[abrink]

It seems like everyone now is using slugs instead of buckshot. Where i live alot of people still use buckshot for most situations due to close ranges. This brings up another issue. With a full choke just how far can you push 00 buck?

Thanks guys. Looking forward to going hunting for the first time ever this season!

[ArmyAviator]

I'll provide a first hand account of penetration problems and, as best I can, a recollection of an indepth Field and Stream article circa 1980ish.

First, 13 years ago, I shot an old moss back typical 8 point; very thick bodied; an old deer. He was taken with a single .30-06 round. During skinning, we literally plucked 11 buckshot of 00 size just beneath his skin; some with the minimal of penetration into muscle. The sites were all over that beast: hind quarter, neck, both sides along the ribcage. What does that say? Not much, I concede, as no one can know from what ranges such shots were taken. It can only say that they were from different events and they were well healed.

The article I mentioned stated that beyond 50 yards, a 00 buck has all the knockdown power of a .22LR. I dunno; I'm not equipped to test such. But...I've taken just a few big southern deer (150 or so on hoof) within 50 yards, typically 25-35 yards; they all dropped dead in their tracks.

Hope this helps some. If you ever get to watch videos of slug hunts that show impact shots.....whew....impressive. The ballistic shock effect is unparalleled by any rifle bullet.

--Bryant

[Cypress]

The problem with buckshot is that everyone knows its intended for close range work but when that deer is as close as its gonna get and its not close enough (less than 30 yards IMHO) some idiots pull the trigger anyway.

[351 WINCHESTER]

Some folks swear by 00 buck and other sizes. When I was younger and hunted with dogs I used 00 buck with dismal results. That was about 40 years ago and I understand that the mfgs. have improved on the patters on their buckshot loads. With the right choke, load and range I've heard of many deer cleanly taken under about 35 yds. I much prefer a rifle as I still don't trust buckshot.

[jordan1948]

Last season I wasn't doing much hunting so I loaned out my 12GA to a friend's father, 3 1/2" magnum 00buck, 26" barrel, choke was a Super Turkey Full the tightest I could find, at 60 yds, yes SIXTY YARDS, he nailed a buck in the heart/lung area dropped on the scene, out of 18 pellest 9 were found all fairly close to each other. IMHO buckshot is plenty enough for a deer if you kow what you're doing and you have the right rig.

[f4t9r]

no but have used them for goose.

[rantingredneck]

40 yards or less. Pattern your gun to see what the different chokes/load combinations do.

We use shotguns with 00 when we are driving deer. Other than that we use rifles (or slugs)

[MCgunner]

I've killed a few dozens of deer in my life and never once have I done it with a shotgun. To each his own, though.

[rantingredneck]

MCGunner,

Ever hunted the thickets and thick woods of NC? Unless you're on the edge of a field here, rifles really don't offer much advantage. Our woods (central and eastern regions anyway) are so thick with briars and small underbrush that 50 yds is about all you can see in most cases. Add some movement to the animal and a rifle becomes pretty useless.

Not sure how the area of Texas you are in compares. Parts of it I've been to were flat and big so I can see where a shotgun would be next to useless.

[MCgunner]

No, but I've hunted East Texas. I'm a pretty decent shot on a running deer with a rifle out to 50 yards. I even enjoyed a good, fast .22 rifle for running rabbits when I was a kid and hunted 'em a lot. I'd be happier with a rifle than a shotgun, frankly, in any situation. I have still hunted, stand hunted, and spot and stalked. Texas doesn't allow hunting with dogs, though, and I have never worked with folks to drive 'em. I could see some utility in a shotgun for that up in the "big thicket" of east Texas, but I'm a rifleman at heart. Handgunning 'em is fun, too. :D

[rantingredneck]

Handgunning 'em is fun, too.

Yes it is. One thing I learned there though is that a .454 Casull is overkill for our NC Whitetails :D.

[MCgunner]

Yeah, here, too. LOL I've done it with .357 and a .30-30 Contender. We probably have the scrawniest deer in the country this side of Carmen Mountain Whitetail or Coues deer.

[rantingredneck]

I shot two with the .454. I now use a .357. :uhoh:.

I just swapped barrels on my 870 and 11-87 in the last few weeks. My 870 had a riflesighted smoothbore slug barrel with fixed IC choke. I would stand hunt with it in the morning and then either swap barrels or guns for drive hunting late morning/early afternoon. Now I've got a riflesighted remchoke barrel so all I'll do is swap out for a mod or full choke from the rifled tube. (got to pattern it now). Did the same with my 11-87.

Trying to simplify the gear somewhat.

Having said all that I'll still do my best to take a deer or three with a .243 or .30-06 this year.

[Redhawk1]

I know buckshot will work well in it's range, 30 yards of less, but in my opinion and this is just my opinion. Buckshot should not be used for hunting big game deer and above. To many people think they can make longer and longer shots with them.

I am glad some States have made it illegal to use buckshot.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

The problem with buckshot is that everyone knows its intended for close range work but when that deer is as close as its gonna get and its not close enough (less than 30 yards IMHO) some idiots pull the trigger anyway.

Ding! We have a winner. Keep your shots to 35 or *maybe* 40 yards, and use an xtra-full turkey choke, and make a good neck shot, and the deer will go down with 00 or 000 buck.

[H&Hhunter]

One word to the wise. A tighter choke does not always mean a better buckshot pattern. It depends on your load and the gun itself. Take some time and pattern your gun.

[Kentucky-roughrider]

They ain't legal for deer in Kentucky, feral dogs they work great. At the timeI owned a cattle spread and shoting feral dogs was legal if they were brothering the cows.

[dogrunner]

A hearty AMEN to .351's comment. I hunt with dogs, I have also been 'stuck' with having to use buck on many occasions due to lease agreements. Frankly, my honest observation is that it stinks. Oh, yeah, it'l kill, trouble is that the animal all too often gets way away and doesn't leave a blood trail whatever. I recall one exceptional buck that I hit hard TWO times, once in the full frontal chest area as he struggled to push his way thru heavy briars, and secondly broadside at no more than 25 yards. Both shots put that deer on the ground!...both times he got up and hit 'fifth gear!!! There was no blood trail, and he just kept going. Now that deer had several good hard driving Walkers on his ass, but to the day I depart this world I'll regret not grabbin' the auto rifle I had sitting in my truck when I first took that stand.

Neither hit was farther that 30 yards, and I'm sure that the deer died, it was just that buck is so ineffective a stopping round that he managed to keep going. The area was so thickly overgrown that recovery was impossible as the dogs quickly pick up other deer............

I still use that old A/5, but now it's got a Hasting's rifled tube stoked with sabots. I'd rather miss completly than re-do that event!

[1/4MOA]

Dogrunner. . . .

Come on over here to Pender Co, NC and get these high strung fox walkers of mine. They'll catchem for ya. Ha

[Bezoar]

in my neck of the woods, buckshot is completely worthless. They just like to spray and pray with it, and it was normal to find a few pellets of buck in every deer i skinned. Quite often ive seen deer walking around with festering wounds from buckshot.

Ballistically speaking, a single pellet of buckshot has slightly more energy the a 32 SW Long at 30 yards. No one here would say that that is suitable for deer hunting, yet throwing 9 equivalent bullets down range at one moment in time is?

[abrink]

Well since my range is within 30 yards if i use 000 buck with either extra full or full choke I'll probably be fine right? Everyone around here uses buckshot and there's gotta be some reason for that. The woods are so thick around here that distances are short so i think everyone just wants a better chance of hitting the deer.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[Redhawk1]

Use a rifled slug, better accuracy and a lot better choice in my opinion.

[abrink]

Use a rifled slug, better accuracy and a lot better choice in my opinion.

Is it any harder to hit a deer with a slug than it is with buckshot? This is my first year ever hunting deer and I obviously don't want to miss. Is a 2 3/4 slug with a 1oz. projectile enough? I'll probably experiment this year with buckshot and slugs.

[mio]

ive lost deer that i shot with 00buck at 30-40yrds. now if im going to be hunting thick stuff with limited visability i still grab the 12ga but i load it with slugs.

rottwiel are my personal favorite

[Redhawk1]

No matter what you use, practice to make good clean shots.

[Cypress]

This is my first year ever hunting deer and I obviously don't want to miss.

I'll take a miss any day over crippling something up!!!

[MCgunner]

This is my first year ever hunting deer and I obviously don't want to miss.

I'll take a miss any day over crippling something up!!!

Yup, exactly. You have to hit it in the right place with shotgun OR rifle. What makes you think it's so much easier with a shotgun???? Deer ain't doves, takes a solid hit with a solid projectile in the heart/lung. A few .33 caliber round balls, no matter where unless a CNS hit, is a miss in that you ain't got backstrap. If you're good 'nuf with a shotgun to hit a running deer's head with a shotgun, you should be able to hit a shoulder with a rifle. I wouldn't hunt with my Remington .31 cap and ball. I cut upon OO buckshot loads to load that when I'm messin' around with it. :D It don't hit real hard.

In REAL tight cover on dog driven deer, maybe. I'll take a rifle, otherwise. Hell, I'd likely take the rifle anyway, LOL! And what is a slug, but a rifle by another name? If you're worried about getting on the deer quick enough, I find low power optics to be faster even than a ghost ring aperture. Better yet, probably, haven't used one, would be an aimpoint or perhaps one of those holosights. 1.5 or 2x optics work about as well as anything and in irons, a ghost ring is the way to go. Some folks will recommend iron sights over a low power scope, but not me. Having only one focal point really helps. The one thing that helps shotguns for speed is the fact that you're pointing them rather than aiming. But, most slug guns use rifle sights for better precision. Under 50 yards, if your gun shoots where you look with slugs, you probably don't need the sights.

[abrink]

Under 50 yards, if your gun shoots where you look with slugs, you probably don't need the sights.

Well I'm probably not gonna get a slug barrel with rifle sights yet. I'm gonna use rifled slugs with an improved cylinder choke. Probably Remington sluggers (2 3/4") with 1oz. projectile. That's enough right?

[DKA]

Guess this argument will never go away, but I use 00 in my 11-87 and will do good up to about 55 yds. Will not shoot any deer farther. Most places that I hunt, can't see but about 40 yds.

[Redhawk1]

Well I'm probably not gonna get a slug barrel with rifle sights yet. I'm gonna use rifled slugs with an improved cylinder choke. Probably Remington sluggers (2 3/4") with 1oz. projectile. That's enough right?

You will be surprised how accurate some of the rifled slugs will be. I used them for many years before I bought a rifled slug gun.

But I still say, practice with the slugs you are going to use, and put the time in to make good shots.

[scotjute]

Use #1 or #0 Buck. Limit shot to 60 yds or less. You'll need to pattern your gun and shot to come up with your max. range.
I mostly use 6.5x55 rifle nowadays.

[MCgunner]

A one ounce slug is certainly enough, overkill in fact, but it'll work. :D I have shot slugs in my little 20 and IT would be enough to 50 yards, can put them into 2 or 3" at 50 no problem and all I have is a bead on the barrel. :D I'm not sure why anyone would chose buck shot over a slug for deer with a shotgun, but whatever hangs your hooter I guess. I've never killed a deer with either, always used rifle or handgun. I just don't like the numbers on buckshot and figure I don't need it to hit any deer with, frankly, running or not, out to 50 yards. Sorta like I don't need, nor have I ever used shot loads in a revolver to shoot a snake. I've shot snakes at 10 feet with a friggin' hollowpoint .22 from a NAA mini revolver. Why would I need shot loads? Yet, everyone on the revolver board seems to think they can't hit a snake without shot loads. Well, maybe THEY can't, but I can and have many times at yardages past 25 yards. Shooting snakes on a tank is a fun past time when you can find a tank that's over-run with 'em. :D And, it'll improve the fishin'.

[Omaney]

No way man, those 00 loads hurt!

[Redhawk1]

A one ounce slug is certainly enough, overkill in fact, but it'll work

There is no such thing as over kill, dead is dead... :)

[MCgunner]

True enough. :D Just a way of saying, well, don't worry about it being enough.

[abrink]

One of my buddys uses nothing but buckshot around here cuz the woods are real thick. Then again, one of my other friends starts out with a slug in the chamber and the rest buckshot with a modified choke. I guess he figures if the slug doesn't kill him the buckshot the deer's getting after that slug will.

What I'm going to do this season, is pattern my gun, see if i like the patterns, and that will determine what i use. I'll keep all the shots humane and take no shots over 40 yards (if i use buck.)

But so far it's looking like slugs are defiantly winning. Maybe I'll do what my one friend does and load buckshot behind it in case the slug doesn't kill (but if it's a good shot I'd think the slug would take it down right away.) The only problem with that, is that it's an IC choke tube (not the best for buckshot) and the only other ones i have are Full and Extra full. Not the best for slugs.

[HB]

No way man, those 00 loads hurt!
And slugs dont' :eek:

[CSA 357]

In Its Place Buckshot Is Hard To Beat, No Matter If Its In A Thick Place Deer Hunting, Or In A Home Against A Bad Guy, If You Have Never Seen What Buckshot Can Do Upclose, Well It Aint Pretty! Alot Of People Try To Shoot Deer To Far With Buckshot , One Of The Bad Things Is You Might Not Get A Blood Trail If The Deer Runs Off, Even With A Good Hit, Use It Like You Should And It Is Fine! But You Should Know How And What Your Shotgun Shoots Best, Csa

[627PCFan]

+1 on the 3 1/2 buckshot with a turkey choke, but make sure you use good plated buck and keep it no further than 70 yards at BEST, and PATTERN PATTERN PATTERN

[abrink]

+1 on the 3 1/2 buckshot with a turkey choke, but make sure you use good plated buck and keep it no further than 70 yards at BEST, and PATTERN PATTERN PATTERN

I have a 3" chamber

[CSA 357]

I Have Never Seen A Turkey Choke Shoot Buck Shot Good! It Always Has A Big Hole In The Middle Of The Pattern, Might Just Be Me?

[cottonmouth]

I like my 3.5 inch 870 with #4's out of a mod. Hell 54 pellets puts the odds in my favor every time, but like CSA said you need to know your gun.

J.B.

[dust_101]

Mossberg 500 - I WAS going to be in moderately heavy cover, so I tried using 00 Buck at a range of 30 yards in moderately heavy cover shooting at a 3D decoy to see what the pattern looked like. with different chokes I still did not like what I saw. So, swapped to a fully rifled cantilever ported barrel, and shoot sabots out of that with a 4x scope. I can extend that range out to 100 yards and keep killshot groupings. I haven't needed to use it as there is only one county near me that is shotgun only and I don't NEED to hunt there yet. If needed though, I have that shotgun primed and ready.

So personally no, wouldn't use buckshot. But that is just my experience.

[PawDaddy]

I mostly used #4's in my Remington 1100 when I used a shotgun. If I am hunting with a shotgun it is buckshot all the way.

By the way, my 1100 has a 28" mod. barrel.

If you are juggin' or running dogs, buckshot is the way to go.

[DEDON45]

It's been years since I've been hunting (did it all the time in my teenage years, grew up in a rural area and lived on 30 acres with a pond) ... but we seemed to get good results with 00 or 000 3" magnum 12Ga shells, just limit the range to around 40 yards or so. Sometimes we'd have to pop 'em twice (probably when we were pushing the range a bit), but we never really had any get wounded and get away, at least not any more than those hit with a rifle. We always used shotguns when dog or man-driving, don't want a stray rifle bullet hitting a dog or person. When still hunting, we used rifles most of the time. I killed a few of them (deer, of course!) with my Marlin .30-30 (I never took a shot over 100 yards, pretty dense woods behind my house), and popped a couple with an old Mossberg 500 with a full choke.

Been reading this forum a bit, it's got me wanting to back and do some hunting again...

[Redhawk1]

If buck shot was so good, why do I see so many deer with buck shot in them.
My buddy is a Taxidermist, and I am there with him during the deer season. When he skins out deer, we have seen several deer that have buck shot in there neck and head. There is usually big puss pockets surrounding the buck shot.

The big problem is, people always try to push the range with buckshot. 30 yards is the furthest it should be used.

[Eric F]

I have seen some good stuff in this thread. I will share my experience. I have an over and under 12 ga I use. It has a modified/cyl choke. I use plain old 00buck. I have killed a deer at 75 yards longest shot I could have ever taken thanks to a power line access road. I had 5 pellets go in out of the cylinder tube. on paper I can get 3 pellets in at 100( a bit too little for my likeing.) I would say like others pattern your gun. when you get 1/4 of your pellets in the target consistantly I would say for deer thats your max range.

[Marlin 45 carbine]

I carry a SXS 12 ga Mag with 000 when walking the jeep track in the National Fst, fairly thickety here. I've taken some, seen a few too far away to risk a shot.
out of a tree stand sometimes I use the same if in bush, if clear shooting an '06.