Quick backstory for the prompt:

Had a nice doe walk past my lane this morning and took a really clean shot at her broadside, maybe 1 o clock. Tucked high shoulder. She stumbled and took off. Couldn’t see where she went and very little blood at the impact. We tried to find and track her for hours and gave up.

I used a 5.56 62gr Barnes Vortx round. Rifle is zeroed and shot was clean so I know it was good.

Looking to get a .308 or 6.5 bolt gun, or maybe a nice 12ga. My property woods are pretty thick so I can’t see needing the rifle range anyways.

Only hunting deer right now, unsure if I’d hunt other game later. Don’t want to make that mistake again and should have just shot her in the head knowing what I know now. See so many guys posting kills with 5.56 so I’m dumb founded. I wanted this setup to work as the AR is a very nice one and 1-8x glass.

Appreciate input! Thanks

Where are you located? Texas? How many acres do you hunt? All that will come into play. Some will argue pro 556 and against it. Wouldn't be my choice due to lack of energy and would require precice shot placement for an immediate lethal kill. . I'm old school so any classic deer caliber would be just fine (depending on what is beyond your property lines in relationto your shooting location/trajectory... 30 30 30.06 308 etc.) if distance and backdrop check out. 12ga slug barrel would be great to 100yds as well. Sorry about the lost doe.

Appreciate the response. My land is 63 acres, well wooded. Property lines on 3 sides are pasture/farm land. I don’t have blinds up yet but planning to build a couple elevated blinds, right now hunting off of high points but have pretty good backstop.

North East TX

.223 is marginal and the 62 grain copper load is not what you want for whitetail. It more than likely penciled thru her and didn’t cause much internal damage.

Go get a good bolt gun in .308, load it with 150 grain soft points and go hunt.

I can tell by your post you are a newer hunter, stick to the tried and true calibers and platforms and stay away from the AR’s and odd ball calibers they are chambered in.

Cool. Sounds fantastic. What is your farthest potential shot? I hunt in Montague County and use a Marlin .35 lever rifle. Farthest shot would be 125 yards. Closest 10. Sitting in the stand now with a .44mag lever with 100yd potential shots. Any rifle style or caliber you have always wanted?

The Barnes vortx was mentioned by so many as a good deer round. I’m a bit surprised, but think the caliber is clearly an issue either way. Makes sense to me and correct new to hunting deer.


Probably the same distances, most likely 10-50yd. I really do like lever actions and have wanted one but open to whatever makes the most sense. Plus side for .308 is I have a 30 cal suppressor already. I do have access to a family members marlin 30-30 with a 4x. Might just try that.

Here’s where I hit the doe:

High shoulder is a good anchor hit for a bullet twice that weight. You would need to avoid the shoulder bone for what you’re using.

The deer is dead if that’s where you hit her but she likely ran a long way.

On the internet it’s common for people who have no actual knowledge to promote products they know nothing about. Copper and small calibers don’t really go together all that well for deer sized game unless shot placement is perfect on bone.

The best bullets I’ve found for deer have been standard cup and core soft points from Remington, Hornady and Federal.

Where you were aiming, good spot. Get yourself a bigger horse, also expands margin of error which hasn't been mentioned.

Your very good choices are nearly endless. However... if you get a bolt action 308 with a 20-22" barrel and shoot most any 150gr bullet then you will never be far from perfect.

Apex, that 30 30 with a 150 or 170 grain soft point would be devastating on deer at that shot placement.

If you like the AR platform and are comfortable working on them, you might consider some of the other calibers available. Can be as easy as a barrel and gas tube swap. I am a fan of the .300 Ham’r, and there is good info on this thread:

https://texashuntingforum.com/forum...26/gonew/1/wilson-combat-300-hamr#UNREAD

I would definitely want a little more horsepower than a .223 if needing to anchor a deer. Shot placement and bullet type will be a consideration regardless of caliber. Any of the “standard” deer calibers, (.308, .270, .30-06, 6.5 CM, etc.) with a good cup and core bullet would be a solid choice if buying a new rifle.

Your bullet choice is more likely the problem than the caliber. I have shot a ton of pigs with the 5.56 soft points with incredible success. I switched to the Vortex like you used and immediately started having issues with recovery and stopping power. Went back to the soft points and never looked back.

I am no fan of the 5.56 for deer hunting but it is more than capable of making a clean kill. Just use something that will dump some energy on target like a soft point or Partition. That doe is dead if thats where you hit her though.

Thanks all, helpful responses.

Going to use the 30-30 with 170gr Remington rounds and build a good .308 soon.

Guess live and learn.

Damn, well at least I only bought 100rd of the Vortx.

Seems like when we went throught the ammo shortage .308 was first back on the shelves. With that said, go with a .308 rifle and get Remington Core-Lokt in 150 grain.

Been hunting over 50 years and killed them with dang near caliber from 222 to 30-06. I’ve lost less with the 30 calibers. But, no matter what you use, you will lose some. It happens. Especially in heavy cover. And East Texas is known for the thick stuff. For that, I would pick a 30 30 but other calibers work. In thick cover you won’t need a scope.
I generally use a scoped 30-06 (I have others) for shots of about 100 yards or more. For close stuff, I use an open sighted 30 30.

Within a surprisingly short time, you will probably ‘need’ other calibers.

It’s a lot like fishing. Sooner or later, you need a bunch of rods/reels and multiple tackle boxes of ‘Stuff’.

Yup, penciled through the back of the lung. NOT a good broadside shot (per that pic), quartering toward you. i.e., not just behind the elbow.

It's hard to beat a 30-06, or a .308 (the short version of a 30-06).

I just pulled a pic off of Google quick. She was quartering slightly away, around 1 o clock.

Get a 6.5 Grendel upper, attach it to your lower and go hunting. And a bazillion other options on guns and calibers. Park the 5.56 in the gun safe.

I would have shot here.

Lighter Red dot,

You're on a good plan with a .308 bolt action. No need to build one, just buy a Tikka CTR with a 20" barrel. That's a great hunting rifle. As for ammo, Hornady Superformance, SST 165 gr. I have killed a couple hundred hogs and a dozen whitetail with this set up over the last 7 Years. Never missed and 99% of the shots resulted in the animal dropping dead on the spot. Of course that's with good shot placement, neck on hogs and high shoulder on the deer, most way above average size. Put a 165 gr. SST bullet high shoulder and you take out the CNS and major arteries at the same time and they fold up right there.

I should have looked for a better photo. The deer was actually slightly quartered away at 1 o clock, I just picked a photo quick.


The Tikka is at the top of my list, I am planning to go that route after some reading today.

From the sounds of where you hunt, shot distance and terrain I think a 30-30 with a 2x7 variable on it would be ideal. Either the 150 or 170 is fine. Good luck