ones with a disdain for smaller cartridges, interpret recoil management as simply being able to withstand a pounding without being hurt or developing an obvious flinch. The truth has a lot more detail and less ego. We can shoot lighter recoiling cartridges better, plain and simple.

Through both low cost and exceptional shootability, a hunter can more easily practice and develop the skills with their rifle to maximize precision, spot impacts, and potentially make a follow-up shot more effectively with the .223 than many other options. This is especially true for deer hunters in dynamic shooting situations. For example, in the rut bucks are typically on the move, and hunters don’t have time to set up a perfectly stable shooting position. Shots are often at short range and need to be made off-hand, bracing against a tree, or while resting the rifle on a treestand rail. You may have only seconds to set up and execute your shot, and your success can depend on your speed and precision. In all of these scenarios, it’s easier to make quick, accurate shots with a handy, light-recoiling rifle. 

For most people, working through a box of larger cartridges per range session is a chore that’s both physically and cost prohibitive. It’s much easier to get productive practice with a .223. 

Red Tape

The .223 isn’t legal for deer hunting in every state or area — something that naysayers will say points to its inadequacy for big game. 

Though you need to follow the laws and regulations where you’re hunting, those prohibitions don’t mean much as far as the .223’s effectiveness. Many of those restrictions were put in place by boards and regulating bodies that were just doing the best they could with the information they had at the time. 

Final Thoughts on the .223 as a Deer Cartridge

I don’t think that every hunter should ditch their .30/30, .350 Legend, or 6.5 Creedmoor for a .223 to hunt deer with, but it’s one of the least-credited, most overlooked options. You can get a budget-priced rig like a Ruger American Gen II, Savage 110, put together a purpose-built gas gun, or find the ultimate all-around lightweight rifle like the NULA 20S. Pair that with appropriate ammo that’s designed for good penetration and consistent expansion and you won’t be giving up nearly as much as you think.