- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
if all you can use is buckshot, move...
Shotgun gauge for deer
- Thread starter javman
- Start date
hammering hank
CGN Regular
- Location
- Barrie north of
I began hunting deer with and still carry a 20 on occasion (mostly when dogging) and can account for at least 5 deer with one between a browning bps and a winchester 1300 xtr featherweight (nice short 22" barrel), ive also set my wife up with a rem 1100lt for the last 4 years which she put a slug into one id shot twice with a 30-06 (unfortunate she didn't realize it was bleeding out at the 75yds she hit a perfect shot from) and put her own first 2 deer down with it this past season. For a 20 with all the slugs and sabots ive bench tested i still always go back to the cheap winchesters as i get the most consistant patterns with them out of what im shooting (every gun will pattern diff. with diff. ammo). As far as range goes i hunt with guys that primarily use 30 cals but not many deer at all have been shot at more then 75yds so again a 20 at that range is more then capable, and since im more of a shotgun shooter i shoulder and pick up target alot quicker using the gun ive been birding with all season. If you think you may want to try a 20 go for it, it works fine. forgot to mention when we hunt we are in the bush on foot all day (no quads) so any shedded weight with the gear helps including gun and ammo. Enjoy and best of luck with either choice.
TheCoachZed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
If you've ever used buckshot properly, you'd change your tune.
I've shot my last three deer with buckshot, and plan to continue doing so in the forseeable future. It's not a slug, but up close, deer don't know the difference. Shot my last three deer at 25 yards or less (one at five yards). Everyone of them dropped in their tracks. One, I made a lucky shot on, as I jumped him walking around a corner on a ridge and had to shoot quick - but with a rifle, I wouldn't have had that shot at all.
It's very cost effective for people who don't have a rifle, or don't have the dough to practice.
You do have to know how to use it - no head shots, and I wouldn't recommend neck shots without serious patterning. I know a fellow who shot a bear in the face with some, and didn't penetrate the skull. Had he gone for the heart/lung shot, the bear would have been DRT, instead of harvested the next year.
I didn't recover a single pellet from the deer I shot this year at five yards - all pass-throughs. Now, it was a small deer, but - even if it was a big buck it would have died there.
From what I've seen, if more deer hunters used buckshot and stayed to 25 yards or less for their shots, I think we'd see less wounded deer, rather than all the bubbas out there who grossly overestimate their skill with a .30-06.
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antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
buckshot works this is something people also bash alot in the good old days of hunting when a guy could only afford one gun it was most likely a shotgun of some sort and buckshot was the round of choice later on can pumpkin ball slugs and then foster/rilfed slugs i have used all 3 on deer no probelm the big .69 cal ball being my fav the way i see it if i was going to use a rifled barrel mite as well use a rifle
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Nothing wrong with 12G for Grouse.
But they don't call the 16G, the Sweet 16, for no good reason.
If you are just looking for an excuse to buy a new gun, just do it. Grab the one that feels best to you, and go for it.
Where you hit it matters more than what you hit it with, and it doesn't matter how badass it is, if you miss!
Cheers
Trev
But they don't call the 16G, the Sweet 16, for no good reason.
If you are just looking for an excuse to buy a new gun, just do it. Grab the one that feels best to you, and go for it.
Where you hit it matters more than what you hit it with, and it doesn't matter how badass it is, if you miss!
Cheers
Trev
Buck and ball is a great load...rare tho, unless you roll your own 
I find that moving on up to 3" 00 and/or plated buckshot does wonders as well. Making sure you have a good choke in your gun (M, F) is also key...
AND
On top of all this...pattern your gun with different brands and see what works best.
I find that moving on up to 3" 00 and/or plated buckshot does wonders as well. Making sure you have a good choke in your gun (M, F) is also key...
AND
On top of all this...pattern your gun with different brands and see what works best.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
Buck and ball is a great load...rare tho, unless you roll your own
I find that moving on up to 3" 00 and/or plated buckshot does wonders as well. Making sure you have a good choke in your gun (M, F) is also key...
AND
On top of all this...pattern your gun with different brands and see what works best.
i cast my own shot and using wheel weight alloy and water droping them makes a hard ball that patters well as it does not deform much also with buck you really want to go mod and more open too not deform the shot and in turn make it pattern well. on the buck and ball issue ive never got good results with both a .690 on 3 00 buck and .600 on 6 00 buck in different staking patterns the ball always tend to fly off in one way or the other and if stacked so the ball is on the bottom it will make the buck spread faster
Why use slugs in a shotgun when you can just use a rifle? Shot only areas exist because they are closer proximity to city areas and they don't have the range of single projectiles. Increases the number areas we can hunt...and there are GOS for just about everything here so why would I move
