A gun, a history and one special Christmas story

Austin American Statesman ^ | 12.25.2008 | Mike Leggett

[wolfcreek]

During the Thanksgiving holidays this year, Riley Parker, 7, of Portland, Ore., became the fifth generation Parker family member to kill a deer with the same gun - a .222 caliber Sako. Riley brought down this 8-point whitetail buck while hunting on family land near Camp Verde.

[wolfcreek]

We teach our kids early on here in Texas.

[BlueDragon]

using "Western count", which only counts one side, that would be four point. I can see clearly 3 per side in the pic. But I'll take your word for it, that there are four. No fair counting eye guard spurs as points though. Need to be in upper one-third of antler to "count" --- Western style.

No offense meant here. The animal looks to be a fine one. To take it with a light round like 222 must have taken getting close, and delivering good shot placement.

Congratulations to the young man. I'm glad to see the young be taught, and have such FINE success! Excellent!

[Papabear47]

Nice to live in a state that respects the 2A....Teaching youngsters to shoot and hunt with respect for the hunted teaches them respect for the living also....IMHO.

[wolfcreek]

Far as I know, we count both sides here in Texas. (often there are an odd number)

Where do you live/hunt?

“To take it with a light round like 222 must have taken getting close, and delivering good shot placement.”

I shoot 30.30 and .270 myself but, I have a friends that has a new Ruger .204. (22.250, 25.06, .223 are pretty common guns around here)

http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger204.htm

We usually go for a neck shot not to waste a lot of meat. Close is better.

[EGPWS]

Nice to live in a state that respects the 2A....Teaching youngsters to shoot and hunt with respect for the hunted teaches them respect for the living also.

Yep!

Well said Papabear.

[353FMG]

I noticed the success the young man had with the .222 caliber rifle. Does that mean that I can use my Bushmaster, AR-15 model (cal,.223 Remington) for deer hunting? Would like to hear your opinion.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

[Concho]

It falls down to could and should. In most states a .223 is not considered to be legal deer caliber. It is these sorts of discussions that fuel the anti gunners.

Can I? Absolutely I can. I am that confident of my rifle and my ability. Should I? No. .223 is not considered a legal or ethical round in most states. But it is this sorta talk that is going to get additional regulations put on your black plastic rifle.

[oldenuff2no]

I would say that depends on how big your local deer are and how good you are with your rifle. You also need to make sure that the bullets you are shooting are heavy enough for penetration and expanding not FMJ. I've killed a couple of bucks with an accurized mini 14 ranch rifle. Both of these bucks were black tails and I neck shot them at under 75 yards . Both were one shot kills and died instantly.
I wouldn't use that caliber on big white tails or on mule deer. I wouldn't use that round on anything over 75 yards either.
With a hunting rifle you should be able to hold a 4” group at 100 yards with open sights and a 1” group at the same distance with a scope. Moist people tend to hunt with a bigger caliber than they can accurately shoot. I call it the "magnum ego disease." A bigger cannon does not take the place of practice and/or accuracy.

[oldenuff2no]

It Ca the .223 is legal to hunt with. I have a model 7 in 223 that I customized. The rifle is cut down for youngsters and I have started many kids shooting centerfire rounds with this gun.
Why is it that the anti gun freaks call an AR15 that shoots the .223 Rem a high powered rifle and then turn right around and say it isn't powerful enough to hunt with? Isn't it obvious to any person with a functioning brain that they don't know anything about firearms and are just talking crap?

[mad_as_he$$]

In the far West we usually count them a 5x4 etc. Right side first. Rare to get a mulie with a symmetrical rack any more.

[mad_as_he$$]

Well in general I agree with you, but here in Nevada you never know what kind of shot you are going to get. About five years aog my buddy was standing behind me while I was scoping down on a nice buck at about 400 yards. He glanced over and saw another one about 60 yards away come out of a aspen grove. He lined that one up and whispered me into a count down. We pulled the triggers at the same moment. His 30-06 and my 7mm mag. Both did the job and with a one shot kill. I shoot 7mm mag because it is so flat. We often shoot over big canyons and up and down very steep hills. I do not want to have to calculate drop in a quick one shot type situation where I have chased some buck all day. My daughter shoots a 243 with a 100 grain Nosler partition in it. She is called the deerslayer around here. I lasered ranged one of her OSOK at 475 yards. Second deer she had killed. Took two steps and dropped - right in the boiler room.

Now another time we were on a depredation hunt on a ranch with about 40 other hunters. Magnum ego was rampant. We left.

[wolfcreek]

I don't see why not if you're a good shot, have a good shot and the rifle is scoped.

The guy in this article suggest swapping out your regular AR barrel for a competition version for more accuracy. http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/phsar_022707/

[wolfcreek]

Well, we’re not talking about *other* states and their silly candy ass rules. We’re talking Texas. LOL!

And hey, what’s wrong with plastic guns?

[wolfcreek]

The owner of one of the places we hunt shot a 33 point buck his first year on his place. (awesome non-typical) The place has an abundance of Axis due to the flood last spring knocking down fences. (as do many other sites in the state) Also there's this elk I keep hearing on the place next door.

Now days, you're lucky to get an 8 or 10 pointer unless you're on Super Buck land.

[353FMG]

“.223 is not considered a legal or ethical round in most states.”

Why not? Then why is there plenty of .223 Remington available at Walmart?

[P8riot]

Nothing smaller than .24 caliber here in Virginia.

[Concho]

Yes, I think that you will find .24 pretty common as a minimum legal caliber.

[seemoAR]

I looked at the Arkansas regulations. It reads nothing less than a .22 cal centerfire and no rimfire of any cal.

[P8riot]

No biggie for me as I take most of my deer and turkey with a bow.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

Don’t know where you live, but in some states (such as mine PA) you are not allowed to hunt with semi-auto rifles. Need to check to see if you can hunt with a semi auto rifle in your state.