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

[Bryant]

Shot with 77tmk 223ai at about 80 yards. Deer ran about 60 yard. No exit. Jacket was balled up on off side hide. No blood at all. Where I hunt you need blood trails if you don’t drop them in there tracks. The bullet did its job but i want exits and blood in the thick stuff I hunt in. If this deer had been shot at last light she would have been very hard to find.

223 for deer sized game might be fine for wide open country but not in southern thickets IMO.

I’m probably not gonna be shooting anymore deer with this 223ai. Maybe a hog here or there. If I loose a hog I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it. Coyotes sure.

 

[LCV]

Shot with 77tmk 223ai at about 80 yards. Deer ran about 60 yard. No exit. Jacket was balled up on off side hide. No blood at all. Where I hunt you need blood trails if you don’t drop them in there tracks. The bullet did its job but i want exits and blood in the thick stuff I hunt in. If this deer had been shot at last light she would have been very hard to find.

223 for deer sized game might be fine for wide open country but not in southern thickets IMO.

I’m probably not gonna be shooting anymore deer with this 223ai. Maybe a hog here or there. If I loose a hog I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it. Coyotes sure.

It’s not a big muley but I had a chance to test out my new Tikka T3X .223. I’m shooting 75 grain Gold Dots because that’s all I’ve been able to get my hands on. Hoping to test it out again on antelope this week.

228 yards. Dropped in its tracks. Broke one shoulder and exited out the other side. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I probably would have never even thought to use a .223 for deer or antelope if my being honest. It’s helped my shooting a ton with all the practice.
View attachment 223925
View attachment 223926
View attachment 223927

Couldn’t you just use a bullet that exits if that’s your priority?

 

[Bryant]

Couldn’t you just use a bullet that exits if that’s your priority?

I might try the gold dots on hogs. I love the 65 sgk on small hogs. But you can’t get them at the moment.

Don’t get me wrong the 223 is a killer with good bullets and at reasonable ranges and if for some reason that’s all I had at my disposal I would shoot the heck out of stuff with it. But I’m my experience it doesn’t have the ass to break offside skin reliably (at least with the bullets I have tried) and that an issue in thick stuff.

I have killed a trainload of pigs with a AR and 65s or 55 grain bullets but for us on our farm they are pest and we rarely even try to recover them if they run. Small pigs usually don’t get far though. If I’m going after a big one that I know about I bring a 30-06 or something like that.

 

[Formidilosus]

Shot with 77tmk 223ai at about 80 yards. Deer ran about 60 yard. No exit. Jacket was balled up on off side hide. No blood at all. Where I hunt you need blood trails if you don’t drop them in there tracks. The bullet did its job but i want exits and blood in the thick stuff I hunt in. If this deer had been shot at last light she would have been very hard to find.

223 for deer sized game might be fine for wide open country but not in southern thickets IMO.

I’m probably not gonna be shooting anymore deer with this 223ai. Maybe a hog here or there. If I loose a hog I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it. Coyotes sure.

The first 60-70 deer I shot with TMK’s were in some of the thickest, nastiest briar thickets and laurel patches in the SE. Most exited, some didn't- just like with nearly all bullets and calibers.

 

[robtattoo]

CHEAP RANGE BULLET ALERT!!!

Factory Second Match Bullets 22 Cal (224 Diameter) 77 Grain Hollow

MidwayUSA has just made a huge purchase of blemished bullets and we are passing the savings to our customers. Blemished bullets are bulk-packaged,...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[DangerRanger]

The first 60-70 deer I shot with TMK’s were in some of the thickest, nastiest briar thickets and laurel patches in the SE. Most exited, some didn't- just like with nearly all bullets and calibers.

180 grain super x from a 30 by god 06 that couldn’t exit a SE whitetail

 

[Nomosendero]

Pretty thou !

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

What range do y’all limit yourselves to on deer? I have a Tikka that shoots 73 grain ELDM quite nicely. MV is around 2,800.

I’ve killed a lot of deer with 90 grain SST out of .243s quite a ways out there. Probably further than most would feel comfortable with.

Wondering if there is a generic “threshold” you guys use for the smaller bullets. I don’t use “energy” numbers, looking more for real world longer range kills.

 

[nuffgun]

Whatever range the bullet hits 1800fps. That seems to be the minimum velocity for reliable expansion on most tipped match bullets.

 

[Lawnboi]

What range do y’all limit yourselves to on deer? I have a Tikka that shoots 73 grain ELDM quite nicely. MV is around 2,800.

I’ve killed a lot of deer with 90 grain SST out of .243s quite a ways out there. Probably further than most would feel comfortable with.

Wondering if there is a generic “threshold” you guys use for the smaller bullets. I don’t use “energy” numbers, looking more for real world longer range kills.

With the 223 it’s more about wind performance for me. It’s a 4mph rifle, at 400 yards a mile and hour moves it a tenth. I lose my ability to make a good wind call comfortably before the bullet reaches 1800fps.

For me the line is around 350.

 

[Tahr]

In my experience (and I have plenty - 75 years old and still shooting 70 deer a year) there isn't a .224 bullet that will reliably exit and leave a blood trail. There are just too many variables. The same can be said for larger calibers too although for me the best has been Nosler BT's - but still not reliably. My advice is to stick to the soft and heavy .224 bullets and work on your tracking skills. There doesn't need to be blood to successfully track and find a shot deer. A calm approach, a scuff here, a broken branch there, a tiny spot of blood, pushed aside undergrowth, flattened grass, the deer smell. Even in the absence of those signs a hillar hit deer with the likes of the 77 TMK will on average only travel 30 yards and at the most 100 so a carefully planned and executed grid search should come up trumps. There will be exceptions but there will be with a 50 cal too.

 

[Randle]

What are the experiences with 64 TGk?

 

[Tahr]

What are the experiences with 64 TGk?

I tried them. Tricky to get to shoot. Behave very similar to the 64 Nosler BSB. Reliable pass throughs but don't expect reliable blood trails. Slower killing than the 69 grn TMK. The 69 TMK is far superior.

 

[JJ3]

Well....we finished deer season in NWGA yesterday. On Saturday my 16y son got a 80lb button and a 100lb doe at 80ish yards with a 18" AR and 77TMK over 23.6 of XBR. He was sitting in a old lounge chair on the back porch of an abandon farm house where we hunt shooting off sticks.

The button was broad side high shoulder, dropped on spot with golf ball size hole in offside shoulder meat. The doe was a spine shot half way through the backstrap same golf ball size exit hole. She flopped about 3' over and kicked for a few min. We had to let the blood drain from her before going in the polaris to reduce the mess.

So for the season we got a 180lb mature buck with a 73 ELD out of a 10.5" , 80lb button buck with 77 TMK and 100lb doe with 77 TMK out of 18". Longest run was 30yds from the bigger buck, shortest was 0yd from the little buck. My son also harvested a 120ish lb 8pt last year with the 18" AR and 55 soft point....he ran 30ish yards also.

My hunting mentor, God love him, is a fudd. 308 with barnes or 45/70 PERIOD. Anything "less" is stupid. He has started coming around to the 300 blackout barnes combo after the last couple years and after this year he was silent on way home about the 77TMK. Thats a win at this point haha.

My experience is 223 worksif I make good shots. I can make good shots if I practice with my rifle. I can, and will practice with my rifle if I enjoy shooting it. I enjoy shooting my rifle that has low recoil, is precise enough to make hits where I expect it too and doesnt break the bank to shoot.

For exits and blood trails I agree its extremely variable and Im better suited to improve on my skills of patience, marksmanship and tracking. And get a good dog.

 

[Jimbee]

Both a little over 100yds, one neck shot and one heart shot. 77tmk. 2500ish fps impact. Heart shot went about 50yds with no blood trail. Heart was shredded.

 

[jofes]

Does anyone have any real world experience with the OTMs/SMKs vs the TMKs performance on deer? From my minimal experience the OTMs performed very similar but again, sample size is lacking.

 

[gman82001]

Does anyone have any real world experience with the OTMs/SMKs vs the TMKs performance on deer? From my minimal experience the OTMs performed very similar but again, sample size is lacking.

It’s talked about quite a bit in this thread, some have had decent luck but it’s not a given that the bullet opens like a tmk. Lots of talk of them penciling through.


Consensus seems to be practice with otm and use a polymer tipped match bullet for hunting because that’s what reliably starts the bullets opening performance on tissue

 

[JJ3]

Well....we finished deer season in NWGA yesterday. On Saturday my 16y son got a 80lb button and a 100lb doe at 80ish yards with a 18" AR and 77TMK over 23.6 of XBR. He was sitting in a old lounge chair on the back porch of an abandon farm house where we hunt shooting off sticks.

The button was broad side high shoulder, dropped on spot with golf ball size hole in offside shoulder meat. The doe was a spine shot half way through the backstrap same golf ball size exit hole. She flopped about 3' over and kicked for a few min. We had to let the blood drain from her before going in the polaris to reduce the mess.

So for the season we got a 180lb mature buck with a 73 ELD out of a 10.5" , 80lb button buck with 77 TMK and 100lb doe with 77 TMK out of 18". Longest run was 30yds from the bigger buck, shortest was 0yd from the little buck. My son also harvested a 120ish lb 8pt last year with the 18" AR and 55 soft point....he ran 30ish yards also.

My hunting mentor, God love him, is a fudd. 308 with barnes or 45/70 PERIOD. Anything "less" is stupid. He has started coming around to the 300 blackout barnes combo after the last couple years and after this year he was silent on way home about the 77TMK. Thats a win at this point haha.

My experience is 223 worksif I make good shots. I can make good shots if I practice with my rifle. I can, and will practice with my rifle if I enjoy shooting it. I enjoy shooting my rifle that has low recoil, is precise enough to make hits where I expect it too and doesnt break the bank to shoot.

For exits and blood trails I agree its extremely variable and Im better suited to improve on my skills of patience, marksmanship and tracking. And get a good dog.

Pics added…we are really bad a taking pics as you can see. We also do gutless cleaning so very rarely do we inspect internal damage or hunt for bullets.

 

[H80Hunter]

I’m sorry I don’t see a simple answer, but I did my part and bought the gun. What’s the best choice for factory ammo? Leaning toward the 73 gr ELDM but I’m hoping someone can let me know if I’m making a mistake there.

 

[H80Hunter]

I don’t see them anywhere. Any ideas? I should have added, this will be a trainer primarily but I want something I can shoot a deer with so from what I’ve found the 77 SMKs aren’t a great choice.