I have been for a few years now, Too many Coyotes , bears and wild hogs to use a bolt anymore. had run ins with coyotes and a huge boar hog and i'm too old to run.

Here in Colorado, you need at least 243 for big game (no 223) and you can’t use a gun with a magazine capacity of more than 5.

I’ve never seen a big game hunting situation that can’t be easily dealt with using a bolt action rifle.

You must be hunting in a pretty unusual area to need an AR platform to deal with the game you list.

.22 center fires are legal for deer here in Georgia. I recently bought a 7.62x39mm AR upper to use this season. 7.62x39 subsonic cartridges are about half the price of 300 Blackout subs so I got a KeyMo adapter to use my son’s Sandman S suppressor.

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I have used an AR for prairie dogs is SD, but prefer the bolt action single loaded. Multiple follow up shots are very seldom needed.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I don't use 5.56 for deer hunting, although they do kill them with it. i use 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 Grendel, 308 and 224 Valkyrie. i will explain why the AR for hunting in a bit. i will just say quickly we are overrun with bears and hogs and i have been attacked by Coyotes and Multiple hogs at close range before. a bolt gun would not been good.

Yes, 300 BLK.

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Sure you did

In NY there’s a 5rd mag limit. For those that think an AR isn’t needed, they’ve probably never gone hog hunting with thermal vision. My son did his part to reduce their numbers in Oklahoma this past winter. Lots of pork chops, lots of ribs, and lots of free meals for the locals in need of a little help. Not sure why pics are sideways

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Yes, AR in 300 Blackout for Texas hogs. Also have one in 6.8 but haven't used it much. Mostly for night hunting with thermal scope and suppressor. Wanted to try suppressed sub-sonic and it works but pigs hear it anyway so don't bother with the sub-sonics now. Would be ok for deer but frankly prefer bolt guns for that and coyotes.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

You need a back-up plan to your AR. I like the Glock 29 10mm for that purpose.

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Deer, hogs, coyotes with .223 and .300 BLK. During deer season I got one of each with my .300 11.5" pistol, a super little gun in the woods.

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Pisgah

Will the Glock 20 work?

Oops, wrong Glock. lol

6.5 grendel

6.5 creedmoor

This hog charged me at about 25 yards, i had the scope on 10 power so it was useless. it was shoulder and fire. 224 Valkrie. hog weighd about 600 pounds. when hung up it was 8 feet tall. i got a pic of it hanging somewhere, i'll try and find it. this pic don't do it justice.

Prairie dogs and hogs with an AR15.

I've worn a barrel out shooting the 52 grain Sierra MK at PDs, but recently I've been using the Hornady 60 grain tipped bullet. It has less wind deflection on longer shots.

For hogs, the 75 grain bullet when using a .223.

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Keep your powder dry.

Another smaller hog with the creedmoor.

308

I have an AR in 450 Bushmaster for deer hunting. It is awesome.
Scott

Been using a Remington R-15 VTR Predator in .223 since around 2013 for coyote, groundhogs, miscellaneous other varmints and target shooting. Great, accurate rifle for my use. Even better with the upgrades I added to it.

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

In Wyo we can use a .22 rifle with a bullet of at least 60 grains for deer and antelope. Use whatever you like for prairie dogs, coyotes and other predators, and there is no limit on magazine capacity. I’ve used the AR’s because I can, not because I need to, and they take a suppressor so well. I’ve used 5.56 for coyotes, prairie dogs, jack rabbits, etc., and for deer, antelope and Texas hogs. I’ve used AR’s in 6.8SPC for deer, antelope, hogs and coyotes. I’ve also used M1A’s and FAL’s in 7.62 for deer and antelope just ‘cause I like using them. All worked just fine. My son in law was delighted when they made the .22’s legal for big game since he’d been shooting deer, antelope and, I think, a few elk for years with a 22/250.

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Everybody could shoot

Think the question is more, what is appropriate to hunt with .223, and this is making the assumption the OP is asking about an AR-15 platform in the same way the press just throws AR out there when reporting these days.

That being said, .223 is an effective round that can get the job done, but for many things that are larger than "person sized", I would want a little more power, where an AR-10, or the .300 Blackout and other options built on the AR platform, would be preferred.

I do not, but I’m all for the AR platform given that the cartridge selected is suitable for the intended quarry.

Soapbox time!

I do not believe 5.56 should be considered a deer chambering.
I know that with the correct bullet and careful shot placement it will work just fine but I don’t trust that that is always the case.
I know of a couple instances where local folks have perforated up a few deer with 5.56 FMJ only to have them run off.
Its sickening.

We can not use FMJ bullets to hunt anything here, even hogs. and they can be hunted 24/7 all year.

A rather small platform for mounting my thermal scope though. . . .

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I used an AR 5.56 with a night scope to shoot hogs (legal in TX). Light recoil is a must when holding the night scope against your eye.

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6/23/2022

What state are u in Belt fed ? Bucks hogs and old 4wheelers . I like it.

State of Arkansas

I use AR style guns for pest control.

If I'm hunting, I'll use just about anything else.

I deer hunt with AR's, but they are 6.8MM SPC, 300 BLK and 308.

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Bill

The 450 Bushmaster has become a very popular caliber for Deer Hunting in Michigan.

Well, it's a good thing there are at least a dozen calibers besides 223 that can be shot from an AR platform rifle. No one "needs" an AR to hunt with. No one "needs" a handgun to hunt with, should we write them off too?

AR's are great hunting rifles that allow one lower to transform into many different calibers. They are accurate, easily adjustable, nearly unlimited in their customization, and have a simple and safe manual of arms. For the life of me I can't figure out what some of you have against them, or why you think them useless for anything other than murdering in mass.

350 Legend

Varmint only at this time. Everything from rodents up to coyotes. A heavy 24” barrel does the trick there. We don’t have a hog problem here-yet. I prefer a bolt gun or lever gun for other types of hunting. Just what the wife and I prefer, but you do you boo!

Not really looking to add anything in an AR at this point, but the wife is sure liking her 350 Legend caliber. Maybe something inan AR latform in that caliber someday.

Regards,
Rick Gibbs

They are kinda the Thompson Contender of today. 1 receiver many calibers. While I’m a traditionalist and like walnut and blued steel, I say shoot whatever you want as long as it’s legal and ethical…… One thing I don’t get is the thought that .223 is no good for deer. Are there better calibers ? Of course. When I get a pass through double lung shot with my 45lb recurve it’s a “great shot”. When someone gets a pass through double lung shot with a 64 gr BTHP it’s somehow not enough???????? A bad shot is a bad shot. Doesn’t matter if it’s a 7mm Mag or a .223. Those who think bigger bullets give more room for error are sadly mistaken.

I believe most of the laws regarding .223 projectiles came about to stop people from hunting larger prey with 22LR, the 5.56mm was just an innocent bystander. Like most gun laws, the people that write them know very little about what they are regulating or the effects they will have. One of my good friends neck shot all of his deer to keep from harming any meat. He was quite efficient doing so with a 243, I have no doubt he would have done just as well with a 5.56mm AR.

Also, I love blued steel and fine wood too! But my custom Mausers and Lawson rifles are just worth too much to me to carry out in the field these days. If the AR gets nicked up while on a hunting trip then I put a little more Krylon to it when I get home - no harm done.

I assembled this Aero Precision chambered in 7.62x39 with Boyd’s furniture to hunt whitetail feed with but have not had the opportunity to take a shot yet.

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I also have this DPMS Bull 24 chambered in .223 that I have taken several western Kansas/eastern Colorado prairie dogs with.

Not sure that is “hunting”…

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And people wonder why AR’s are so popular?

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Sure you did

5.56x45 is not legal for deer here in WA. Everything I have seen tells me that with the right ammo and decent marksmanship, there is no reason for that rule. Using .223 FMJ for deer hunting is almost certainly shabby, but even that should work with decent marksmanship.

A quality AR lower can be fitted with a broad variety of uppers in other calibers and is thus very flexible. The majority of my rifle training since adulthood was with an AR, so if I were hunting, it would be my platform of choice. If hunting something like hogs at 100 yards or less, I would stick with an Aimpoint RDS. With a 4MOA dot, they are capable of enough precision, and if you end up charged, they do not have the flaws on higher power scopes.

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NHI, 10-8.

I wasn't hunting hogs that afternoon, it was deer season and i walk about 400 yards to the stand from where i park my wheeler. he came out on me quick and didn't waste time coming after me. it was after the evening hunt and was kinda dark. i use a weapon light on my rifles to see going and coming from the stand.

I let the grandson hunt the stand one day and he took this pic of two bears in the top of a tree about 75 yards from the stand. he said there was six of them. problem is the wheeler is parked up that way.lol

I live on a 70 acre farm; my AR is my go to for all manner of varmints. It's fantastic in that role. I use an 06 for deer, but lots of folks use ARs stoked with heavy soft points. They shoot better with them, and with the light weight and collapsible buttstock, their kids do too. It is an excellent rifle and 5 round mags are available.

I would like to try a 6.8spc upper but I believe I would be stuck with it forever if I did not like it. I knew when I bought the 7.62x39 upper I would own it forever as those are unpopular here as well. Still…I retain some interest.

Only feral hogs. Not game animals.

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Come and take it!!

AR for hunting, you bet. I've been using 6.5 Grendel for several years and totally happy with it deerhunting. Lethal little pill with minimal recoil.

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I shoot deer with a scoped 7.62x39 upper on my 223 lower. Works good with Hornady 125 gr SST's.

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S&W Accumulator

Use ARs in 223 for pigs and coyotes, with a thermal. Bolt rifles for deer. Belt Fed thats a monster!!!!

Belt Fed 54,
Alabama hogs and Arkansas hogs may share a little of the same Eurasian bloodline going all the way back to DeSoto. Ya'll call them Razorbacks, we call them Pineywood Rooters. On occasion we would often see a Rooter. Most of the time what we would see are feral hogs with a lot of domestic influence. My point is, the hogs you see may be a little more aggressive than the ones I have seen.

I have seen many, killed many, but I personally have never been charged. Most of the time when they eventually see me, hear me or smell me, they run off. Other times of course they are running because I made my shots on them first.

My brother had a boar make a run on him late one evening. He did the "running grunt" that they do (you know what I mean) and he turned from my brother at the last moment and ran by him. Of course, my brother was shooting at him with a .44 Magnum pistol. So, he may have been persuaded to make that turn.
Hogs do not see that well. I have seen them do that run grunt at other hogs. I have heard of many charges but know of no charge where the hog actually made contact with a man. Hog dogs yes...people...no.
With that said, I don't want to be the first guy who makes hog contact.

I believe the solution, is a lighting quick shot that is accurate in just about ant light condition. I believe this is much more important than the actual gun.

I would be more concerned about the bears. Of course, mama bears will get after you over cubs, but if a black bear really gets after you...he aims to kill you. They are like a big coon, they'll eat anything.
A grizzly, unless he's old and weak, he may maul you and chew on you, until he gets bored, but a black bear will kill and eat you.
Year after year, it's the black bears that do most of the killing.


My favorite rifle for this type of hunting is my Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 30-06.
When I shouldered that rifle at the gun shop, I thought " This rifle is a sweetheart." It just handles so well.


I could not bear to put a scope on that rifle. A scope just ruins the handling and balance. I tried to find some old Redfield receiver sights for it, but it was going to take a lot of work on the rifle. Mounting the rear peep and installing a front sight...it was going to be more work than I thought.

After some research I put an Aimpoint Micro just forward of the breech, where the front scope mount would go.



That Model 70 with an Aimpoint Micro, it's just incredible.
It's just spectacular. Both eyes open...put the dot on it, pull the trigger, it's amazing.
200 yards, 20 feet. Put the dot on it and it's down. Low light? if you can see it with your naked eye, you can see it through that Aimpoint. You could hunt with it in the dark.

Try a good reflex sight. It was a game changer for my Model 70.
IMG_0854 by Travis Brown, on Flickr

I haven’t yet, but thought about taking my 300 BO deer hunting. I have many more traditional choices, but may do it just because.

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213th FBINA