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

[C_chats_choots]

i would grid search if you know you hit vitals. i have only had one deer run that i know i hit, i tagged him 1 or 2 more times within 40yds and then that was it. the other 10 didnt move a step. one this year i hit a little high on the high shoulder. she was actually alive after 1.5hrs. no blood on the ground either. that would be my biggest concern. deer that drop wont have time to bleed tho, so i dont have any personal tracking data. dad head shot one with the tmk, idk what part got hit, but it got up on its feet with its head hanging too heavy. all i can say is ill keep using the 77 tmk if i can shoot accurately.

We did some strategic walking in the woods for a few hours and couldn’t find anything else. Just part of hunting in the thicker stuff in Louisiana.

I’ll be giving the TMK at least one more chance, but I’ll be setup better for follow up shots. Made the rookie mistake of having my scope magnified too much to make and easy follow up.


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[C_chats_choots]

if it was me... I'd be calling every friend that has a dog to help.. depends on what is legal where you hunt thou...

Only friend with proven dogs is a few hours away. My dog has tracked some, but he’s not experienced enough to trust 100%. For example, he was on the trail of this deer, then started trying to fight an armadillo.


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[deer_hunter132]

We did some strategic walking in the woods for a few hours and couldn’t find anything else. Just part of hunting in the thicker stuff in Louisiana.

I’ll be giving the TMK at least one more chance, but I’ll be setup better for follow up shots. Made the rookie mistake of having my scope magnified too much to make and easy follow up.


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a local, cool! sent you a dm

 

[RockAndSage]

The shoulder meat was still ruined all the same.

Not trying to be combative here man, but if the bullet ruined an entire set of shoulders...what more would you have wanted, besides better shot placement?

Sincerely, I've seen deer bolt 100+ yards with shots from .300 WinMags that liquify their lungs, too.

 

[goalie]

Not trying to be combative here man, but if the bullet ruined an entire set of shoulders...what more would you have wanted, besides better shot placement?

Sincerely, I've seen deer bolt 100+ yards with shots from .300 WinMags that liquify their lungs, too.

For some people, a blood trail.

That said, I'm mainly hunting 5.56/223 and have had no issues on big norther MN deer in woods.

 

[FredH]

Im up to 8 total data points now
The first one was a poor shot and hit too far forward, but still died around the 100ish yard mark. Its somewhere in this thread circa Nov/Dec 2024. 75gr eldm.

I shot one today that somehow made it around 100ish yards, heart was intact lungs had some damage but not as much carnage as usual. 75gr gold dot.

It seems liek if you heart shot them they go between 0-30yds max in my sample sizes.

Most interestingly thinh i noticed today, the two that ran the furthest had the best blood trails.

Here is pics from today.
View attachment 972728View attachment 972729View attachment 972730View attachment 972731

Not much damage there for sure. Placement being perfect makes a small gun look good though. My 22 ARC running the 80 gr. ELDM is up today. Man if I shoot one I hope it doesn't get down into the briar bottoms. Been rainy and muddy. Can't get a truck very close in. Actually thinking of doing the unspeakable, going out of the rifle rotation and using a 7-08.

 

[1000yards]

Not trying to be combative here man, but if the bullet ruined an entire set of shoulders...what more would you have wanted, besides better shot placement?

Sincerely, I've seen deer bolt 100+ yards with shots from .300 WinMags that liquify their lungs, too.

To qualify that statement on the shoulders being ruined, there is a difference in meat loss between a 30-06 that will RUIN the shoulders, and a 223 that will render the shoulders unusable. For me personally I'm not going to cut off small pieces of meat around a lead bullet's path to feed the young members of my family, so the results are the same (for me).

And yes I've also seen plenty of whitetail run an impressive distance without any heart or lungs, we all know they can do that. But if we're talking about a balanced scale between meat loss and time to incapacitation, I would prefer a load that performs on average on the 'dead quicker with more meat loss' side of the scale than what I just saw.

But it's just one deer. I'll shoot some more and see what happens. Am I making sense here?

 

[RockAndSage]

To qualify that statement on the shoulders being ruined, there is a difference in meat loss between a 30-06 that will RUIN the shoulders, and a 223 that will render the shoulders unusable. For me personally I'm not going to cut off small pieces of meat around a lead bullet's path to feed the young members of my family, so the results are the same (for me).

And yes I've also seen plenty of whitetail run an impressive distance without any heart or lungs, we all know they can do that. But if we're talking about a balanced scale between meat loss and time to incapacitation, I would prefer a load that performs on average on the 'dead quicker with more meat loss' side of the scale than what I just saw.

But it's just one deer. I'll shoot some more and see what happens. Am I making sense here?

Ah, gotcha. It does. And there's no replacement for getting out and just trying things like you're doing.

 

[BigThig09]

Popped my 5th victim so far with the green goblins yesterday evening. Large doe at 106 yards. My 7 year old daughter was sitting beside me and says she’s ready for the trigger now after watching it absolutely flatten that doe.

Interestingly enough, the first deer I’ve shot with the TMK that dropped, but when I say it was like lightning hit her I mean it. She never even flinched. Also the most damage I’ve seen from the TMK. Center of the shoulder, baseball sized hole in entry side ribs, opposite side ribs multiple smaller holes, and everything in between jellified beyond belief. No exit, but none needed.

I see a hobbit gun in 223 with TMKs in her future.