Hunting moose with shotgun ?

Many many deer and moose have fallen to shotguns ...

Shotgun hunting and range ... hmmmmm ?

  1. First, are we talking smoothbore with Foster slugs or buckshot?
  3. Second, are we talking smoothbore or rifled barrel and sabots?
  5. And third, what sighting system are we talking about?


Here are just two examples:

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Here an 870 Police with ghost ring sights.
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870_Police_Ghost_Ring_Sights.jpg



I can shoot the following group at 50 meters with that gun and Federal TruBall rifled slugs ... and I am comfortable to hunt deer size targets or larger out to 80 meters with that setup.


Federal_TruBall_Slug.jpg



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And here my 870 Police with a rifled Hastings barrel.
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I call it my 120 meter setup ... because this setup (with Federal Power Shock Sabots) shoots 2 inches high at 50 meters and 2 inches low at 120 meters ... all still within the boiler room of a deer.

However, at 200 meters it shoots 23 inches low of point of aim ... :-(


870_Police_Magpul.jpg



Here the group at 100 meters:


870_Police_Hastings_Rifled_Federal_PowerShok_Sabot_100M.JPG



Hope that gives you an idea ....
 
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zherock said:
If i do, i will have the rifled barrel and a scope. The same setup for bear hunting
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Here is my experience with shotgun rifled barrels .... they are very very very ammo sensitive!!!

I had to test quite a few brands of sabot slugs in order to find one that my barrel likes.

With some sabots, I could not even hit the paper at 100 meters ... with others I would get 10 inch groups at that distance ... and others would give me a 4 inch group. And if you find an exceptional match ... you might be able to get 2 -3 inch groups.

However, sabots are quite expensive ... and in the process of finding a sabot that my barrel likes, I spent a little fortune on ammo .... :-(

p.s.: Ohhhh, and once you find a sabot that matches your barrel and that gives you 2 -3 inch groups. ... you better buy a 20 year supply of those ... because there is no guarantee that that sabot will still be manufactured in a couple of years .... and finding another one that shoots that well .... well, that might be a long and expensive search ....
 
Grizzly Adams said:
You better do a little research on slugs. Obviously, you've never used them. :confused:

Grizz
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Grizzly Adams said:
Nothing stupid about that, just a dose of reality.

Grizz
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Grizz, can you share a bit more about that reality? What reality are we talking about?

Is it penetration?
Is it limited energy transfer?
Is it accuracy?
Is it range?

What is it? What are we talking about?

What are the conclusions based on your research and experience?


p.s.: Because some on here might think that your words are empty of any research and experience ... :-(
 
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bearkilr said:
My question would be "why use a shotgun if it's legal with a rifle?"
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I know here some older guys like my close friend doesn't own a rifle. He owns one 12ga shotgun and uses it for everything and gets his deer every year
Told me in fact just yesterday in 43 years only missed one year not filling the freezer
Mind you his shots on deer are all under 40 yards. I am also talking smooth barrel and old lead slugs
He has no issues taking a moose with one if he gets a tag
Cheers
 
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with good sights, slugs your shotgun shoots accurately and within a close enough distance they will do the job. If it was legal in bc I wouldn’t mind dropping one with a slug, rifled or smooth bore.
 
I took a wild boar at 70 yards with a Brenneke classic slug once. Mind you it was with smoothbore M37, iron sights, Ithaca Deerslayer Police Special. I did practice beforehand. However it was only 150 pounds.
Complete through and through.

Just my one and only slug harvest.
 
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I'd lean towards a harder slug than your typical foster but would choose accuracy first and foremost. Even a soft lead slug should perform similarly to a lead round ball and those have killed an awful lot of moose.
 
I’ve killed 2 elk with slugs, works incredibly well within its range. One was a smooth bore with regular old slugs and an honest 100 yard shot with a bead front site....a shot I’ve tried to replicate but never have. So it was pure luck. Then I bought ah H&R slugster here on CGN from some dude whom I can’t remember and I shot a huge cow elk at about 80 yards. Know your distance and they’ll kill anything.
 
According to the MNR survey that average distance a moose is shot in Ontario is 70 yards . I've taken 3 moose with a shotgun . I use Brenneke Rotweil 3 inch mag slugs with a Benelli M4 shotgun topped with an Aimpoint T2 micro sighted for 100 yards . This delivers 4 to 5 inch 5 shot groups at 100 . This slug will do a complete pass through with a center rib shot behind the shoulder through the lungs on two cows , both at about 80 yards . One recovered in about 50 yards and another made it about 100 . Shot a fairly large bull in the shoulder broadside at 90 long paces which totally destroyed the shoulder and sent fragments of bone into the lungs . The slug broke the opposite shoulder and was recovered . I've used the same slugs on black bears up to 450 pounds but from a Remington 870 with the same complete pass through results . I have seen many bears shot using 23/4 inch fosters and never seen a complete pass through yet . Unfortuneately i'm down to 5 boxes of those left .
 
Jaaska said:
According to the MNR survey that average distance a moose is shot in Ontario is 70 yards . I've taken 3 moose with a shotgun . I use Brenneke Rotweil 3 inch mag slugs with a Benelli M4 shotgun topped with an Aimpoint T2 micro sighted for 100 yards . This delivers 4 to 5 inch 5 shot groups at 100 . This slug will do a complete pass through with a center rib shot behind the shoulder through the lungs on two cows , both at about 80 yards . One recovered in about 50 yards and another made it about 100 . Shot a fairly large bull in the shoulder broadside at 90 long paces which totally destroyed the shoulder and sent fragments of bone into the lungs . The slug broke the opposite shoulder and was recovered . I've used the same slugs on black bears up to 450 pounds but from a Remington 870 with the same complete pass through results . I have seen many bears shot using 23/4 inch fosters and never seen a complete pass through yet . Unfortuneately i'm down to 5 boxes of those left .
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I've shot a few bears with slugs and can't say I've ever been impressed. They show more discomfort from a 243. You would think having a 1 oz hunk of lead fired at a body would create some sort of awe inspiring effect, but in reality the velocity isn't there to create a shock of any sort. It's like having a rock thrown at you by Nolan Ryan.
 
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