can you hunt deer with a 5.56 caliber rifle in Nebraska?

[Caleb Hardy]

can you hunt deer with a 5.56 caliber rifle in Nebraska?

[Treestand]

JMO~ Go on line: Game Laws your State.

[WA Mtnhunter]

Why would you?

[J.B.H]

That doesn't sound like the greatest idea.

[small game sportsman]

Even if you could, I wouldn't advise it.

[Pray- hunt-work]

A line from the 1995 movie Tommy Boy - Tommy: Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's ass by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?

What I'm getting at is listen to the boys. It's not in a whitetails best interest to hit it with a .223. Period. That said, in Maine you can hunt deer with a .22 mag, but why anyone would is beyond me.

[DSMbirddog]

I think these folks are giving you good advice. Get a decent rifle in a good caliber for deer and you won't regret it.

[gator fan 2017]

I would not advise geting a .223 caliber rifle for deer lowest I would go is a .243 depending on the size of the deer

[Amflyer]

The legal answer is yes, as long as the bullet/velocity combo works out to 900 ft/lbs at 100 yards. If it's a semi-auto or whatever lingo you choose these days, you have to limit the magazine capacity to 5.

The common sense answer is "I wouldn't."

[FirstBubba]

Can you hunt deer wirh the 5.56?

An answer has to be multi-faceted.

1. Legally? I hope not, but your state wildlife department will tell you.
2. Morally? Nope!
3. Ethically? Not really.

The 5.56mm WILL kill a whitetail. But like WAM; "Why"?

Honestly?
If I'm hungry, had NO OTHER OPTION and had a 5.56, yes, I'd deer hunt with it.
I've taken deer with a .22 Hornet! But I wasn't "deer" hunting. They were targets of opportunity, within 30 yards, standing dead still and offered shot placements that I knew I could make.
I won't even purposely hunt deer with a .243 Win.

[mike0714]

The round can do it but you have to be very careful with the shot. close range (around 100 yards max) and good shot placement are extremely important. 5.56 and .223 generally fragment rather quickly meaning a high end premium bullet is key. Federal Premium 55gr. Barnes Triple-Shock, Federal Premium 60gr. Nosler Partition, Federal Fusion 62gr. Fusion bonded, Federal Premium 64gr. soft point, Barnes Vor-Tx 55gr. Barnes Triple-Shock, and DoubleTap 55gr. Barnes Triple-Shock are a good rounds. A kid I mentor has some disabilities and cant handle the full length or recoil form most rifles but can hit a fist sized target out to about 100 yards with a single shot .223 I borrow from a friend. He shot his first deer two years ago at 46 yards and the deer fell right over. we waited for the perfect broadside shot and he put the bullet right behind the shoulder an shot the top of the heart off. I will say that a .223 or 5.56 is not the ideal deer round but will work if you are ethical with your shot. the regs in Nebraska say ".22-caliber or larger rifle that deliver at least 900 foot-pounds of energy at 100 yards" Im not 100% sure but I believe some of the heavier .223 rounds will do this.

[Grassroots89]

Down here in South Texas hunting deer with .223 is acually quite popular.

[Treestand]

Ditto~Dallas The same here in Florida, the .223 and .22/250 is quite popular with the younger Hunters.

[DakotaMan]

If a .223 is all you have, it will kill deer a LOT better than people who have never seen it in action think. Any of the premium bullets (55g-68g) mentioned by Mike above will flatten a deer. With a 55g Combined Tech, I saw a wound channel that looked like a .308 went through. That one entered the front of the chest and penetrated through three big vertebrea and exited ahead of the rear quarter of a buck.

Don't kid yourself, these rifles hit hard... they just don't tolerate brush nearly as well as a .375 H&H because of their light weight (similar to a 22-250 or a .243). Keep a clear shot and keep it within 200 yards and you will eat venison as long as you can shoot. Please note that if you shoot a deer in the foot or blow its front leg off, the .223 seems to have about the same effect as a 30-06 too.

If you are buying a rifle to hunt deer, get a larger caliber for certain. You will have better range and you will be able to tolerate hitting a weed half way to the deer.