Is a riffled slug barrel a necessity when hunting deer with slugs?

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Splaker

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Last season I used rifled slugs through my 28" smoothbore Benelli. I shot at a deer that I initially thought I hit but it fled and was never "recovered". In hindsight, I realized that I probably missed it altogether. I am still not 100% certain what happened. The deer was not very far either.. perhaps 40 yards, give or take? It was certain;y less than 60 yards.. not far either way. It bolted after I shot twice! A big beauty of a buck... we searched for hours... no sign of blood, though.. which is why I think I missed. To this day, I am still upset about that day.. It was my first deer hunt. It hurt my confidence to take down game.. I somewhat redeemed myself this spring with my first turkey!

My question is, would the fact that I used a smoothbore have contributed to the missed deer? You'd think I would have at least hit it in a leg, gut, butt, etc.. I can't explain it other than perhaps my nerves got the best of me.. I do remember the tremendous amount of adrenalin pumping through my body prior to taking the shots... so that's likely what caused the missed shots.

So, to reiterate, is the rifled barrel a necessity for accurate shot placement when deer hunting?

Thanks in advance for your opinions...
 
Take your shotgun out and practice. If you can keep your slugs inside 4" or 5" max you should be good to go. Are you using a scope? If not, what you describe when you missed the deer is called buck fever. You probably had your front sight on target, but forgot about you rear sight. Happens all the time, the cure is experience.
 
Smoothbore vs. Rifled bbl - much of that may depend on one's hunting/shooting conditions involved.

Hunters regularly take deer at ranges of 40-60 yards or even further using slugs in a smothbore. As already mentioned by the others - the key to that, obviously, is knowing what brand of slug groups the best out of a particular barrel and practise shooting at the distances the game is expected to be taken. The other factor would be one's ability to judge distances properly.

A smoothbore shotgun brought into the role of a slug gun (for deer, wild boar etc) do offer constraints - use of a bead as the sole sighting device, normally accurate shooting distances are limited to about 65 yards (exceptions do occur) etc. One advantage is that slugs are cheaper.

On the other hand, a rifle barreled slug gun will easily overcome such constraints in terms of range as well as accuracy. However, one would still be required to establish a proper match between the rifled bbl + the saboted slug that would perform the best in that shotgun. Saboted slugs compared to that used in a smoothbore are much more expensive. However, that cost may become negligible once the shooter had determined the best fit in terms of the most effective bbl/slug combo. Needless to say, to get started, one would incur the initial expenses of investing into a rifled slug gun + optics/accessories + ammo for range session(s).

Among the more cost efficient options, I believe Remington as well as Mossberg offer combos (smoothbore/rifled bbl with rifle sights or cantilever rifled bbl) in both 12 and 20ga. Think Remington also offers a 20ga 870 with a 20in smoothbore bbl choked IC and equipped with rifle sights.

You may also wish to look at the Savage 220 (20ga bolt action) or H&R Ultra Slug Hunter....the later is not expensive but much heavier due to the bull type bbl even the 20ga version. The H&R is also a (single action) breechloading single shot and very accurate. None wear iron sights. I have the USH in 20ga. Both models are offered in 12 as well. IMHO, for Controlled Hunts (in ON) a 12ga rifled slug gun is overkill.

Edited to add....

Splaker said:
My question is, would the fact that I used a smoothbore have contributed to the missed deer?
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That was very likely not the case. :) Even an accomplished marksman can miss somtimes. Best not to dwell any more on the matter.

I forgot to mention something before - to optimize the sighting efficiency of your Benelli without enhancing cost, you may also wish to look into Williams Firesights that could be installed on the vent rib of shotguns. Perhaps the other members here can shed more light on how practical the accessory may be as I have no first hand experience with that product.

http:/ /w ww.williamsgunsight.com/gunsights/shotgun.htm

http://www.williamsgunsight.com/gunsights/image_s.htm
 
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I agree that probably inexperience combined with "buck fever" probably caused the miss. Besides the already mentioned, if you wiggled (not holding steady) at all from excitement, that will cause the slug to be off target at any distance, especially if your point of aim was not perfect to begin with. You may not think the front of the barrel is moving around but put a scope on that puppy and you will see what I mean. Also, you cannot slap or pull the trigger quickly as you do in shooting regular shotgun shells. You have to generally squeeze the trigger to stay on target. Don't feel bad. This won't be your last miss. I know people who have missed deer closer than that with a rifle. And as mentioned, take the gun out and practice at a couple of different distances.
 
Ahsan Ahmed said:
You may also wish to look at the Savage 220 (20ga bolt action) or H&R Ultra Slug Hunter....the later is not expensive but much heavier due to the bull type bbl even the 20ga version. The H&R is also a (single action) breechloading single shot and very accurate. None wear iron sights. I have the USH in 20ga. Both models are offered in 12 as well. IMHO, for Controlled Hunts (in ON) a 12ga rifled slug gun is overkill.
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H&R does make one with rifle sights. It's called the Tracker II
h ttp://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Shotguns/tracker2.asp I've thought about picking one up myself.


Ahsan Ahmed said:
I forgot to mention something before - to optimize the sighting efficiency of your Benelli without enhancing cost, you may also wish to look into Williams Firesights that could be installed on the vent rib of shotguns. Perhaps the other members here can shed more light on how practical the accessory may be as I have no first hand experience with that product.
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I don't have a Williams Firesight, but before I decided to tear it down and refinish it, my Savage 30E wore one of those el cheapo fiber optic triangular beads. I love it. It made life far easier for me, was quick to pick up and hasn't let me down. When I finally get that shotgun done, that sight is going back on it.
 
I've found a rifled barrel isn't necessary if you keep your shots within 75 yards or so. What I believe is necessary is a better sighting system than just beads such as a set of rifle sights or a scope. Then find the slugs that shoot the most consistently in your gun and practice.
 
"...smoothbore have contributed to..." Nope. Slugs have been in use for deer long before there was such a thing as a rifled shotgun barrel. The sights matter, as does the type of slug ammo used. These days there are slugs loaded specifically for rifled barrels or smoothbores. Sbotted slugs are for rifled barrels.
Whichever ammo you use, you must know exactly where the shot goes. Even a smooth bore has to be sighted in. You do have to try a box of as many brands of smoothbore suitable slugs as you can to find the ammo that your Benelli shoots best.
The choke it has matters somewhat too. An open choke, Cylinder or Improved Cylinder, usually works best with a smoothbore with slugs. That doesn't mean a slug won't work or can't be used out of other chokes.
 
Farva said:
H&R does make one with rifle sights. It's called the Tracker II
h ttp://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Shotguns/tracker2.asp I've thought about picking one up myself.
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I had handled one a couple years ago.The Tracker II (advertised as well under 6lbs) is quite light and recoil may be something to consider even with a 20ga.

The 20ga USH despite the weight feels very stable when shooting off-hand. It also delivers excellent accuracy.
 
A standing shot a 60 y isnt a piece of cake when your heart rate is 140! Assuming your gun was sighted in, then there is a good chance operator error was the cause. An old hunting trick is to count "one thousand, two thousand, three thousand" before you shoot. This gives you a chance to settle down a bit.
 
If I added a scope, would this help?

I just looked up that H/R Tracker.. 5.5 lbs! Yikes, that must have some kick! Maybe it's an option, too...

I should add that most of our deer where we hunt are within 75 yards.. most.. but there are some that are 100 yards +
 
If you are only using the front bead as a sight that could be part of the reason for a miss. You didn't keep your head down against the stock, (your eye is the rear sight) and caused a miss. Try shooting at longer distances ie 60 to 100 yards. I have heard the sights attached to the vent rib really help.
 
As mentioned above the Williams sights are a great option.The rear sight clamps onto your vent rib and if you have a fibre optic front sight you can use that or the one supplied by Williams. Make sure you sight it in and shoot at the ranges you expect to be shooting your deer.
 
Splaker said:
The Williams seems like a more affordable option, then... I should look into it.

Are they good for turkey too?
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It is actually the resultant shot pattern out of a particular bbl/choke/load combo at certain ranges that will validate the true effectiveness.

A rear sight assembly (or optics for that matter) may be an assist, however, it isn't really a hard requirement. A bead will be adequate in most cases. There may be exceptions such as eyesight issues etc where optics may better influence proper target acquisition.

Anyway, the use of a set of iron sights on a shotgun (rigged for Turkey hunting) shouldn't be a problem as long as one has become acquainted with shooting the preferred load(s) at preferred distance(s) using that kinda set up.

Splaker said:
What Williams sight do you recommend?
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Please refer to the links provided earlier. I notice that Williams offers just a single "fit all" version of the "Universal Vent Rib..." set of sights. The sights look very similar to the ones installed on TC Triumph ML rifles, for example. Those are well made sights and will likely further enhance the performance of the current Mod choke/Brenneke slug combo setup in your Nova.

However, you may first wish to check with a gunshop (Epps carries a lot of those add-on devices) in terms of how well the Universal sights will fit the Nova. May not be out of place to mention as well that once you have installed the sights - there would also be a need to tweak windage/elevation in order to properly zero the shotgun for use with slugs at the distances you would expect to shoot your deer.

For slugs, out of a smoothbore, the norm would be around 60-70 yards or under that range....best to start at 50 and gradually move on up to that point. If the shooting distances are further in the type of terrain where you hunt then it may be a better idea to seek other options such as a rifled bbl shotgun or an in-line ML.
 
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Absolutely not necessary. I have a Browning BPS which will consistently make a ragged one-hole group (5 shots) at 50 yds. with Champion slugs.
 
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