Thread: New spot, a 223 and some good skills secures the 223 first Red!

Hi, yes, another bushstalking adventure report.
After last couple of outings not quite securing the venison or bacon i was off on another adventure with yet another day off work.
This trip was into a new spot where a couple of fallow deer were seen by my mate on the road so decided to go have a look and see whats the bush is like and if there were deer in there.

Didnt know what to expect so decided to travel abit lighter and take the Stoney Creek bushline pack which has done me well over the last 3 or so years.
On the rifle front decided i take the new purchased howa 223 and as its only been out once before for a couple of goats it be good to see how it goes on deer.(if i can find one )
I was using the Fed Powershok 55gr soft points as they been so great in my 243 in 100gr i thought i stick with them in the lighter cal as well.

Didnt leave crazy early but was early enough where i headed to the spot where i had a couple of areas i was looking at checking out.
The drive in showed some promise when i spied two fallow deer only 50 m of the road but they were safe as they were on private land. Still, least i can say i saw a couple lol.

Not long after i got to the area the first spot i was thinking about had a ute already parked there and that early in the morning figured hes prob hunting it so drove on.
Well, fuk me , only 40 yards past the the ute at best a Red stag with no antlers walked out in front of the car. Stood there looking at me for a sec then hoped into the bush.
As i drove on past i thought about parking up the road and having a go for him but he headed straight where the other guy would of gone in and i decided i carry on.
Still, 3 deer seen and only just got here lol.


Found the second spot i wanted to look at, looked steeper than i thought but the native looked good so of i went in search of venison.
New spots like this the first job is to find sign and see if any animals are in here. Decided to head up a ridge that even thou was steep it still looked good and see what i can find.

Been travelling awhile, good bush but no sign of animals so didnt like my hopes here so had to make a decision.
Cut it short and head for another spot further down or continue up as in my search i found the guts were real bad to cross unless get some real height.

In the end i decided to carry on 100m and that be that but after 50 m found some deer marks that were only a couple of days old at most.That was enough to spark some hope and the decision was made i do some hard yards in here to try find them.
Ended up getting quite high, seeing marks here and there then ran out of sign. The deer must of crossed over though that gut to the left i figured, wind was good so i headed in that direction.

Sure enough i soon came along deer sign that was only a day old, maybe last night so i knew i was heading in the right direction.
Really took my time, looking at the height of the sign and tried to stay at that height and looking for good spots deer would likely be.
Saw a nice ridge with some feed on it a little way over so headed there and straight away came across dead fresh yearling sign. Aall the deer sign was Reds, no sign of Fallow but that was ok.

I followed the marks that were heading down the steep ridge and knew that the chances are im going to come across it soon.
Full sneak mode and after 15mins a yearling appeared 50m below me but it had already busted me.
Lucky for me it didnt bolt, but was standing away from me with its head turned looking in my direction. Up quick with the 223 and had a good shot on offer just behind the shoulder so let it rip!

Boom, the deer jumped and took off downhill and disappered. i knew i had hit him hard, so i wait a couple of mintues and go see how the 223 performs on reds being the first ive shot with one.











Early blood from where he was standing and a couple of metres down i see lots more and part of a lung!
Yes, no doubt its down now. It was pretty darn steep but didnt think it go far but the blood trail was impressive so no chance i wont find it.


















It ended up not far down at all, lying in some heavy fern dead as. It was a perfect shot, with quite a exit wound out the other side. Was impressed with the 223 and the 55gr Fed powershoks.

Yes, prob wont take over as the go to rifle which the 243 is but i like the little old Howa. Its going to go well and tally up a few more deer i think.
With the 308 as well i have plenty of choices which one is coming along the next trip.












Always something pleasing when its a new area and you get a animal. Normally happy to just work out whats there and where and get them second trip but some good tracking and listening to the sign
i get the rewards and the 223 secures its first Red and a tasty one at that.

Cheers, stayed tuned for the next adventure. (ps camera ran out so pictures were limited lol)

Good skills>

Lobe these write ups! Well done, good hunt!

great stuff....the wee rifles do a good job when we do our bit. enjoy your venison.

Nice bit of stalking, should taste good. Quite impressive results with those Federal bullets.

Thank you, great read!

Good yarn , u go well cob rapt the good earth stayed solid under you

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Well done the good old .223 awesome caliber.

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Well done fella as i suspected your luck has turned

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Yep, congratulations and thanks for sharing your story. It's great to have some positive stories to lift the spirits during so much doom and gloom.

Good one. Glad that .223 is getting used.

Nice work

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Originally Posted by Dama dama

Good one. Glad that .223 is getting used.

Cheers, goes good. Like the re cycle action on it. Pity the howa a touch heavy but im used to it so all good, I use it quite abit i think with the 243 and the 308 will take a back seat for awhile

Nice, thanks for sharing! We don't see 223/ reds at my end.

Was thinking of you yesterday @deer243 when I was stuck in a creek with suction mud up to the top of my gum boots... Took me a while to extricate myself.

The .223 and it’s performance on deer is really misunderstood overseas where in many countries it is illegal. I like to show the doubters photos of the wounding that a 3200fps traditional soft point will do within a couple of hundred yards. Just need to make sure to avoid the front leg bone when quartering.

Also, your Howa .223 will had a 1:9” or 1:8” twist so you should be able to run the Federal 64gr, which has thicker jacket than the 55gr. The 64gr is a really good medium deer bullet whereas strictly speaking I’d call the 55gr a Varmint style with quite a thin jacket. It obviously still does the bizzo in through the ribs, but you’d have to be careful with angles and leg bones.