.223 And Sitka Blacktail

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utahheadgear

New member
Okay, I'm sure this will stir the pot a bit, but I am looking for some opinions on shooting Sitka Blacktail deer with a .223? Here's why.....

I'm leaving in a few days for Kodiak island to hunt deer as a first priority with my bow. I was planning on also bringing my deer rifle in case I can't quite get the job done with my bow, but I have heard that the foxes on the island are more than beautiful and are a great trophy in and of themselves. So the predator hunter in me got to thinking that I would like to try to call and shoot a couple of them while I am there as well. Problem is, I don't really want to shoot a beautiful furred out fox with a deer rifle and destroy the hide so I started to think about my .223. I definately cannot fly two rifles and a bow all the way to Alaska. I checked the regs and even called Alaska game and fish and it is perfectly legal to take deer with any centerfire cartridge. I know Sitka blacktails are not particularly large in size, maybe 150-170 lbs for a mature buck, maybe. At least that's what I've read. I'm currently shooting 50 grain Hornady SP bullets in my gun.

Would you do it???? Again, I may not even use a rifle to hunt deer, but if push comes to shove with bad weather or whatever I may need to.

There will be others in camp with larger caliber rifles that I could borrow, but they may not be standing next to me when the opportunity comes.

I think with good shot placement at modest distances the 'ol .223 is up to the task, but then, I've never been a "big gun" type, I'm more of a "hit 'em good and they die" type.

What do you boys think?
 
Like these other fellows said, use a good stout bullet designed for larger game like the 53 gr.TSX, 55 gr. Trophy Bonded, or 60 gr. Nosler Partition and you will be impressed at what the .22 centerfires can do to a deer.

From the sounds of it you have it already figured out any way. Modest distances, and "hit'em good and they die." Well said.

Good luck and let us know how the hunt turns out. Sure sounds like fun.
 
Thanks for your opinions guys, everyone so far seems to be in favor, which kind of surprises me considering the fact that I know of at least a couple of guys on here that won't shoot a 40 pound eastern coyote with anything less than a .243 Win.

Anyone else care to chime in?
 
What do you know Deano, on the link you gave someone posted a pic of a pretty nice Sitka Blacktail that he torched with his .223 Ackley. I guess that settles it.

Maybe its a sign. Ha, Ha.
 
What power scope is on your rig? Also will you be bringing a Large caliber revolver? I have several friends from Kodiak and the way they talk about deer hunting, it's very close cover. So a high powered scope on that 223 might hurt you in the brush. A hand gun of 41 mag and up with a decent barrel on it might be more affective. Although I know a 223 would work fine, and I agree 60 partitions so you can use them on fox as well, I think a handgun would be easey to transport and fun. I vote bring everything /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Jake
 
I like your vote CZ, but when your flying all your chit in a plane you can't bring everything. The scope is a 4.5-14 so I should be okay even in pretty close cover. That said, the pictures I've seen look like the country is pretty wide open with some brush and lots of grass. Never been there before though so I guess I'll find out soon enough. I never have been much of a handgun type.
 
I just hunted Kodiak in September. Bears are definitely still out. Normally this time of year they've moved back into the high country and are eating leftover berries and plants (salmon runs are over). The biologist in Kodiak said the berry crop was minimal this year due to a late frost that killed most of them and the bears were kind of cranky because they weren't getting food like they normally do. I visit another forum called Alaska Hunting Forum and folks on there had major problems with bears this year while hunting deer and mountain goat. I was on a goat/deer hunt and was out for 12 days. I personally saw one bear and didn't have any problems. No doubt the .223 will kill Sitkas, but I'd have something bigger as a backup if you're going to blow on some calls. I wouldn't count on not seeing a bear. Odds are you will.
 
Folks I know who hunt Kodiak island tend to view their rifle as a bear call. 'Cause thats how it often works! And I'd feel pretty silly, or worse, standing there with a .223.
 
I lived in Southeast Alaska, Juneau, for a lot of years and I can tell you a 150-170 lb Sitka Blacktail is a rarity. The limit is generally 4 deer per season in SE. I actually did shoot one that went 160 lbs but out of the 30 or so that I shot and the ones I saw others drag in most are under 100 lbs. I carried a 7mm Rem Mag but I also shot a few with a Winchester model 94 30-30 and a friend of mine always filled his 4 tags every year with a 30 caliber carbine. In short, a 223 will do the job. Use the right bullet, tho.
 
Finally some people giving you good advice after all the "Just use a good bullet in the .223" crowd. I wonder how many of those people have ever even been to Kodiak Island.

The Red Fox and Silver Fox are beautiful and real trophies and I understand you not wanting to blow up the hide but........

Sitka Blacktails are tough animals and a Grizzly is even tougher. I would choose at least a 7mm anything (7mm-08, 7X57, 7 Rem Mag, 7mm WSM) with a good quality heavy for caliber bullet in the 150 to 175 grain range.

A good heavy bullet will kill a fox and may not really do much damage because it will hold together and may not expand much on such a small animal.
 
Well, I made it home alive and figured that I would provide you all with an update. The hunting was tough. The deer were spread out and up high due to the lack of snow and warm weather. The bears were out, in fact one of the guys in camp shot and killed a charging brown bear at nine yards. I'm pretty sure he had to get a winch to remove his britches from his hind end after the amount of pucker factor he experienced. He was not looking good, but happily the DNR didn't question his integrity. They simply made him pack out the hide and skull and surrender it to them.

As for the deer, the bow hunting was out due to the very tough hunting conditions and so out came the .223. (By the way I didn't see a single fox the entire trip, and because of the tough hunting, ended up being a bit undergunned. Had I known better I would have left the bow home and taken my 270 WSM.)

Anyway, on the second day of the hunt I had just came out of a thick stand of brush into a large clearing and standing in it about 150 yards out was this decent buck. He was aware of my presence and so I sat down and took a quick shot with the trusty .223. He was DRT, didn't even wiggle. Unfortunately the shot placement was a bit high and took him in the spine so it wasn't a great test of the effectiveness of the .223 on deer, but it did the job.

All in all we had a good trip.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m45/utahheadgear/DSCN1085.jpg
 


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