Agreed on your point. it also is more acceptable the further south you go. A big Louisiana or Mississippi deer field dresses at half the weight of a southern Michigan/ northern indiana deerPoint of order:
223 is absolutely NOT “underpowered for deer”. Use a proper bullet and they kill as ethically as 12 gauge slugs when put into vitals or CNS.
I’ve harvested two Kentucky whitetails with 223s, one using an 80gr Amax and the other a 77gr Nosler Custom Competition…neither deer laughed it off.