I don't hunt deer with a 223 regularly, but this year I had an FP that I wanted test out in the field. I loaded with 68 HPBT Match ammo. This ammo in my gun will shoot groups the size of a dime at 100 yards. Anyway I shot a very nice 8 point on the second weekend this year.

With 223 I believe shot placement is critical. In my case I shot him in the neck and he dropped DRT. It was getting on to dusk and I knew he needed to go down fast or I'd have trouble tracking him. With the neck shot I figured my shot would either be a kill or a miss. But with lots of bench time on this rifle I knew I could make the shot.

The HPBT performed superbly. Upon skinning I found the spine was completely severed, it looked like one vertebra (sp?) completely destroyed, and there was a smooth one inch hole all the way through his neck. I could stick a finger in from each side and touch in the middle. Intresting to me is that all the damage was not detectable with the skin on. I could barely find the entry hole before skinning.

Out West