Heck of a year.......

Status
Not open for further replies.

herkyguy

Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
1,409
I'm always trying to find something new in terms of a challenge for hunting. This year, I opted to go for a Remington 11-87 rifled 12 gauge slug gun. On top of it, I ended up with a Leupold VX-R 1.25-4X, complete with the red dot in the crosshairs. Sighted in over the summer at about 50 yards, with it zeroed about an inch or two high. I found that groups with the Hornady SST slugs averaged about 2" with shots after about 3 in a row starting to spread out. Hornady claims you can zero it about 2" high at 50 and it's good all the way out to 150 yards or so. I'm not sure I believe that, but maybe with a different gun.

Anyhow, My longest shots are a tad over 100 yards with my land covered in thick and barely penetrable brush, so my thinking was:

1. find a giant
2. put a very big hole in him
3. follow the massive blood trail if he runs

Plans have a way of changing though..... The only deer I took this year was a button buck at about 30 yards. He was quartering away from me and the sabot slug did its job, he fell where I hit him. Shoulder meat was out of the question however as that 300 grain FTX hit him like a bulldozer.

I did come across a beaver one night as a I walked out that was coming at me from about 20 yards. He'll make a nice bath mat and I'm having the skull bleached - he topped out at about 45 pounds. Hopefully his demise will also stop my creek from backing up. I also found this year that my land was just about overrun with foxes. Literally, dozens of them. I took a shot at one at last light one evening and must have shot high, forgetting in the heat of the moment that it was zeroed a bit high. Weeks later, I did the exact same thing, firing off three rounds as one tore down a trail and into the brush. I finally connected with a fox in early December at about 60 yards, the sabot slug making a neat entry but literally blowing the fox apart on its exit. +1 for expansion, but he'll have to be a pedestal mount since the hide was more or less destroyed.

I've had a bobcat on my cameras for several years now, almost always moving in the dead of night. I noted this year that it was most certainly a large mature cat. Through my cameras, I noted a marked decrease in fawn activity this year and began to suspect this cat was harassing the deer. Anyhow, about two weeks ago, as I sat once again without any activity other than a half dozen squirrels attacking a pile of corn, I perked up when they all scattered and chirped wildly. With my shotgun shouldered, I looked in disbelief as that cat, the same one that has never shown up in daylight, poked her head around the corner of some brush. Since I was hoping for one more deer to fill the freezer, I literally cursed the cat, but still couldn't pass on taking her. This time, at about 50-60 yards, the sabot did its job without much expansion at all, saving the coat for what will hopefully be a great full mount.

For the first time in years, my freezer isn't full, but it was a season I won't forget.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3165.JPG
    IMG_3165.JPG
    247.2 KB · Views: 58
I've killed a couple deer with the 12 gauge SST's and was always amazed at the amount of damage they do. They do appear to always hold together, but they open up a lot and do massive amounts of damage. I shot a doe through the shoulders are about 40 yards a couple years ago and the near shoulder was pretty mushy and the off shoulder wasn't really even salvageable. I always wondered if they would open up like that on a smaller/softer target.
The last year I hunted with a slug gun, I switched to remington copper solids firing a full 1 ounce solid copper slug. They don't seem to have the violent expansion of the hornady's, and just punch an enormous hole clear through. I got similar accuracy, but they are a good bit slower and would probably require a good bit of holdover past 100 yards. This year I took advantage of the new regs and bought a ranch rifle in .450 bushmaster. Sabot slugs just got too expensive to shoot the rest of the year and stay proficient with.
 
There's no challenge in that. That slug gun should group like a rifle out to 150. Try an old Mossberg or Savage 12 ga. bolt gun with a 30" barrel, bead sight, and Foster slugs. THAT's a challenge!
 
I've killed a couple deer with the 12 gauge SST's and was always amazed at the amount of damage they do. They do appear to always hold together, but they open up a lot and do massive amounts of damage. I shot a doe through the shoulders are about 40 yards a couple years ago and the near shoulder was pretty mushy and the off shoulder wasn't really even salvageable. I always wondered if they would open up like that on a smaller/softer target.
The last year I hunted with a slug gun, I switched to remington copper solids firing a full 1 ounce solid copper slug. They don't seem to have the violent expansion of the hornady's, and just punch an enormous hole clear through. I got similar accuracy, but they are a good bit slower and would probably require a good bit of holdover past 100 yards. This year I took advantage of the new regs and bought a ranch rifle in .450 bushmaster. Sabot slugs just got too expensive to shoot the rest of the year and stay proficient with.
The cost of a sabot slug is a major downside to practicing. I see it now as a gun the fits a niche - namely hunting big animals in thick brush. I don’t doubt that a bolt action may be more accurate, but if I ever take it hunting hogs, I really like the semi-auto action for a quick follow-up.
 
I didn't get rid of my slug gun. It's a mossberg 500, bought it for $199 and it has killed a handful of deer. I wouldn't get anything for it if I did sell it and every once in awhile a tube full of slugs is just what the doctor ordered.
 
I kept my 20" Hastings rifled 870 barrel; why not? WI went to rifle state wide a few years ago, but it still gets 5 rounds through it a year to check the scope's zero. (2.5x Bushnell Banner, the barrel has a cantilever mount.) I can always use my 870 for a brush gun or loaner.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top