Buck shot question

rem74283

rem74283

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Hamilton Area, Ontario
Hey guys and gals,
This question comes from pure inexperience.

I've always hunted deer with either a rifle or a rifled barreled shotgun with sabots. This year I bought a 20g semi and am thinking of buying some buck shot for it as a backup gun for denser bush or for dogging.

What shotshells would you recommend for a 20g load and also is there a difference between the bulk stuff guys buy for comps and hunting loads?
 
I'm not a fan of buckshot, take all you energy and divide it into several projectiles that should be used for very close range. I figure if I have to limit my shot to 30 or 40 yards that I can hit the target with a slug anyway. I have a friend who swears by it but he hunts from a stand in THICK swamp, uses 12 gauge ssg, and shoots his deer at 20 yards .
Whatever you decide , spend some time patterning and keep kinetic energy in mind when you decide your effective range.
 
redmist25 said:
I'm not a fan of buckshot, take all you energy and divide it into several projectiles that should be used for very close range. I figure if I have to limit my shot to 30 or 40 yards that I can hit the target with a slug anyway. I have a friend who swears by it but he hunts from a stand in THICK swamp, uses 12 gauge ssg, and shoots his deer at 20 yards .
Whatever you decide , spend some time patterning and keep kinetic energy in mind when you decide your effective range.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my sabots I shoot from 50-120+ yards but it doesn't take much to deflect a sabot. We try to clear shooting lanes but there are some spots we are considering pushing or sitting in some thicker bush. Inside of 45 yards.
 
If you will be hunting deer in Ontario with your 20 you might find it rather challenging to find buckshot that is legal for deer.

You can't use anything smaller than #1 buck and even though I sell ammunition at work I have never been able to find anything larger than #2 buck in a 20 gauge factory offering.

I have hunted deer, pushed by dogs with buckshot (12 gauge 00 or 000) but consider it to be a "bow range" (35 yards) round.

And after doing a ton of patterning I always settled on a full choke.

So IF you can find some 00 for your 20 AND you can keep your shots super close I personally believe that buckshot is an effective and ethical choice for deer. But if you are tempted to "stretch it out" a bit then it's probably not what you should be shooting, a good rifled slug from a 20 is probably a better choice.
 
here in B.C. no smaller than no 1 buck but no one loads no1 so the 20gauge is not legal you may find the same in ontario
 
You would have to handload for 20ga buckshot for deer hunting. You would also have to experiment with your patterns. I have a 12ga set for buckshot and I ended up finding that a Carlson extended "over Full choke" was best (cylinder is about .730", full is about .695" and I think my Carlson is .690"). I can reach out and kill a coyote with it to 80 meters, but I would not try a deer farther than 50 meters.

You would have to be 40 yards or less with a 20ga with handloaded 3" #1 buckshot... but just my opinion.
 
Not sure on the size of the shots but seen these before and not sure where to find them and their accuracy. 20gBNB.jpg
 

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Brobee or something like that has done some great videos with buckshot. Search the shotgun forum and this one you should be able to find them

I've used buffalo bore 00 buck in 12 ga. Close range is was great. At 50 yards they didn't penetrate much at all

I'll take a slug over buck shot any day for deer
 
I realize you're not in Ontario so there for you would not know there is a shotgun only season for most of S Ont., a 45-70 would not be an option.........OP is from Hamilton which is S. Ont.
 
Also I don't take a shot if I don't think I can hit it. I'm asking for advice because I'm lookin to hunt a different part of the same bush I'm already hunting. I already still/stand hunt with sabots.
I'm looking for a close range option for dense brush or small trees that would normally change the trajectory of a sabot. I didn't know there weren't many options for 20g. It's just the shotgun I thought I would use.
 
rem74283 said:
Also I don't take a shot if I don't think I can hit it. I'm asking for advice because I'm lookin to hunt a different part of the same bush I'm already hunting. I already still/stand hunt with sabots.
I'm looking for a close range option for dense brush or small trees that would normally change the trajectory of a sabot. I didn't know there weren't many options for 20g. It's just the shotgun I thought I would use.
Click to expand...

If you don't want shots to deflect, dont shoot through bush. Deflection is one of those things you can't easily account for, so the only way to avoid it is to not take shots that risk deflection in the first place.

Nothing is deflection-proof, and trying to beat that by shooting a handful of lighter projectiles at a slower speed doesn't seem like a recipe for success in my book, it sounds like a good way to injure deer that then get away. Rather than deflecting one sabot, you'll just deflect 9 or 12 buckshot pellets...
 
rem74283 said:
Hey guys and gals,
This question comes from pure inexperience.

I've always hunted deer with either a rifle or a rifled barreled shotgun with sabots. This year I bought a 20g semi and am thinking of buying some buck shot for it as a backup gun for denser bush or for dogging.

What shotshells would you recommend for a 20g load and also is there a difference between the bulk stuff guys buy for comps and hunting loads?
Click to expand...

Check this out......https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1601334-The-real-truth-about-buckshot-for-hunting
 
If you can't practice enough to hit what you are shooting at with a slug, how good can you expect to be at range estimation??
For some reason there are few videos of the deer wounded by buckshot.
 
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