20ga for hunting

vagrantonwalkabout

vagrantonwalkabout

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My local blacktail are a island dwarf version (texada), max 150lb for a trophy buck. For hunting those deer with a 20ga what is better a slug or buckshot? and what size buckshot patterns well out of a 20ga? Long story short I am between hunting rifles for the next month or so and I'm itching to go early deer hunting when the season opens. My 20ga is single shot cylinder bore, 2 3/4 only. Yes lots of opportunities for a 50 yard and in shots around here.
 
Slug all the way. Buckshot is too limiting for my liking.

I love Texada. My buddy's family has a vacation home there, we've been making the trip for the weekend closest to Remembrance Day the last few years. Seems all the good bucks are hanging out in Gillies Bay by that time of year though lol
 
vagrantonwalkabout said:
My local blacktail are a island dwarf version (texada), max 150lb for a trophy buck. For hunting those deer with a 20ga what is better a slug or buckshot? and what size buckshot patterns well out of a 20ga? Long story short I am between hunting rifles for the next month or so and I'm itching to go early deer hunting when the season opens. My 20ga is single shot cylinder bore, 2 3/4 only. Yes lots of opportunities for a 50 yard and in shots around here.
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Slug, Buckshot, buckshot....
But, seeing as you are a single shot then a slug in the boiler works to tcb.
A Texada 150lb buck is an absolute monster from what I have been told by some guys who commercial fished the area.
Rob
 
FLHTCUI said:
Slug, Buckshot, buckshot....
But, seeing as you are a single shot then a slug in the boiler works to tcb.
A Texada 150lb buck is an absolute monster from what I have been told by some guys who commercial fished the area.
Rob
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150lb and/or 4 point buck is pretty much a town buck that got stupid/greedy and left town, in the very very remote areas. Or possibly I deer that recently swim accross from the mainland. Not impossible but yes a very rare monster. Know of two people with the evidence to backup their story of finding one. One of them moves in and lives with my friends goat herd every season. A way to give people the idea that a 20ga is plenty of gun for these little guys vs a normal Blacktail/mule deer.
 
If I had to hunt deer with a shotgun it would be with slugs, in my experience shooting slugs and buckshot the slugs have better accuracy and range. Not that buckshot won’t do the job but if your not in a shot only restriction zone then a slug would be my first choice.

I’ve always wanted to shoot a deer with a 12g slug but have yet to do it, nor am I in areas that have shotgun only restrictions. I’m a big 12g fan so I think it would be fun to hunt lg game with one, if we had a dedicated shotgun/muzzle loader season I would be all over it for the season extension.
 
hey vagrantwalkabout I didnt mean to come off as a doubter of your post on those lovely Blk Tails on Texada.
I wanted to head over , but covid came along and knorked that up.
Then the motel burned from what I understand and then there is the rumor that there was a murder on the Island, not sure if the killer was
a store owner or the motel owner.
Anyways, would luv some first hand success stories.
Regards and Good Hunting.
Rob
 
FLHTCUI said:
hey vagrantwalkabout I didnt mean to come off as a doubter of your post on those lovely Blk Tails on Texada.
I wanted to head over , but covid came along and knorked that up.
Then the motel burned from what I understand and then there is the rumor that there was a murder on the Island, not sure if the killer was
a store owner or the motel owner.
Anyways, would luv some first hand success stories.
Regards and Good Hunting.
Rob
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Rumor around the island is there is an arsonist afoot. I'm told a few places have burned down in recent years, too many to be pure coincidence according to some...
 
20ga buck shot doesn't reach into the bigger diameters such as 00buck and 000buck. While I have used #2 buck on a wolf hunt it lacks the penetration of the bigger shot sizes. Inside 30 yards #2 buck will work fine on deer as you get more pellets but a slug will work much better.
I've had great results for accuracy with federal truball slugs. You should buy several makes and types and see what your gun shoots the best.
 
vagrantonwalkabout said:
... My 20ga is single shot cylinder bore, 2 3/4 only. ...
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Out of a cylinder bore shotgun you are not going to get "hunting" buckshot patterns beyond around 25 meters.

As far as I know there are no 20ga Flightcontrol loads on the market yet.

You are better off shooting slugs if you want to hunt out to 50 meters.

The other option is to get that barrel threaded for chokes .....
 
Try some slugs, you might be surprised. I had an old Mossberg 400g that someone cut the barrel down to 19 inches and re installed the bead sight. At 30 yds it was bang on with cheap winchester slugs.
 
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As far as I know #3 buck is all that's available for 20ga buckshot.I handloaded a couple hundred for a buddy.
 
18 pellets for 3" #2 buck. 20 pellets for 3" #3 buck
The federal #2 buck patterns tighter than the winchester #3 buck loads in my 3 20ga guns. The winchester is rated 100fps faster though
 
Must be relatively recent? I stand corrected. Brenneke slugs are more accurate than Fosters in most cases. #2 buck....27 dia
 
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Brobee223 has a bunch of videos on YouTube hunting deer with buckshot and slugs. Very informative. Pretty sure that’s what his channel is called. I think it’s mostly 12 gauge but should give you an idea of what to expect.
 
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