Effective range of shotgun on Deer/Red dot vs scope

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Viking24

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Hey guys,

Thanks for the warm welcome on the forum. Been enjoying educating myself reading a ton of posts.

I have a couple questions for you guys. I recently bought a shotgun and plan on using it to hunt deer in my area (rifles are not permitted). I was wondering, what is your effective range using a rifled barrel shotgun? I know practicing will improve my range and all. I'm thinking if my ethical range is going to be limited to 100 yards, is a scope really necessary? Wouldn't a red dot do just as good of a job?

Ideally, I'd like to take up to 150 yard shots (my hunting grounds permit it), but is that reasonable with a rifled barrel shotgun? And if so which scopes do you recommend? I have been looking at the Nikon Slughunter, the Leopold UltimateSlam and the Scorpion slugger. The only thing with the scorpion is the turret that comes with it is for a specific ammunition and there isn't really a way to tell how accurate my shotgun would shoot that ammo without the scope.

Thanks for your inputs!

T
 
150 yards with sabots is certainly doable. That’s further than my eyes like without magnification. 1-4, 2-7,3-9x are all good choices depending on your hunting grounds. I’ve been using an ultimate slam for years without issue. Longest kill shot I’ve witnessed was a nice buck at 205yds with 385gr partition gold.
 
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There’s a member here on CGN that goes by “brobee” he’s got a ton of great videos on YouTube about shotgunning deer. Check him out. Lots to be learned.

[youtube]zAq5jNBrRbw[/youtube]
 
Well I had red dot on my rifled barrel and I was not able to shoot it as accurately as a slug gun with a scope .... so I switched to a scope.

870_Police_Magpul.jpg


However, I had two issues.
1.) With the scope my cheek weld was not good any more ... I had to raise my head away from the stock. So, I upgraded to a stock with a much higher cheek riser.

2.) And two, shotgun triggers are normally not the best for precision shooting ... and mine was pretty sluggish. I upgraded the trigger as well.

Now I have a setup that works pretty well out to 100m and maybe a bit more.

I am happy with my Vortex 1-4x24 and the illuminated recticle is really handy in those last minutes of light ...
 
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I use a 2.5 fixed scope on my rifled shotgun. I have to agree with everyone else 100 yards is a legit distance for slugs. 150 max would be my comfort zone.
 
Not sure about OP, but in southern Ontario shotgun seasons are November and December controlled hunts. In my experience I will not be gambling my tag with red dot sights and batteries in negative temps. Did that last year and I'm incredibly happy I took a backup in my truck. A 1-4x scope and savage 212 would be on my buy list.
 
Thanks for your input guys. I'm east of Ottawa and we are allowed slugs. Shotgun season is 2 weeks only in early November otherwise I'm crossbow hunting from October 1rst until December 31rst so you can see where the added range comes in handy.

Judging by what I'm reading here, there is enough ethical range to justify purchasing a scope.

Will also check out Brobee's Youtube channel!
 
Viking24 said:
Thanks for your input guys. I'm east of Ottawa and we are allowed slugs. Shotgun season is 2 weeks only in early November otherwise I'm crossbow hunting from October 1rst until December 31rst so you can see where the added range comes in handy.

Judging by what I'm reading here, there is enough ethical range to justify purchasing a scope.

Will also check out Brobee's Youtube channel!
Click to expand...

I had no idea wmu65 didn’t have a rifle season. Learned something new today.
 
Fisherguy55 said:
Not sure about OP, but in southern Ontario shotgun seasons are November and December controlled hunts. In my experience I will not be gambling my tag with red dot sights and batteries in negative temps. Did that last year and I'm incredibly happy I took a backup in my truck. A 1-4x scope and savage 212 would be on my buy list.
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That’s interesting. I’ve been using cheap red dots on my guns for years in the cold, and never had fail. Now, I’m bringing it back into the cabin each night... maybe yours was stored in the truck overnight? What type of red dog and battery? Mine have all just taken the little 2032s.
 
I had a red dot on a rifle once but what I did not like was that it did not seem to gather light like a riflescope. During the legal twilight period at dawn and dusk it actually appeared darker through the red dot. WK
 
I have used a red dot on my 3.5 inch turkey gun for years. Very fast in target.at close range. I never had the results I wanted when I tried it with slugs at longer ranges. 75 to 100 yards .so I use a low powers scope for deer. Never had a battery problem with cheap red dots.i just put a fresh one in at start of the season.
 
WeakKnee said:
I had a red dot on a rifle once but what I did not like was that it did not seem to gather light like a riflescope. During the legal twilight period at dawn and dusk it actually appeared darker through the red dot. WK
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We’re you shooting with both eyes open?
 
Fisherguy55 said:
Not sure about OP, but in southern Ontario shotgun seasons are November and December controlled hunts. In my experience I will not be gambling my tag with red dot sights and batteries in negative temps. Did that last year and I'm incredibly happy I took a backup in my truck. A 1-4x scope and savage 212 would be on my buy list.
Click to expand...

I hunted black powder with a red dot (trs25 bushnell) in 2015. The dot started twinkling in the tree stand one day. I did not see a deer that day but the red dot was removed that night and I had to hunt with irons the remainder of the season. Batteries and electronics can't be trusted the way scopes can. I still killed a deer that season,about a 40 yards shot. I thought it was a doe but it was a spike. Was legal either way but not being able to identify is a problem lol.

It was also the last time I hunt without magnification. The accuracy is not the problem, its just that beyond 50 yards you can't really tell the difference between a spike and a doe. A good scope set on 3x allows for good target identification and confidence in your shot.

IMO its enough of a retard handicap to be forced to hunt with 1800 technology. A good scope is an awesome tool and always a plus for hunting.
 
I have never had an issue with any of the aimpoint red dots I have owned over the years. I think they are great for a slug setup providing you have a small dot (2 moa). Having said that I use a fixed 2.5x as I appreciate the magnification in lower light.

In my experience ballistics are more of an issue than penetration at longer distance. You need to test your setup to find an accuracy/distance setup that is acceptable as 5 yards can make a huge difference. For this reason I find a rangefinder an invaluable tool when slug hunting at longer distances.
 
kodiakjack said:
I had no idea wmu65 didn’t have a rifle season. Learned something new today.
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Yes. And WMU 65 being such a big region (about Cornwall to Hawkesbury to Ottawa to Cardinal/Morrisburg) it doesn't make sense. They should divide it for sure.

When you consider the effective range of Shotguns and Muzzleloaders (which are allowed) the difference with a rifle isn't big. I know you can shoot quite far with a rifle but most guys I know that rifle hunt in neighbouring WMUs still keep it within 200 yards. However, I personally like shotgun hunting because of the proximity with the game. I love that.
 
Yes on turkeys as Thy come in fast and very close. Like 10 yards. Well shooting with my slug barrle I tried both.
 
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