A 243 or a 308 are good all around guns. Both are generally easy to find ammo for and have a large ammo selection.
.243 ammo has been pretty hard to come by in OKC, at least at any of the south metro locations, unless you want to buy Uncle Ted's ammo and break the bank.
you might consider an sks in 7.62x39...good for all of the above critters and just over 1/2 the price of an AR...you can get a lot of ammo for the diff in price
I would argue the "proper Placement", proper bullet, or their tracking skills are lacking. I've never had one go more than 40 yds after being shot with a 55 grain Nosler soft point.
Ok judging from the OP it is my opinion that he should get something larger than a .223 to hunt deer with. I know all the hoopla of .223 being the do all round that can kill anything with proper shot placement.
Having never hunted himself, it would be my opinion that one would want to stack the odds in his favor by not having to make a perfect shot in order to get clean kill and not have to track the damn deer across half the countryside if a perfect shot isnt made.
For the price of an AR15 you can buy a much better all around caliber to hunt with plus some decent optics to put on it.
With them NOT finding the deer, proper bullet and placement is arguable. Tracking?, well, they didn't find it. We tracked a doe that a guy in deer camp asked for help finding, claiming he made a 'perfect' shot, but could not find a trail. I found a very light blood trail, followed the trail 1/4 of a mile and then spotted her standing in a thicket. Shot her in the head and found his 'perfect' shot to be a grazing belly shot that was barely bleeding and if lethal, would have been a very slow death.
Same here, Dennis, none over 40 yrds, most dropped in their tracks, 7 were large, mature bucks. I'm no Quigley or Comanche tracker, but I have never shot a deer I did not recover. I believe in my guns and my ammo.
I see no problem with the OP getting an AR, if that's what he wants. For the money and his intended use, I believe he would be better served with a bolt action in ANY caliber from .243 - .30-06, and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
OP, no the 223 is not the "best" choice for deer sized game, but with precision shooting at various ranges and the right bullet, it will work ok. It will whack a coyote like lightning. However, nearly every hunter should have a decent 30-06. They border on being a little big actually for most Oklahoma whitetails, but if you ever do anything beyond deer they can reach so well into other bigger game. Sounds like you don't need to actually do anything right now, other than have a quality optic and practice, but when you are ready it seems logical to move into a quality bolt action rifle. The 30-06 can easily move into the 300-400 meter range and that is well beyond anything I'm comfortable with in a 223 on deer sized game.
Why not a DPMS lr308 and get the AR platform and .308 bullet.
I like dual use guns....a .308 is not enough to wear out your shoulder too fast so you can plink with it plus it will drop anything around here. Hey, if you are partial to the AR platform buy one in .308.
Tracking skills maybe, but most of these guys are more of the shooter type rather than hunters. I've never lost a deer myself, but I can tell you that I hunt trophy animals that will dress out close to or over 200 lbs. I can't imagine "risking" a shot on a giant with a 55 or 62 grain pill. I have to crack a smile when someone brings up "Oklahoma Whitetails" like ours are weaker or exceedingly smaller than whitetails in other states.
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