Hunting white tail dear in New York with a .223 what do ya’ think?

if you can do head shots only then your good to go. but that is a little too light for deer in my opinion and im in pa and i have a .223 which i will never use for deer because if i dont do a headshot and do a chest shot then it will most likely wound it and not put it down. i prefer a .30-06 or a 30-30 or a .270

Illegal for deer in this state… I am here in New York and that cartridge is a no no…….

I like .223 as much as the next guy – but when I deer hunt I use a .308…..

Consider a rifle chambered in .270, 30/30, .308 or 30-06…. Those are as common as the sky is blue and quite popular for deer hunting in this state….

Shotgun is also a rule in some upstate NY counties…..

I always use a .270 for hunting deer and buck. I only use a .223 for small game hahaha I shot a duck with it.

.243,270,30-06 are the premo calibers for deer…from smallest to the best.

You really should be using at least a .243 or larger rifle.

depends on terrain brushy area use a 30-30 or a 243 if its open space and a fairly long shot use a 308 7mm-08 270 or a 30-06

It is possible however everything needs to go in your favor for a clean kill. You need a clear picture perfect shot, and a tough bullet to reliably and cleanly down a deer with a .223 The problem with this is there are very few .22 bullets out there with the toughness to reliably work on deer sized game. the large majority of them are either designed for varmints, meaning they are of light construction, and tend to break apart very easily. Deadly on woodchuck, can be a problem on deer, especially if it strikes bone, there may not be enough energy left to get to the vitals, leaving you with one big mess and a lot of tracking. The others are either FMJ or target bullets which do not expand, and just punch a narrow little hole through and are generally illegal for most hunting. You could use something along the lines of a Nosler Partition which is the only one I know off offhand that’s common it might work, if it’s legal in your state, many have a .24/6mm minimum. As stated in previous posts you would be a lot better off looking for something bigger. most people won’t hunt deer with anything smaller than a .243 even in areas with no caliber minimum. Get something along the lines of a .270, .30-06, .243, etc or often some areas will have preferred variants of these such as 7-08, .25-06 etc

It is small, too small. It is also illegal in most places to hunt with a .223.

N.Y.S. deer hunting is mostly ‘woods’ hunting, and sight lines
are short and likely to be through brush.
223 is more a varmint cartridge, and marginal for deer.
If you do use it, be sure to use a heavier ‘premium’ bullet to
be assured of enough penetration.
You might want to think about throwing a heavier bullet.
I use a 30-30 or 7×57 in N.Y.