Despite being a young guy, I think I have a sort of old school mentality. I'm not a big fan of the ARs for hunting. They seem to be an answer to a problem that doesn't exist. For plinking? Heck yeah! Home defense? Sure! But I see no purpose for using an AR for big game hunting. There are tons of other rifles that are more accurate, more powerful, weigh less, and cost less. The only hunting application I see for an AR would be predator hunting. I think there is no reason in the world that a .223 should be used on anything bigger than a coyote. Will it work? Sure, but will it also fail sometimes? Probably. If you need a follow up shot insanely fast on a big game hunt, you need to make that first shot more effective.
Just my opinion, CApighunter