Effectiveness of buckshot on deer

Can't say I've ever thought of buckshot as a hunting round, but it sounds like it works in specific situations.

My question is, do you end up running a metal detector over every meat cut or are they easy to spot when butchering, do you ever end up biting a piece of shot ?

Same goes for bird hunting I guess, I've never eaten wild shot birds before.

I assume lead pellets would be a lot softer than steel or copper jacketed, will a lead pellet chip a tooth ?
 
Pretty easy to spot wound channels and remove the shot as I have never found or bit into any after the deer has been processed and prepared for consumption.
 
The large majority of people who’re against the use of buckshot for deer are either relying on second hand information or they’ve been involved with a hunt where they or someone else used buckshot outside its limits. Within 40 yards, a 12 gauge with a properly paired choke and load combo is devastating on deer and puts them down quick.

Unfortunately, far too many people aren’t willing to spend the time/money figuring out what shoots best from their gun. On top of this, most people are horrible at range estimation.

It’s best for most people, and deer, if they stick to slugs…
 
canadian hunter312 said:
The large majority of people who’re against the use of buckshot for deer are either relying on second hand information or they’ve been involved with a hunt where they or someone else used buckshot outside its limits. Within 40 yards, a 12 gauge with a properly paired choke and load combo is devastating on deer and puts them down quick…
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In the past, I've always assumed that most of the prejudice and overt disapproval of buckshot (for hunting) and the legal restictions against the use of buckshot (for hunting) was based primarily on concerns about the terminal ballistics. Over time, however, I've come to believe that most of the prejudice and overt disapproval of buckshot is based upon safety concerns relating to injudicious shot placement and/or careless use.

"It's not the gun, it's the nut behind the butt." -Louis Awerbuck
 
hoytcanon said:
I'm not a buckshot hater, but I am not a buckshot user either. I prefer to place my bullets exactly, not "hope" one of them hits something vital. The problem with buckshot is not when it is used appropriately within range, the problem is when the user makes a poor decision to shoot beyond the consistently lethal range... that is where the deer takes one pellet in the jaw, one in the guts and one in the ass. By all means use buckshot where legal, just know it's limitation and yours and stay within them.
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Last time I used buckshot, I was shooting at a small bottle of Gatorade from about 30 feet away. I was trying to demonstrate the explosive power of 12ga to a non-shooting friend. I missed with the first 2 shots. lol Lit up the ground around it, but took 3 shots to hit it.

So, wasn't going to post that reply...but to Hoyt's point....
 
Talks about buckshot always make me think of this guy I used to know... You know the type... Thinks hes a ####ing buckshot sniper with a shotgun because one of his pellets hit a BBQ at 100yds in a gravel pit one time...
 
I have to use a shotgun in my WMU. I prefer a rifled slug gun. of the 3 deer I've taken.

1. was at 87 yards, facing me. Shot it through the heart/lungs. went 50 yards and crashed.
2. was at 30 yards, shot it through the heart/lungs, went 20 yards and crashed.
3. was at 144 yards. shot it through the heart/lungs went 60 yards and crashed.

I hunt in a manner that allows me to place my shots ethically.

All buckshot does is limit your range. Shot placement trumps the difference in terminal ballistics of buckshot versus slug versus whatever.

The only sabot slug I avoid is the Hornady SST. I found copper fragments throughout the animal. Hornady American whitetail was 6 MOA, with good expansion and 97%+ weight retention, The Accutips I now use, are ~2.5 MOA and offer good terminal performance.

If you are choosing to take a shot at a running deer at 20 yards, Ultimately Shot placement is way more important than buckshot versus a slug.

There are 2 factors.

-Shot placement.
-The effective range of the projectile(s).

Buckshot has the worst range of the 3 options, (Slug, Buckshot, Sabot Slug)
 
If you decide to use buckshot, PATTERN YOUR GUN! Many shotguns shoot different patterns with buck than they do with regular shot. I have an old model10 Remington that I patterned to find it shoots a tight vertical string pattern with buck, and always higher than point of aim. It's cylinder bore but with buck, it's as tight as what you'd expect from a full choke at 40 yards. My full/modified side by side shoots one pattern higher than the other with buck, but both pattern to the same point with #4's or #6. I'm not a regular buckshot user, but have hunted in buckshot only areas a few times myself. Again, take the time to find out where your gun patterns, and what that pattern looks like. I'd suggest you shoot at 40 yards for best effect.
 
All I can say to that video is he'd never hunt over my dog
Buckshot when used right is a superb killer on deer. When used at the wrong time it's not effective at all. Like gambling. Know your limits
 
.22LRGUY said:
Last time I used buckshot, I was shooting at a small bottle of Gatorade from about 30 feet away. I was trying to demonstrate the explosive power of 12ga to a non-shooting friend. I missed with the first 2 shots. lol Lit up the ground around it, but took 3 shots to hit it.

So, wasn't going to post that reply...but to Hoyt's point....
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Yours was a realistic demonstration, and your spectator was better informed than he would have been had things gone according to plan.
 
Didn't realize there was ANYONE doubting the effectiveness of buckshot on game animals. Shotguns are, and have always been, the most ubiquitous and effective hunting tool on Earth.



There ARE a lot of Creedmore goobers on here that think taking a shot at a deer under 250 meters is lame though.
 
In our WMU we can only use shot guns and we dog to push deer to blockers. Over the years the few in our group who used buckshot turned to slugs like the rest of us. There is no doubt buckshot is very effective at close range ,but the consensus with our guys is that if they are close enough to hit with buckshot you should be able to hit them with a slug. This also allows the luxury of a longer range shot should the opportunity arise.
 
1ABNDT said:
Federal flight control is the sweet.

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Federal w/Flight Control is the only buckshot fer me. I get 8" patterns @ 25 yds from my dedicated, cylinder bore buck-n-ball gun.
Took me last deer with 'er a tad past 30 yds. Critter was unaware of me and fell like it was head bonked with a steel pipe.
 

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lazyfarmer said:
In our WMU we can only use shot guns and we dog to push deer to blockers. Over the years the few in our group who used buckshot turned to slugs like the rest of us. There is no doubt buckshot is very effective at close range ,but the consensus with our guys is that if they are close enough to hit with buckshot you should be able to hit them with a slug. This also allows the luxury of a longer range shot should the opportunity arise.
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Some places, a shotgun loaded with shot can be used even where a firearm loaded with a single projectile cannot... which might explain buckshot.
 
Wendell said:
Some places, a shotgun loaded with shot can be used even where a firearm loaded with a single projectile cannot... which might explain buckshot.
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When you say there are places where you can use a shotgun with shot to hunt say deer but a firearm with single projectile can not…do you mean a shotgun with slug or rifle because I am not aware of places where hunting say a deer with shot is allowed but hunting in the same area with a slug is not.
 
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Sure, in some places you might be allowed to hunt deer with a single projectile, but the shotgun loaded with shot might be allowed in more places, including places where a rifle an/or a firearm with a single projectile cannot. I'm talking about exclusion distances. In some places, the most practical difference between a rifle (and/or a firearm with a single projectile) versus a shotgun loaded with shot is the fact that the excusion distances for the shotgun loaded with shot are dramatically smaller than the excusion distances for the rifle (and/or a firearm with a single projectile). In other places, rifling matters but the payload does not, so a shotgun with a slug is still treated like a shotgun. In other places, the 'gauge' is what matters, and a rifled 12ga is still treated like a shotgun. In other places, buckshot may be allowed for deer hunting, but a slug is not (period).

It depends upon where you're at.
 
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