Musings on hunting with a shotgun

[bearcreek]

Very common to use buckshot around here when chasing deer with dogs. I would use slugs hunting deer if I was required to do so. And if a inline muzzle loader were an option, I would pick that over slugs.

That's what I did when I lived in Ohio. Started out using 12 gauge with slugs and within a few years switched to an inline. Better range and more accurate. Buckshot would waste too much meat.

 

[Bearcat1982]

Foster slugs are so accurate and effective at typical Deer hunting ranges. What would be the benefits of Buck?

 

[Bearcat1982]

read through the thread after replying. I can see there would be benefits running deer with Dogs.

 

[daniel craig]

Hello all from all over,

I live in a state allows all .22 and up center-fire single projectile firearms for deer. I have however always wanted to hunt with buckshot. Could anyone lend me some perspective on hunting with buckshot, whether it's a poor choice to begin with, and if it's worth lobbying to legalize it here. Buckshot, with a close shot, should be absolutely sufficient.

Trying to expand my horizons, thanks ladies and gents!

Edited to correct my accidentally profanity

When I use a shotgun I only hunt big game with slugs because buck shot is illegal for bug game hunting here.

 

[entropy]

Buckshot is illegal in WI, so a moot point for me, but I could see where it can be effective in dense cover, particularly when using dogs.

 

[borrowedtime69]

To each their own. I hate using shotgun for anything except birds and maybe running rabbits.... maybe coyote. I wouldn't use buckshot on big game for hunting, might ruin too much meat and you have to be closer to the target. I'm definitely a rifleman.

If it's legal and you want to try it, give it a go.

 

[daniel craig]

To each their own. I hate using shotgun for anything except birds and maybe running rabbits.... maybe coyote. I wouldn't use buckshot on big game for hunting, might ruin too much meat and you have to be closer to the target. I'm definitely a rifleman.

If it's legal and you want to try it, give it a go.

I appreciate their versatility but like you, dislike using them in most cases that aren't flying critters. A 20ga can do anything you need it to. 200yds with slugs, any size bird or small with the right shot. That said, I'd be really interested to see new innovations/development with the 28 gauge. Bigger than a .410 but smaller than a 20gauge seems to right about perfect.

 

[Kevinq6]

One reason I would be cautious to hunt with buckshot is it would be harder to make sure you have all the projectiles out of the meat before processing, and even if you did there would possibly be a larger area of meat where you had to waste it. A quality grinder might get a pure lead pellet and grind it up without you knowing, and that would be bad news.

I would prefer a slug because it would often work where buckshot would, and there is one hole to cut around. I am okay with buckshot being legal if people want to use it. I know we are mostly experienced hunters here but you do want to test the pattern so you know whether the animal is in range.

I agree with others that have mentioned a shotgun handles well for a quick shot. I think that would be useful even if you were using slugs.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I haven’t used it in a bit but when I do I only take close shots. 30 yds and under, aim for the base of the neck right where it meets the shoulder and it is DRT every time so far. That is the only time I don’t take a shoulder or behind the shoulder shot. Because of pattern entropy, there is a higher vital organ/CNS hit probability with the base of the neck shot.

I like #1 personally.

 

[red rick]

I have never gotten any buckshot pellets in my mouth from a deer shot with buckshot in all the years that I have eaten deer and most were shot with buckshot . Rabbits are a different story with #6 shot . I just picked up a #6 pellet off the floor last week while I was watching TV . I don’t think that it tears up the meat , but I guess it could if the deer was really close . I usually aim for the shoulder or the neck . Where I live , we have a lot of hunting clubs and our hunts are with a lot of people , maybe over 30 put on stands . We run deer with hounds . Our club does not allow slugs unless you are in an elevated treestand . I can’t think of one person that uses slugs . I sometimes use my slug gun when I am hunting alone in a treestand , but I have never seen a deer while carrying my slug gun . My deer have always been killed with buckshot , or a muzzleloader . The way we hunt is very different regionally . Laws play a part in what you can use , as well as terrain and style . I would no more suggest a western hunter use a shotgun than I would a southerner use a rifle in the thick cover with hounds running . I would just pick the best tool for the job that is legally allowed .

 

[Anchorite]

Buckshot can be very effective at reasonable distances, like up to 60 yards or so depending on how your gun patterns. I hunted with slugs for many years in the Land of Lincoln. Buckshot wasn't allowed there though given all my deer were under 75 yards it certainly would have worked.

Here in Alabama there are plenty of dedicated buckshot hunters, especially guys with hounds running deer through the mountains and swamps. They seem to be pretty successful. A good acquaintance swears by buckshot for hogs over bait. I have noticed a distinct preference by these guys for 3" 15 pellet 00 and 3-1/2" 18 pellet 00 loads even though those shells tend to be slower than standard 9 pellet (plus harder to locate recently). I've taken a shotgun with buckshot when stalking the pine woods in the foothills but no deer to show for it as yet. Hunting fields and open areas I stick with rifles these days.

Guys down here in the Mobile Delta swear by shotguns and buckshot for everything.

 

[Legionnaire]

Used to hunt shotgun only areas in NY state with slugs. Foster type until I secured a rifled slug barrel, then sabots. Longest measured shot on a buck was 140 yards, DRT. No interest at all in buckshot.

 

[.308 Norma]

I would no more suggest a western hunter use a shotgun than I would a southerner use a rifle in the thick cover with hounds running . I would just pick the best tool for the job that is legally allowed .

Amen to that!

Rabbits are a different story with #6 shot .

It's mostly been pheasants with #6 shot for me - I can't remember ever hunting anything with a shotgun loaded with buckshot, but then again, I'm one of those "western hunters" you wrote about.
Nevertheless, I have had a few #6 (and #4) shot pellets in my mouth over the years. I'm almost 75 though, and I'm still here. About the biggest concern about getting the occasional #6 shot pellet in my mouth is that of breaking a tooth. But then again (again), a couple of years ago, I bit down on a bullet fragment in a venison stew from a mule deer buck I'd killed with a 30-caliber rifle.
Luckily, I didn't break a tooth even from that. The fact is the only tooth I've ever broken was the one I broke a few years back while eating popcorn.

 

[PapaG]

Never lived where it was legal for deer but experimented with it a lot, both factory and handloaded. I killed a few wood chicks in my garden with OO but was never impressed with my pattern tests. Using hard cast OO and buffering I got pretty effective patterns out to 45 or so yards but could get great groups with my cast sabot slugs to 90 or so.
I think buck is best for dog driven deer, hogs, and two legged assailants. Hope I never have to use it but that's what is in my SD 870.

 

[MacAR]

I've killed a lot of deer over the years with buckshot, with 10, 12, and 16 gauge shotguns. Never had an issue, but I wasn't taking 100 yard shots, either. If shots are kept under 50 yards max, and a smaller size of shot is used (such as #4 or #1), it works very well. Years ago, it was about the only thing used for deer hunting in these parts, as few people had a rifle larger than 22lr and slugs were basically unheard of, and pretty much unavailable in our little country stores. I still have one place that I like to hunt that is very thick, and the shots I take are measured in feet, not yards. I use my 1897 Winchester and #4 buck; head shots are the goal, and the result is... spectacular, for lack of a better word. However, I much prefer a rifle these days. A 30-30 is just as good or maybe better in thick cover, even for running deer, but the shotgun and buckshot absolutely have a place in any "Eastern" deer hunter's arsenal.

Mac

 

[PapaG]

I believe Capstick used #4 buck in a model 12 to follow up wounded leopards. I shot some 3" #4 buck from a M12 duck gun when I was about fifteen, A hundred and twenty pounds in a t shirt. Not fun.