Lighter 12 gauge loads for Island deer

[Scamaniac]

I wouldn't recommend head shooting a deer with buckshot as a lost lower jaw is a needlessly painful and slow death.......... starving .You don't eat lungs so shoot them behind the shoulder.Harold

I couldn't agree more. I have seen this bad scenario play out more than once from guys at close range that thought they couldn't miss. Saw it again this fall already

 

[BigUglyMan]

He wrote "I am in a shot only zone "

My mistake. I was thinking he inadvertently shortened "shotgun" to "shot".

 

[BigUglyMan]

Thanks GMC - so I guess I am back to $30 shots with the xbow....00 does fold them up like a cheap tent but I might go head shots and trying to bleed them out asap eh lol.

You don't need to "bleed them out". That's a throwback to people who used to slaughter their own livestock and thinking that it somehow translated to hunted animals (They would stun the animal then cut the throat and the heart would pump out the blood). If you brain shoot a deer and then run over and cut it's throat you don't accomplish anything significant.

 

[Winchested]

The giant 10 pt buck my friend shot last year had a hole in the top of his skull from what we believe to be buckshot. Never killed the animal, he was a big ol buck. Our group only shoots slugs but I would never try for a head and neck shot with buckshot.

 

[mbogo3]

A friend up at his acreage in GP was about to do some shooting off the bench with guests in January and 300 yards out a cow elk is walking down the fenceline looking weird.He puts the scope on her and her lower jaw is hanging straight down with the tongue flapping like a Colombian neck-tie. Put her out of her misery and dragged her with the quad to the back 40 for wolf bait.All infected dripping puss....shame but needed to be done...Harold

 

[canadian hunter312]

150 with an 18 or 20" bolt? Mine is set for 125gr 18s at 30.....and it can shoot so much farther...

A higher FOC (front of center) helps stabilize shorter crossbow bolts fired at higher speeds which in turn increases accuracy while delivering more energy (penetration) on target. It also reduces the effect of wind drift on the arrow while it's on it's way to the target. The Bulldog 400 I have came with 18" bolts and 150gr field points and it shoots them great out to 60 yards. I used an Exomax for years and the heavier heads made my groups smaller.

The great advantage of using faster bows is you can really up the arrow weight while maintaining good velocity to avoid a rainbow trajectory. This means you can use some large diameter broad heads and still get complete pass through's.


Shoot a target with the minimum 350 gr bolt/head combo and try again with a 450 gr combo. The difference in noise and penetration is very significant.

 

[YodatheYota]

You could try the "Hog Wild" ammo, It's two .675" lead balls (I think). It should be classified as "shot" and you'd only have 2 low velocity created holes to contend with.

No idea on recoil though.

Check the regs, I can't remember minimum #of pellets but it's more than 2.

 

[conor_90]

The hevi shot stuff, legality aside, groups pretty well at 25 meters.

It kicks pretty well too iirc.

 

[GMC403]

Check the regs, I can't remember minimum #of pellets but it's more than 2.

You are correct, minimum of 8 spherical projectiles.

I've never used the "Hog Wild" stuff, seems interesting but I guess it ain't legal for this purpose.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Pretty much stuck with 12ga. BC regs state minimum #1 buck shot size.

I bought a few boxes of #2 buck 20ga when I finally found some thinking it was "heavy enough", only then did I check the regs........

Well, after having read and re-read the regs it would appear I have been drinking... to much coffee that is.
No.1 buck is smaller than OO Buck and I am good to go with my 20 gauge...
OO Buck is .33''
#1 Buck is .30''
#2 Buck is .27''

Rob