Best .223 bullet for deer?

[petey]

Ok before we get off on a debate on why not to use the .223 and why you think it's unethical, I want real life experiences based off of facts not opinions. That of a scientific matter, that is. Now instead of running actual numbers myself I pulled a little snippet off the web from a Jeff Moats

The general rule of thumb is that a cartridge needs to produce 1000 foot pounds of energy at a given distance to effectively take a whitetail deer. The .223 Remington firing a 60 grain Nosler Partition as loaded by Federal produces 3160 feet per second at the muzzle and 1330 foot pounds of energy. The energy at 100 yards is 998 foot pounds and at 200 yards is 736 foot pounds. (Ballistics from federalpremium.com) While this level of energy is not impressive to say the least, let's look at the numbers of the 30-30 Winchester. The 30-30 Winchester is a great deer cartridge that has filled innumerable tags over the years, yet its ballistics are not spectacular either. The 30-30 Winchester fires a 150 grain bullet at 2390 feet per second and generates 1902 foot pounds of energy. At 100 and 200 yards the energy numbers are 1296 and 858. While the 30-30 Winchester does produce better numbers than the .223 Remington, the difference is not that significant. (30-30 ballistics from remington.com) And then there is my .45 Flintlock whose round balls barely generate 1000 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle, yet has killed about 20 deer. And then there are all the deer that fell to the .25-20 and .32-20 Winchester and the .44-40 Winchester, none of which even come close to 1000 foot pounds at the muzzle. While ballistics are interesting and are useful as a basis of comparison, they do not tell the whole story.

Interesting read...and to mainly keep away any flamers or opinionated posters that have no "real life" experience in the matter.

So back to the original question..what's the best bullet you've found? Me personally? Yes I've killed deer with a .223, several in fact, with 55 gr Nosler Balistic tips...all neck shots. Not my idea of a "good" bullet for lung shooting deer. Lets say for the sake of argument, all shots are under 100 yards, probably more like 30-50yds, and typical "behind the shoulder" shots. I'll elude to why here in a bit, but I'd like some honest factual feedback from some folks.

60gr Nosler Partitions
55gr trophy bonded bear claw
etc...

Any insight in the matter anyone?