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

Your dog is a lot more methodical than mine. My dog runs around like a nut, takes off, mostly winding. But she gets it done and comes back to get me to show me where it is.

She tracked her first deer at 9 months. No blood and in a tough spot to find. I was convinced she was confused and headed in the wrong direction...I was the one heading in the wrong direction.
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Nice. In that vid my dog was on a tracking line to keep her steady. I keep a length of paracord on me for it.
 
Up to four deer now with this combo. Combination of smaller whitetails all the way to a large mule deer buck. 77 TMK mv around 2900 fps. Damage seems very close to a 243 or similar 6mm with soft points imo. Small sample size still! I have recovered two bullets. One was at almost 400 yards and the other was somewhere around a 75 yard shot. All shots have been heart ,lungs or liver. Bullets seem to not exit but make it all the way to the far side skin on broadside shots. Torn on whether I want to try a faster combo with the 88 eldm or just enjoy my fast 6's. Both bullets reliably expanded and ended up being about half an inch in diameter!
 

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77 TMK, 223, 1870 FPS impact velocity. Bullet was found underneath the hide on the offside.

An incredible amount of destruction in a little bullet.

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That is odd... I have shot many bucks that look like that. But when I get to them, ground shrinkage has kicked in. You must have gotten to your buck quick! (Before the ground shrinkage kicked in!) Very nice buck!
 
77 TMK, 223, 1870 FPS impact velocity. Bullet was found underneath the hide on the offside.

An incredible amount of destruction in a little bullet.

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Bullet didn’t exit.
No blood trail.
Bullet is not large enough in diameter to be ethical for deer.
Too much meat damage.

Edit - it is a stupendous deer. Nicely done. And I hope you are picking up the sarcasm, because I am laying it on pretty thick.
 
5th and 6th data point, 75gr speer gold dots 75 yards. Both exited but no blood. No autopsies this time.

Group of 7 does ran into a field and I whistled to get them to stop. Shot one and she ran 10ft and fell at the field edge. The rest kinda stood there bewildered, and number 2 got the pill. ran 10ft and fell at the field edge.

Love fast follow up shots and the can.

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No blood? Whats that red stuff around the bullet holes? Can't complain about 10 feet.
 
I used to think exactly the same way but this is false.

Can I get prone and shoot a 338 Lapua very well? Yes I can.

Can I shoot a 223 better consistently? Yes

Go try it in multiple field positions and see if you change your mind as I did.
A mid weight 7MM RM and 150 grain ballistic tips loaded to a bit over 3000 fps is not a 338 Lapua but I have very seldom had to fire more than one shot at a game animal, rarely two. My ability to shoot that rifle does not diminish inside of 20 shots.
 
4th 223 data point for me, whitetail buck i shot last night with speer gold dots. Im 4 for 4 on kills, 2 for 4 on exit holes. Kind of a mystery what exactly happened but i got stupid lucky and found him.

First shot was at last light ~15 yards away. He was on a scrape and i had to shoot through some leaves and must have hit a limb and my bullet deflected way back just in front of the ham (luckily no meat damage). He was sligtly quartered away but this is a crazy poa vs poi shift. Gun is zeroed and the second shot went where it was suppose to. Who knows. Guts were exploded big time and super ripe after sitting all night but i just had to look in his chest to investigate the second hole. You people have turned me into a forensics freak.
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He ran about 40 yards and wheeled right. I managed to stop him with a wistle and had a narrow window to put another one in him (big woohoo for quick follow up shots!) steeply quartered away. I have no idea how, but it looks like the bullet entered the hide and zipped up towards the shoulder while fragmenting, then tucked behind shoulder and barely punched into the rib cage and had a few fragments get into the lungs. Bullet was recovered and is shown below. Wild. I cant understand how that big ole chunk of retained mass got caught but them little bitty fragments made it through.
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No blood last night, so i came back this morning. No idea total distance or time on his feet but he must have circled back during the night after I left. I guess the good Lord let him die about 10 yards behind my stand just so i could find him :D Cant believe the coyotes or bears didnt get him.

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How fast are your bullets going at the muzzle?
 
Entry/exit on a doe point blank with 77tmk. First shot/kill with a 223 ranahan….and first time taking my son out. Impressed with the expansion considering the clean entry.

Still taking my 300wsm out when hunting elk ;)

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Entry/exit on a doe point blank with 77tmk. First shot/kill with a 223 ranahan….and first time taking my son out. Impressed with the expansion considering the clean entry.

Still taking my 300wsm out when hunting elk ;)

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Great pic with your son.

How do you like the Ranahan sights? Were they adjusted properly out of the box? How far do think you would confidently shoot game with them? I've been kicking around picking one up in 350 Legend as I'm in a straight wall state.
 
No blood? Whats that red stuff around the bullet holes? Can't complain about 10 feet.
Sorry, I should have been more specific with my words.

Some blood exited the body cavity - not enough to follow a trail IF they had not fallen in sight. Most of the blood in the picture is from blood squirting out after dragging it

Not complaining - happy with 10ft. just stating observations.
How fast are your bullets going at the muzzle?
No idea - I don't have a chrono or a place to true velocity, but its a 16" barrel shooting factory Speer Gold Dots 75gr so ball park 2600ish? Their website advertises 2775 and I'm assuming that's either a 20 or 22" barrel
 
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