trnpkroadwarrior
Member
Hello, THR...like they say on the radio, I am a long-time reader, first-time poster. I bet there is already a post along these lines on here somewhere, but I didn't see one too recently, so I hope you won't mind it.
Took a whitetail today in WV, the last day of firearms season here - about time, too, that was my only deer this season. I was participating in a managed "hunt," which isn't too sporting but when your chips are down it's a good fall-back for meat for your freezer, your friends, or charity.
The only arm permitted was a "modern shotgun" 20 gauge and up using slugs. It just so happened I had put in lots of range time with my Mossy 500 12 gauge equipped with the cantilever scope mount, rifled 22" barrel. For ammunition, I am partial to the Lightfield Commander IDS, which I cannot afford to buy off the shelf all the time, but I do handload them. I load them according to factory spec, so they are not meaningfully different from the factory loads.
I shot a deer out at about 90-100 yards. It was a pretty good shot (if I do say so myself), a double-lunger. You know how the rest of the story goes.
My concern/question is this: at 100 yards, this slug still had enough steam to punch right through this deer. It did not even do much damage, just perforated both lungs. The death was reasonably quick and all but certainly not optimal. While I appreciated the cleaner field dressing, I was a little concerned about what might have happened if this had been a more marginal shot.
It was a small deer, and I think lung is among the least dense tissues you could hit, but I was still surprised there was that much oomph and that little expansion in the round.
So, let me ask you experienced hands: is low expansion normal on a lung shot? Or perhaps normal for this slug? What slugs have you used that inspired confidence in you for their use on deer? Right now, I still like the Commander IDS, but I am thinking it is more of a large/dangerous game round than it is a whitetail round. Over-penetration at .73 caliber is not a huge deal, but if I could reduce my recoil some...that would be fine!
Took a whitetail today in WV, the last day of firearms season here - about time, too, that was my only deer this season. I was participating in a managed "hunt," which isn't too sporting but when your chips are down it's a good fall-back for meat for your freezer, your friends, or charity.
The only arm permitted was a "modern shotgun" 20 gauge and up using slugs. It just so happened I had put in lots of range time with my Mossy 500 12 gauge equipped with the cantilever scope mount, rifled 22" barrel. For ammunition, I am partial to the Lightfield Commander IDS, which I cannot afford to buy off the shelf all the time, but I do handload them. I load them according to factory spec, so they are not meaningfully different from the factory loads.
I shot a deer out at about 90-100 yards. It was a pretty good shot (if I do say so myself), a double-lunger. You know how the rest of the story goes.
My concern/question is this: at 100 yards, this slug still had enough steam to punch right through this deer. It did not even do much damage, just perforated both lungs. The death was reasonably quick and all but certainly not optimal. While I appreciated the cleaner field dressing, I was a little concerned about what might have happened if this had been a more marginal shot.
It was a small deer, and I think lung is among the least dense tissues you could hit, but I was still surprised there was that much oomph and that little expansion in the round.
So, let me ask you experienced hands: is low expansion normal on a lung shot? Or perhaps normal for this slug? What slugs have you used that inspired confidence in you for their use on deer? Right now, I still like the Commander IDS, but I am thinking it is more of a large/dangerous game round than it is a whitetail round. Over-penetration at .73 caliber is not a huge deal, but if I could reduce my recoil some...that would be fine!
