I absolutely love shooting an accurate and low recoiling .223 but I can’t ever see myself carrying one on a mule deer or elk hunt.
My kids and I have certainly killed several whitetail deer with a suppressed .223 off my back porch but our field of fire was limited to 220 yards.
No doubt a .223 with correct ammo is as lethal as anything when hitting the heart & lungs, but I would hate to be limited to 450 yard shots and these little bullets get blown around bad as distance increases on a windy day.
I am curious to know how many people use a .223 as their first choice for mule deer & elk rifle when a step up to a 6.5 w/140+ grain bullets would basically double their effective range.
BP