Folks, if you read it on the internet you all but know it's true and if it was here on AR you know it's true. If it were not for that fact I'd be reluctant to post this for fear of being accused of hyperbole or worse. I was out with my .223 and spotted a huge trophy buck. Well at least I thought it was a trophy buck. We all know a puny .223 wont take a trophy buck. I wasn't sure what it would score, to know if my .223 would do the job. I have never measured a buck to score it. Luckily I had my smart phone and was able to look up how to measure a buck for B&C scoring. But this had the added challenge of still being alive and it wasn't like I could walk up to him and take measurements. So I had to laser his distance from me to him and enter his exact coordinates on my GPS to get exact angle of the sun. To make a long complicated story short, I put more effort in doing all the Mathematical gymnastics than a person would put into a thesis for a Phd. I had him measured and scored. Then it dawned on me. I didn't know what the cut-off score for trophy or non trophy was. So I googled that on my smart phone. The information I got was vague and contradictory, but otherwise useful. I didn't have a clue. Only one way to find out. I shot the deer with my wimpy .223 and you wont believe what happened. RFS--read first sentence. It happens all time in Hollywood, but I'd never seen it. When the bullet hit that armor coating that trophy bucks wear, sparks flew, never had seen bullets make sparks. Would have started a forest fire except for two things. It had rained here in the San Angelo area a couple days before. (Rain in San Angelo?? You might want to RFS) But the sure fire reason there would be no forest fire was there is no forest. To call a mesquite pasture a forest would be akin to calling a field of tumbleweeds a garden. A second Hollywood phenomenon happened. We have all seen cars squeal their tires on dirt roads in Hollywood movies. That deer came charging me. My miniscule .223 had made him mad. He took off so fast he squealed his hooves. I was in deep poo poo. You may ask why didn't you have your 6.5 Grendel? I asked myself the same thing, why didn't I have my 6.5 Grendel. Easy answer, I don't have a 6.5 Grendel. I might add that my pop gun .223 did have the barrel broken in properly, my brass had been thoroughly and properly cleaned and shined, but still it was a pip squeak .223. The deer was getting closer and had sped up his charge. What to do? I had two choices. I could run and out dodge him until spring when he shed his antlers, and then my .223 would work. I didn't feel up to a several month marathon. So I took aim and shot off one of his tines. This would do one of two things if not both. He would now be non symmetrical and come under non typical deer. The freak non typical with all their extra points score higher and in that category he would not score enough to be a trophy. Just the loss of points from the loss of the tine might take him out of the trophy classification. I then shot the enraged charging stag and the mighty .223 not only stopped him in his tracks, it changed his direction. Made him do a complete somersault. He was no match as a non trophy for the awesome .223. After his tumble, when his feet hit the ground, he was headed backwards and his back feet were going faster than his front. His anus enlarged and he virtually crawled out of his skin--inside out. He was perfectly skinned and not a cut on the skin. I was able to vulcanize a valve stem in his anus and inflate him. He leaks a little and I could not find any data as to how much tire sealant to use in a deer. Found data on bicycles, wheel barrels, airplanes, cars,trucks and go karts, but not deer. I could not find data on how much air pressure to put either. Not sure what to do with the antlers either. From my measuring calculations, I have the exact dimensions of the tine I shot off. I could exactly duplicate a new tine. But then nobody would believe my story that I shot it with a .223.

Just a hunter you are correct, it does run together and need spaces.

Jest? On the internet?? Here in AR? Well actually my grandson and I have tentative plans to go out his weekend on our first hunt this year if his work schedule permits. Whether I'll attempt to shoot a deer or not is dependent on whether someone wants it if I get one.

heck Ray i'll take it.
since it's a texas deer, and a non trophy animal it should fit in a medium-large flat rate box without issue.
I'm however not too sure about mailing a check to a green bay packer paint scheme colored house.
you might wanna get a p.o. box to insure my check [for shipping] will be delivered.
Lamar.

So far they still deliver mail to me. I do paint a lot of stuff Dallas Cowboys colors, didn't think about my house being Green Bay until my daughter and son in law pointed it out.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by carpetman1:
Just a hunter you are correct, it does run together and need spaces."

You can go back and edit your post.

AZ Guy--Editing the post sounded like a great idea. But when you write a post or edit one, it's in a small box that doesn't go all the way across, so adding spaces was not as easy as it sounded. I decided to leave it.

Next time remember Smart phone app-223 to 6.5 Grindel. Should do it then!

Went out with my grandson yesterday. Was very cold and actually snowing. We had a forked horn buck at the feeder for about an hour. Probably at least 50 minutes of that hour he was in perfect presentation. I did have my .223 (Usually carry my .243, but just have to get my next one with the .223). My grandson had his .308. Neither one of us wanted it, so we just watched him. A larger buck did approach, but left. Didn't get a good look at the larger one.

All these years I been shooting deer when this guy pops up and just out smarts them with up to date technology, did I spell that right?...

I went to Texas to hunt whitetail with a bunch of my old cowboy/rancher friends a couple of weeks ago and this Idaho cowboy damn near froze to death in that humid windy 20 degree weather that soaks into your bones like an ice sponge, De Ja voooo for this old Texas boy..BTW I never saw so many deer in my life, they were even in town yards and main st. in Leander Texas. Then on the way home about 4 am in Price Idaho 4 big bucks walked in front of my car as I left the motel downtown..it was near zero and snowing like hell, but warmer than Texas.

Atkinson---You are correct. A person trying to kill a deer without using technology would be skunked. All these internet savy deer know a .223 for example will not kill them and especially if not using premium bullets. Things just aren't as simple as they use to be.

Nicest white tail I've ever shot was with a 22-250 in Sonora, TX. DRT.

For another real internet story....unlike most real internet stories, I've got pics if I can figure out how to post them.

My daughter, now 15, suddenly decided she wanted to hunt deer (possibly thanks to her twerpy boyfriend (Daddy's never like their young daughter's boyfriends, or at least that's how this Daddy sees it)killing a small 8 point).

So in an act of desperation, I took the recoil pad off a Tikka .223 I had, loaded it up with some 64 grain Power Points and took her to range, got her and it to gee and haw and off we went. I carefully explained the kill zone, to imagine a basketball between the front legs and to not take the shot unless she could shoot through both sides of that basketball, more or less.

She hunted hard, weekends, morning, noon (in several cases), and evening, and after school when she wasn't doing athletics for several weeks. She had seen a big 8 point (and had not seen the decent 10) that I knew had this area as their home ground but he was too far for her to shoot. There were some trees that I used as markers, about a 100 yards, and I told her, "don't shoot if unless he's no farther than or closer than those trees" and, most importantly, "DON'T TAKE THE SHOT IF YOU'RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH IT. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. ". "Yes, Daddy."

I was in a stand about 300 yards away and could not clearly see her stand but could see everything in front of it. The BIG 8 point comes out about 100 yards from her, strolls out after a doe and poses.....I'm thinking, "Come on Ashley, BANG".....and again, "Come on Ashley, BANG." No bang. He crosses cut, then a few minutes later, trots back across cut to the side she's on. No bang. THEN 30 minutes later, he follows doe out RIGHT beside her stand, not running but fast walking across the cut. "Come on Ashley, BANG." No bang.

After a while I go pick her up and ask her, "Why didn't you shoot? "He wouldn't hold still." So I explained how to shoot a walking deer for the next time. I told her, he'd be back, this was his home range, and to be patient. Even though I was disappointed that she didn't get that buck, I was extremely proud of her for not taking the shot since she wasn't comfortable with it.

A couple of weeks went by, no big deer.

So, Saturday a week ago, a scrawny but wide 9 point comes out by me and walks down cut towards her stand, ocularly marking branches here and there. I'm thinking.....Well, he ain't much, but he is a decent first deer. I wonder if Ashley will shoot him if she gets the chance. I'm watching him through binos, and he's marking about 90 yards from her stand....buck jumps, runs into woods, and I here the BANG. I'm thinking, "Man, I hope she made a good shot."

I get out, go back to truck, drive down cut to her, and she is standing in middle of cut. I ask her, "Do you know where he went into the woods?"
"Yes, Daddy, he's laying right there."

Deer ran all of about 25 feet. I was probably happier than she was and she was very happy.

I dunno, my theory is the .223 scared him so badly that he went into cardiac arrest.

Gato--wasn't cardiac arrest. He died laughing at someone trying to shoot a deer with a .223. 25 feet very good tell Ashley congrats and remind her if she had used a real gun that bruised her shoulder she would have killed him deader and he may have only went 24 feet.

Real nice story. I'm glad your daughter got her deer. I've read a lot of positive things about the 64 power point for deer. This year I loaded up some 64 Nosler Bonded for night hunting predators and hogs with my AR. I mounted a Sightmark Photon Digital Night Vision on it. Have't used it much. Probably use it a little more when deer season is over.

What I have seen with plain old 55 grain cup and core bullets has eliminated any consideration of a heavier or a premium bullet. I bought a batch of Winchester bulk packed and a batch of Remington bulk packed and can't tell a bit of difference. Thinking back, I don't recall any of the .222 or .223 shot going 25 feet. My grandson shot a real nice 10 pointer with a .308 and 150 grain bullet that went about 100 feet. Last deer I shot was with 100 grain in .243 and it WALKED several yards--was actually dead on it's feet.

Pretty much the only time I buy premiums is when they are seconds or overruns on Shooter's Pro Shop. You can get them 1/2 price so to me it's worth trying them out. Last 5 years I've only killed one animal with the premium and it as a hog with TTSX. The rest have been Interlocks, Ballistic Tips, Megas. This year I used a Fusion on a deer from my 6.8 spc. With the exception of the hog which was killed with a 338 Federal, the rest were with smaller rounds and regular bullets (257R, 6.5x55 & 6.8 SPC). For what I hunt, that class of cartridge works just fine.

quote:

Thinking back, I don't recall any of the .222 or .223 shot going 25 feet.

Unless you're making all CNS shots or your memory sucks.....give me a frigging break.

Gato---I have been able to come up with only one conclusion about shooting animals. That is, you don't know what will happen, regardless of gun you use, until you have pulled the trigger. I have seen many things that are very much contrary to what I'd have expected and what you'd expect on paper. I did think about one and I do have to retract my statement (you're correct memory must suck). I had forgotten about a doe my grandson shot about 15 years ago. We had two tripods side by side and a doe came in and my grandson wanted to shoot it. We had my Rem 600 in .222. It was getting later in the day and I didn't want a tracking job in the dark. I finally reluctantly agreed to let him shoot. The doe took off in a dead run and did go maybe 100 yards and piled up dead. The rest pretty much dropped on the spot. All shot through heart, lungs, or liver or combo thereof. My great nephew shot one a little forward through the shoulders and it dropped in it's track---that one was also with the Rem 600 in .222.
I shot a yearling buck with my 30-06 that went down instantly, but got to it's feet when I approached. That thing staggered a good 100 yards and how it ever got to it's feet is unbelievable. Am I saying a .22 cal is more effective than a 30-06? Of course I'm not saying that, I'm saying you don't know till you pull the trigger.