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5.56 for deer?

4x4orbust

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2020
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I go up to northern Maine every year and hunt, I always sling my trusty 30-30, and have taken many deer with it.
this year I picked up some 5 round mags for the ar, and I was thinking of bringing it up with me to carry for a day or two in the woods.

what ammo would be suggested for hunting big deer? I do not reload. I really like Hornady for my 30-30, but don’t know where to start with the 5.56
 
Nosler Partition 60 gr, Barnes TSX 55-70 gr, Winchester 64 gr. The .223 would not be my choice for deer when you’ve got a more suitable choice. It it however commonly used for kids in the 50 yd broadside in a field scenario.

It’s common in TX and FL, but deer are 120-160 lbs. I would not use it on 200lb+ deer. Check local regs also, many states have minimum caliber diameters in addition to stuff like the 5rd semi-auto restrictions.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
Nosler Partition 60 gr, Barnes TSX 55-70 gr, Winchester 64 gr. The .223 would not be my choice for deer when you’ve got a more suitable choice. It it however commonly used for kids in the 50 yd broadside in a field scenario.

It’s common in TX and FL, but deer are 120-160 lbs. I would not use it on 200lb+ deer. Check local regs also, many states have minimum caliber diameters in addition to stuff like the 5rd semi-auto restrictions.
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maine regulations state no .17 or .22 rimfire, but allow .22 magnum for deer.
I know it’s not the ideal caliber for large deer, and I do have more suitable calibers. But I’ll try anything twice.

got this deer last year, about 35 yards out, with the 30-30. Weighed in around 180 dressed

photo23992.jpg
 
Down south yes. In the northeast where we have real deer no.
 
I personally wouldn’t want to hunt deer with 5.56 or .223 but if it’s legal I guess why not. It’s actually kind of blowing my mind that they allow .22mag for deer.

The reason I question it is I’ve seen dozens of deer shot in the heart with a 12ga slug or a 1-1/2” diameter broad head run for 2-300 yards or more and the only way we found them was the blood trail. When you get to those smaller calibers I’d think you’d be looking at head shots only, and around here that’s taboo because everyone is hunting for horn porn, not the meat.

*edit - the way group hunts are done in Iowa for gun season I wouldn’t want to use those small calibers. Hunting by myself and using head shots I’d probably give it a whirl.
 
Tin Roof said:
I personally wouldn’t want to hunt deer with 5.56 or .223 but if it’s legal I guess why not. It’s actually kind of blowing my mind that they allow .22mag for deer.

The reason I question it is I’ve seen dozens of deer shot in the heart with a 12ga slug or a 1-1/2” diameter broad head run for 2-300 yards or more and the only way we found them was the blood trail. When you get to those smaller calibers I’d think you’d be looking at head shots only, and around here that’s taboo because everyone is hunting for horn porn, not the meat.

*edit - the way group hunts are done in Iowa for gun season I wouldn’t want to use those small calibers. Hunting by myself and using head shots I’d probably give it a whirl.
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I usually still hunt by myself up there. I figured it would be something fun to try, and if I don’t have a clean shot I don’t take it. I hunt for meat, not trophies, so I want to be sure what I fire at I’m going to take home. I guess thinking about it that way, maybe the ar isn’t a good choice.
I still want to try it, I just didn’t know which ammo would be heavy enough to do some damage to a large deer and give me the best results
 
I've shot several southern white tails <150 lbs with V-Max 60g. All under 150 yrds and dropped them all where they stood first shot.
 
Tin Roof said:
I personally wouldn’t want to hunt deer with 5.56 or .223 but if it’s legal I guess why not. It’s actually kind of blowing my mind that they allow .22mag for deer.

The reason I question it is I’ve seen dozens of deer shot in the heart with a 12ga slug or a 1-1/2” diameter broad head run for 2-300 yards or more and the only way we found them was the blood trail. When you get to those smaller calibers I’d think you’d be looking at head shots only, and around here that’s taboo because everyone is hunting for horn porn, not the meat.

*edit - the way group hunts are done in Iowa for gun season I wouldn’t want to use those small calibers. Hunting by myself and using head shots I’d probably give it a whirl.
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Have you ever seen the wound channel from a 5.56? It creates a large wound channel which then collapses back on itself. It will cause a bleed out faster than a lot of larger calibers.
 
what people fail to realize is that many deer were shot and killed with the .222 before the 223 was widely available. Then, after that, people were hunting with the 223 for many years.

only in the age of the internet, and the lies that it perpetuates, have we all needed a 300 WSM or larger for thin-skinned game animals in NA.

on top of that, bullet tech has made leaps and bounds in the last 15 years. shoot well with the 223 and itll be fine, but choose the right bullet.
 
Stuck said:
Have you ever seen the wound channel from a 5.56? It creates a large wound channel which then collapses back on itself. It will cause a bleed out faster than a lot of larger calibers.
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Honestly, no I haven't. Like I said though, I'd give it a try in a normal one on one hunting situation. Our shotgun season guys would lose a lot of deer in their typical deer drives if the deer wasn't dropping within 100 yards. It's amazing how far a shot deer will go on an adrenaline rush.
 
Texas97 said:
what people fail to realize is that many deer were shot and killed with the .222 before the 223 was widely available. Then, after that, people were hunting with the 223 for many years.

only in the age of the internet, and the lies that it perpetuates, have we all needed a 300 WSM or larger for thin-skinned game animals in NA.

on top of that, bullet tech has made leaps and bounds in the last 15 years. shoot well with the 223 and itll be fine, but choose the right bullet.
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To be fair, we had a poacher in the area a few years ago that used .204 Ruger very successfully.
 
I would not choose that caliber to hunt deer, but if I was hungry and it's all I had I would use one.
 
Texas97 said:
what people fail to realize is that many deer were shot and killed with the .222 before the 223 was widely available.
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This is true, my grandmother bagged many deer with her Remington 600 chambered for the deuce. That little rifle still shoots great.
 
Shot placement, but that’s true of most rifles. A poor shot from a 7 mag. will have similar crappy results to poor shot placement from a 5.56.

Edit: My first deer rifle was a single shot .223.
 
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Partition 60gr would be my first choice, I have 100 loaded just in case. But I have never used them on game.
 
I have a bunch of Nossler Partion 60 grs loaded up for deer. I personally haven't taken one with my AR but I have friends who have taken Mule deer with them. If I lived somewhere back east I would definitely hunt with it more but I like a little more oomph for hunting where a 300+yd shot isn't uncommon.
 
I've killed a lot of deer with a .22lr, even out of pistols. They weren't special loads. For a long time I had more kills with that than with normal deer rifles. My favorite way to drop a deer is with a neck/throat shot. Most of them didn't move more than a couple of steps.

Many deer are taken with .223 by women and kids just starting out around here (South TX).
 
My grandfather killed a lot of deer with a Ruger Mini-14. After he jacked up his shoulder he couldn't shoot anything that had much felt recoil at all, so he left the .30-06 in the safe and started deer hunting with his varmint gun.
 
Around the south a deer with a 223 is no problem. I get more laughs out of people lugging magnum calibers around in the woods for a 120lb deer. It's also common for hogs which are probably tougher than deer.

I don't blanket support 300 black out for hunting though. Seen too many times someone used a 308 bullet that didn't expand and wounded a deer. If you're going that route you need to do a lot of your own research and really some testing

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kf4zht said:
Around the south a deer with a 223 is no problem. I get more laughs out of people lugging magnum calibers around in the woods for a 120lb deer. It's also common for hogs which are probably tougher than deer.

I don't blanket support 300 black out for hunting though. Seen too many times someone used a 308 bullet that didn't expand and wounded a deer. If you're going that route you need to do a lot of your own research and really some testing

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Id have no problem whatsoever with my 300 bo on a deer. A 110gr Vmax is will fuck their shit up quick.
 
kf4zht said:
I don't blanket support 300 black out for hunting though. Seen too many times someone used a 308 bullet that didn't expand and wounded a deer. If you're going that route you need to do a lot of your own research and really some testing

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Yeah, I always laughed at my uncle using a 7mm mag for whitetails in western NC where a 200 pound deer is huge and a 100 yards is a long shot.

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Now I really want to whack one with my MP5 just to rub it in the face of the tree stand belted magnum crowd.
 
77gr OTM projectile in whatever brand you like that has it.

Shoot them in the head or neck and theyll land where they were shot. I've never shot a deer with anything other than a AR.

Fuck all that shooting them through the lungs so they can run away and you spend the next 3 hrs following a blood trail on you hands and knees in the dark.

If you can't shoot a deer in the head , you can't shoot very well.
 
gt1guy said:
77gr OTM projectile in whatever brand you like that has it.

Shoot them in the head or neck and theyll land where they were shot. I've never shot a deer with anything other than a AR.

Fuck all that shooting them through the lungs so they can run away and you spend the next 3 hrs following a blood trail on you hands and knees in the dark.

If you can't shoot a deer in the head , you can't shoot very well.
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The idea is to shoot them through the heart. Not the lungs. I started shooting at the base of the skull a few decades ago. Ive never had one run more than a couple feet.
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