.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[benconfused]

I finally get to contribute to this groundbreaking thread! Or rather, my daughter gets to contribute.

Tikka t3x 223 with an LS wild 18” 223 wylde barrel.
KRG Bravo.
AB a10 556 can.
Swfa 3-9

Shooting 80gr eldm over 24.5gr Varget. Lapua brass. 2750fps.

My 11 year old daughter’s first deer hunt with her own tag. I was just praying for her to have a good experience….
Rain started at midnight.
We woke up and glassed a small herd of does 800yds from camp. They were in a spot where we would need to loop around a small hilltop to get into position. It would require bushwhacking through soaking wet alders.

We started hiking, got into the spot we had planned after about an hour.

Saw the group feeding at 300yds. Worked to a small crest and set up the shot. Dialed 0.6mil elevation. She had her scope set to 6x. She picked out the doe she wanted and waited until she turned broadside.

I’m on the binoculars ready to help if she needs it.
She Fired a single shot. She has a suppressor, so I hear the hiss from the suppressor, and then a spit second later the thwack of the bullet hitting the doe.
Doe drops, then cartwheels, and dies 10yds from where my daughter shot her. Less then 30 seconds from start to finish. The rest of the herd just stands around on alert, but not sure what to make of the commotion.

My girl stayed locked in on the deer through the scope while the gun recoiled. No flinch at all.
Then she coolly racked the bolt and was ready for a follow up shot, that was never needed. All that practice payed off.

Final distance ended up about 230-240yds. The heart and lungs were jelly. Lung tissue poking out. Impact velocity about 2300. When I pulled the shoulder off, there was about 2” hole in the onside rib cage. Mult broken ribs.
Offside rib cage also had 2” hole.

No pictures of the wounds since we were literally butchering the deer in a mountaintop hurricane. Snow came in during the pack out.

My 11year old daughter was feeling wet and getting down on herself. But she dug deep, persevered, had success, and is now so proud of what she accomplished! She was all smiles on the drive back.

I just ordered this same barrel. Glad to hear of your succes!

 

[Dust Rider]

77gr. TMK. Black Hills factory ammo. 360 yards. One shot, small run and piled up quick. Bullet got lungs and punched through opposite side leg. No bullet recovered.
My son shot two deer on MT youth hunt with the same bullet and set up. He claimed my first Tikka T3X .223. I just had to put together another! I will get his posted up later. Bonus: the Scythe didn’t blow up on 3 animals!

 

[nm.otter]

Interesting spreader bar...

 

[Grizzle]

Sounds like if you can get the 88s to shoot they kill very well. My gun seems to like the 88s and I was planning on trying to load the 80eldx since its been mentioned they have better or more reliable terminal performance but seeing the results guys are getting with the 88s I will run them for my next couple hunts. Moose, muley, and whitetail coming up in a couple weeks, at some point I'll try the 80x but I've got this set up dialed in and would rather not rush a load development before my trip. Has anyone actually had a failure to upset with the 88 or any other "failures" or is it just a case of the 88s performing good on game and the 80x just a little gooder?

 

[Dust Rider]

Interesting spreader bar...

Outdoor Edge Steel Stick rib cage spreader. Cheap, easy to clean, clean in animal and no looking for sticks in field to open up chest cavity for rapid cooling down.

 

[Rydinef]

To reduce over penetration risk in LE and Mil use.

Have they done this with any other caliber? Only wondering as my son is young and doesn’t handle heavier recoil well, but we can’t legally hunt with 223 in my state

 

[Formidilosus]

Have they done this with any other caliber? Only wondering as my son is young and doesn’t handle heavier recoil well, but we can’t legally hunt with 223 in my state

The 110gr Blacktip 30cal for the 300blackout

 

[Rydinef]

The 110gr Blacktip 30cal for the 300blackout

Awesome I’ll give it a try. Current plan was 130 ttsx in the 308 i have, but may have to set up the rem micro 7 i have for him

 

[nm.otter]

Outdoor Edge Steel Stick rib cage spreader.

Thanks!

Looks like they no longer sell these separately -- I'm only seeing them in butchering kits.

 

[omicron1792]

Awesome I’ll give it a try. Current plan was 130 ttsx in the 308 i have, but may have to set up the rem micro 7 i have for him

@form usually recommends the best ammo for each weight. I personally don’t like the TSX.

 

[robtattoo]

Thanks!

Looks like they no longer sell these separately -- I'm only seeing them in butchering kits.

Outdoor Edge Steel Stick Brisket SpreaderDefault Title

Push the lock button and the SwingBlade® changes from a drop-point skinner to the ultimate gutting blade to open game like a zipper! Guides and professional hunters around the world prefer Outdoor Edge’s signature gutting blade because it cuts underneath the skin without cutting hair, and the...

eaglevalleycutlery.com

Super handy thing to have. I didn't use the one that came in my kit for years, until I did. Now I use it on everything!

 

[Rydinef]

@form usually recommends the best ammo for each weight. I personally don’t like the TSX.

Definitely gonna try the black tip in 300 blk. Was only gonna try the ttsx’s because I’ve got some left over from a 30-06 load that I had pretty good results with. That also may have been mostly due to the speed they were leaving at

 

[Matt5266]

Definitely gonna try the black tip in 300 blk. Was only gonna try the ttsx’s because I’ve got some left over from a 30-06 load that I had pretty good results with. That also may have been mostly due to the speed they were leaving at

Do you reload? I have some brand new id sell

 

[Dust Rider]

Montana youth hunt was good for my 13 year old son. He smoked a WT doe @ 360 yards using his (mine) commandeered Tikka T3X .223. Black Hills factory 77gr TMK. One shot double lunged her. He shot kneeling using the Spartan Ascent tripod. She ran 20 yards and piled up.
We only had one day on this ranch for the youth hunt and the propertys owners rule is you must shoot a doe before a buck...so the boy shot a doe and then it was game on for a buck. He toughed it out for 3 more hours and before last legal shooting light a buck comes into range at 215 yards. Shoot, reload, shoot again off the Spartan tripod ( plug for Paul @Happy Antelope) and a funky 10 point is dead in the stubble! Bucks left rack is non typical from injury and it is very unique and perfect for sons first WT buck. He passed 2 spikes and 3 fork horns waiting for something as big as the one his sister shot last year.
Crazy day with rain, snow, sun and beautiful country. We saw over a hundred WT deer, 10 Mule deer, 30 turkeys, a cow moose with twins, Hungarian Partridge, and Pheasants. It was one of the most fun and exciting days hunting I have ever had.
It was also crazy that my antelope from two days before was the same distance ranged as my sons deer. Bonus: the Scythe didnt blow up! Three animals in three days and its still intact!

 

[Pharmseller]

Well done!

 

[Broomd]

What exactly is that reason?

By “anchor”, I assume you mean dropped in its tracks upon impact. What cartridge and bullet combo are you using that will “anchor” an animal 100% of the time? Obviously not counting spine/head shots, as even a .22 lr will drop an elk with a headshot.

Well the places you can't use em are thick so you need "knock down power" of course. /s

Meh, I avoid banter with trolls...my time is too valuable.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Have they done this with any other caliber? Only wondering as my son is young and doesn’t handle heavier recoil well, but we can’t legally hunt with 223 in my state

Hornady makes a 110 30cal load as well with their Vmax bullet.

 

[BigWoods]

I'm strongly considering buying a Gen 2 Ruger American in either 5.56 (Ranch model) or .223 (standard) with the possibility of adding a can sometime down the road. I already have a gen 1 in 7.62x39 but another rifle for affordable trigger time and deer hunting would be good with more of my four kids wanting to get out. I'm leaning towards the standard 20" model as it would pick up a bit of velocity, be slightly quieter, and well, I like the looks more.

Knowing that the Tikkas are well loved here, I'll just say that I owned one a decade ago. Extremely accurate and great trigger, but the ergos just never did it for me. That rifle was responsible for lots of deer.

A couple questions:
Does anyone have experience shooting 5.56 through Rugers chambered in .223? Any overpressure signs? If they aren't good for 5.56 Ill just opt for the Ranch.

Second, what are some recommendations for relatively budget friendly cans? That would be a whole new world for me but the elimination of the few makes it much more appealing.

 

[omicron1792]

I'm strongly considering buying a Gen 2 Ruger American in either 5.56 (Ranch model) or .223 (standard) with the possibility of adding a can sometime down the road. I already have a gen 1 in 7.62x39 but another rifle for affordable trigger time and deer hunting would be good with more of my four kids wanting to get out. I'm leaning towards the standard 20" model as it would pick up a bit of velocity, be slightly quieter, and well, I like the looks more.

Knowing that the Tiikkas are well loved her, I'll just say that I owned one a decade ago. Extremely accurate and great trigger, but the ergos just never did it for me. That rifle was responsible for lots of deer.

A couple questions:
Does anyone have experience shooting 5.56 through Rugers chambered in .223? Any overpressure signs? If they aren't good for 5.56 Ill just opt for the Ranch.

Second, what are some recommendations for relatively budget friendly cans? That would be a whole new world for me but the elimination of the few makes it much more appealing.

The AB A-10 5.56 or 7.62 can both be had for around 400 dollars and would work great on that setup. I have the 5.56 full time on my AR and it works great, especially for the money.

 

[waterengineer]

I'm strongly considering buying a Gen 2 Ruger American in either 5.56 (Ranch model) or .223 (standard) with the possibility of adding a can sometime down the road. I already have a gen 1 in 7.62x39 but another rifle for affordable trigger time and deer hunting would be good with more of my four kids wanting to get out. I'm leaning towards the standard 20" model as it would pick up a bit of velocity, be slightly quieter, and well, I like the looks more.

Knowing that the Tiikkas are well loved her, I'll just say that I owned one a decade ago. Extremely accurate and great trigger, but the ergos just never did it for me. That rifle was responsible for lots of deer.

A couple questions:
Does anyone have experience shooting 5.56 through Rugers chambered in .223? Any overpressure signs? If they aren't good for 5.56 Ill just opt for the Ranch.

Second, what are some recommendations for relatively budget friendly cans? That would be a whole new world for me but the elimination of the few makes it much more appealing.

The OCL Polonium and Polonium K are budget 5.56 cans that seem to perform well. The downside is they are heavy.