[azhunter122]

What is buckshot, what does it do and what kind of animals can I hunt with it?

[dispatch55126]

As the name suggests, it was designed for deer. Obviously, there are better choices out there and rifled slugs solve the smoothbore shotgun hunting problem.

It's best suited for close range, less than 35-50 yards.

[jpatterson]

It's basically just bigger pellets inside the shell. It's recommended for HD scenarios as well.

[Chilean]

two legged predators

[Fast Frank]

Yeah, in my eyes it's perfect for Bad Guys, and not so hot for anything else.

[Rshooter]

two legged predators

Slugs works rather nicely on them too.

[Vicious-Peanut]

I don't think it is good for much except HD. It don't think it penetrates deep enough for deer and certainly not anything bigger.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Peanut,
Try telling that to the load of deer I've killed/seen killed by buckshot.
Point blank to 40-50 yds depending on choke and pattern, and remember to aim the shotgun and you will kill deer reliably.
Buckshot is for deer, HD is the secondary use.

[wyocarp]

Really great for bucks and son's of bucks.

[Vicious-Peanut]

Peanut,
Try telling that to the load of deer I've killed/seen killed by buckshot.
Point blank to 40-50 yds depending on choke and pattern, and remember to aim the shotgun and you will kill deer reliably.

Ok, it can kill deer. Why would you use a shotgun instead of a rifle unless you were required to use a shotgun and in that case why not use a slug? Buckshot seems pretty marginal, and I'm sure more have been injured than killed from people trying to use #4 buckshot which is far too light for deer IMO.

I've heard of too many deer having to be tracked a long way and still finished off by a rifle when found, so I'm not too fond of it for deer.

[DZL HOG]

I agree with Floyd.
Hunting with dogs is real big here, and most all the deers are killed with buckshot. It gives us not so great shooters a better chance of a kill, especially when they are running or at closer distances.
I dont think Ive ever shot a deer with anything other than buckshot. I dont even own a rifle other than 17hmr, thinking bout getting rid of that(for an AR15).

[VARifleman]

in that case why not use a slug?
Sometimes slugs are regulated just like rifles.

[azhunter122]

how about javelina? will it make to big of a hole?

[f4t9r]

Shooting Bucks of coarse

[VARifleman]

Coarse = rough
of course = certainty

[punchdrunk]

If i was starving and not worried about ethical clean kills as much as I was about eating then I would use buckshot over slug or rifle in some situations. close cover and Jump shooting deer.

[jordan1948]

I don't know why ppl don't think it's suitable for deer, I loaned my shotgun out to a friends' father last winter, he shot a 200lb buck at 60yds, 8 pellets entered the heart/lung area, of course this was with 3 1/2 00buck from a 26" barrel with a super turkey full choke(THE tightest available).

[hankdatank1362]

What is buckshot, what does it do

Whoo eez yore da-dee, and vat duz he doo?


ETA: Sorry, I'm on all kinds of cold medicine, and haven't slept in two days. I thought it was funny.



And, buckshot is the only thing you want to use when running dogs.

[obxflea]

what is buckshot???? Marginal for deer???? Yall need to get out more often.......:banghead:

[MCgunner]

Rifles are for deer.

[rantingredneck]

Buckshot is for running deer and advancing bad guys.

[Matt-J2]

Buckshot is certainly not for deer up her in WI. It just bounces right off dem deer hides dere, eh? :-P



Actually, it's not allowed for deer hunting here. I'll bet that has nothing to do with it bouncing off.

[Carl N. Brown]

Buck shot was developed and used first for hunting bucks. 000 is the largest size equal to a .36" bullet; the common 00 size is about .32" and comes 9 or 12 in a standard 12ga shell, or 15 in a three inch magnum shell. Smaller buck shot (#4 forty-one pellets about .25" in a 12ga 3" shell) have been used for hunting larger birds.

Some states do not allow buckshot for big game hunting (they require single slugs instead). When used properly within about 35 yards max range it is a humane killer on deer.

Buckshot is also a good choice for military and police use for close quarters combat. The US military has used hundreds of thousands of Winchester 1897 and Model 12, Ithaca 37 and Mossberg 590 shotguns, mostly with buckshot ammo (nine 00 per shell), for over a century.

Buckshot is also an excellant choice for self-defense for the same reason it is good for close-range big game hunting and close quarters military and police combat.

[HoosierQ]

Buckshot was for deer. I think today it is illegal almost everywhere...maybe not.

Buckshot was developed for market hunting of deer in the days before hunting licences etc. Those were the days when deer, numbering probably a million here today, went extinct in Indiana. Buckshot was the tool, and rifles too of course, and the lack of regulation was the cause. The term "buck" for the dollar came from those days. A buck skin was worth about a dollar to the market hunter and there was an enourmous demand for buckskin for all sorts of things in the days before plastic.

Of course 9 or 12 .32 caliber pellets out of a shotgun is quite a load and it soon became a serious anti-personnel round...witness the USMC vs the Germans in WWI, stagecoach guns, etc.

So it is not so much what buckshot is for as what it was for.

[ziggy222]

i think its illegal to use buck shot on deer in pa.

[john917v]

Azhunter, I'd take a chance with some magnum buckshot at close ranges on a deer that's not too big, but I'd prefer a slug any day. As for Javelinas, being thicker, and more dangerous, I definitely wouldn't try it on them. I'd stick to magnum slugs.

Sure, buckshot can kill either, and even bigger animals, but why risk it, when you can have something that is more likely (not surely-don't misinterpret, guys) to take it down?

[USMC - Retired]

Hunted wild boar in Japan with 000 Buck exclusively. Running shots in heavy jungle covered mountains on BIG MEAN Russian Blues being chased by dogs. Wouldn't have used anything else!

[john917v]

How big did those Japanese boar get? Sounds interesting.

[USMC - Retired]

I have a 300 pounders head on my wall. Was some of the best and most thrilling hunting I've ever done in my life!

By the way, those Japanese hogs are the best eating of any wild game I've come accross. They live primaraly off of bamboo shoots and rice and it gives the meat a very good flavor!

[rswartsell]

+1 for Chihuahua Floyd,

My family has killed deer with buckshot for generations,
agree with short range
agree with better alternatives available, but it is serviceable

[rondog]

I'd personally only use it for coyotes and criminals. And watermelons, pumpkins, cantaloupes, etc. Oh, and zombies.

[Blue Brick]

Wish we could use it in AZ for big game.

[JImbothefiveth]

I didn't think they were allowed to have guns in Japan.

But to answer the original question, buckshot's use can depend upon it's size(OOO is a lot different from #4)

[Zoogster]

If i was starving and not worried about ethical clean kills as much as I was about eating then I would use buckshot over slug or rifle in some situations. close cover and Jump shooting deer.
That is about right. Much more effective at taking a higher quantity of deer faster.
However for more modern humane killing done with limited tags well aimed slugs on stationary deer is often better.

Buckshot works well, but is limited to only really close range now for humane sportsmanship.

There is many sizes of buckshot, and what targets it is suitable for and at what ranges varies considerably.

I didn't think they were allowed to have guns in Japan.
Most of the world allows limited firearms for limited purposes. Some just have a lot more hoops to jump through, 'common sense' regulations, and various restrictions on both types, capacity, legal uses (self defense often not being one), storage (not usualy in ways that enable self defense), ammo types, etc

Some nations require someone be a member of a club for many months to own one type like a .22 or to only keep it at the club and not take it home. Some don't allow personal ownership of handguns or most rifles. Semi-auto is illegal in many nations for civilians. Others even outlaw common unrestricted things here like pump shotguns as excessively dangerous.
Most nations though do provide a means for those with patience, money, and free time to obtain something like a long barreled O/U or SxS shotgun for limited and controlled hunting using restricted ammo.

What makes America unique is that it was considered a RIGHT that government could not regulate or 'infringe' on. Also the purpose behind that constitutional protection is unique:
That they are protected for killing other human beings (self defense, local militia, protection against tyranny etc), not sporting purposes. Sporting purposes were just a bonus.


But most nations on earth do have a way for some segments of the population, to jump through some hoops, to legaly hunt with some type of firearm.
That includes Japan, where shotguns can be obtained for hunting, and they are in fact known to produce some nice shotguns.

[dispatch55126]

Ok, it can kill deer. Why would you use a shotgun instead of a rifle unless you were required to use a shotgun and in that case why not use a slug? Buckshot seems pretty marginal, and I'm sure more have been injured than killed from people trying to use #4 buckshot which is far too light for deer IMO.

Buckshot is a tool like anything else. You can use a screwdriver as a chisel and you can use a chisel as a screwdriver, but why would you?

Open country or long distance shots, rifles are best. Closer shots or where restricted, slugs are best. Brush or close contact, .30-30 (where rifle is allowed) or buckshot (where allowed). As mentioned previous, a .30-06 is far too much at 15 yards and buckshot is useless past 35-45 yards, give or take.

The other thing to consider is that some people like a certain rifle or load and like the challenge. This year, I'm using my BP rifle with round ball and patch. Are there better things out there, absolutely, but I like the challenge.

[Artiz]

Buckshot= anything at close ranges that got four legs, and anything at close ranges that got two legs.

[loosecannon]

In the Southeast, from East Texas through Georgia, buckshot has for many decades been used for deer in woods and thicket hunting. Usually, dogs are chasing the deer, and the hunter often has a split second to aim and fire. The hounds are excited and barking and howling which gives the hunters information about direction and distance. Hunters are placed along a probable route that the deer may follow. If you are the lucky hunter who gets a shot, you will hear the dogs coming at you yelling louder as they approach, and then you will hear the deer going at top speed through thick woods, and you just might get a good shot and connect. By the time the deer is seen the hunter is super excited and may become paralyzed by buck fever.

Buckshot is effective and humane on these small whitetails.

Hunters can be fairly close together, and the shotgun is considered safer than the rifle.

[mnrivrat]

Buckshot uses :

1.) Deer & boar where not prohibited by law

2.) 2 legged creatures - military shotguns generaly issued 00 buck, police and HD

3.) Geese when flying high in the days prior to steel shot

4.) All other suitable varmits

[Javelin]

how about javelina? will it make to big of a hole?

WTH is this post about?

[HGUNHNTR]

I like it for shooting birds, rabbits, and red deer.

[dagger dog]

A male rabbit is called a buck also, but I think they meant the antlered type :D

[CajunBass]

Good grief. You people who think buckshot isn't suitable for taking deer don't know beans from apple butter.

Hunters around here use buckshot for the vast majority of deer hunting, even in counties where rifles and slugs are legal. Why? Because it turns a common, everyday bird gun, into a deer gun. And because it kills deer DEAD RIGHT THERE.

Are rifles "better?" I don't know, but I'd say not much if any AROUND HERE. I've never seen but one deer killed with a rifle and it was just as dead as any deer I've ever seen killed with, or killed myself with buckshot. Same thing for slugs. I've seen one deer killed with a slug. It was shot right through the heart and ran farther than any deer I've ever seen shot with buckshot, but it was still dead.

Yes, you have be aware of it's range limitations. You also have to be aware of the range limitations of a 30/06. The '06 just has less of a limitation. Numbskulls who shoot at deer out of range with a shotgun will probably shoot at them out of range with a rifle too. While I have seen and heard tell of LONG shots with buckshot, they are no more recomended than stretching the range of a rifle. Deer get wounded either way.

For what it's worth, I prefer No. 1 buck, in a 3 in shell over the more often praised 00. IMHO "double aught" just sounds cool. No. 1 has, IIRC, 24, 30 cal pellets in a 3" shell. "Double aught" has 15, 33 cal ones. I'll give up .03 in diameter to gain half again the number of shot in a shell.

I've never had to track a deer killed with buckshot more than a few yards. I'm sure it happens, just as people have to track deer shot with rifles and slugs. Most of the ones I've killed never got their feet back under them after the first shot. They might have been trying to get back up, but a second load of No 1's turned the lights out for good. Only once have I had to use more than two shots.

Bye the way. I've never hunted Africa, but in his books, Peter Hathaway Capstick said that a double 12 ga loaded with, I believe the tern he used was "SG" buckshot, which he said was about the size of American No 1 buck, was the prefered gun for going into the thick stuff to finish off wounded big cats. Cats that had been wounded by rifles for the most part.

We won't even talk about it's uses for two legged critters other than to say it works.