Im Calling BS...

It's doable. I would consider it hard, but doable, and the only reason it'd be hard is because it's not what I'm used to doing--I live in a rifle state, as opposed to a shotgun state. I'm sure people across the river in IN have practiced to do just that (since it's a shotgun state).

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You are correct. That is a fairly typical shot for whitetail in SW Indiana.

I don't think I saw a rifled barrel in deer camp til I was in high school.

My dad's favorite "deer" shotgun (it was his only shotgun) was an Ithica 37 Featherweight, 12 ga, with a 30" full barrel. I saw him buy the cheapest slugs Wally World have and "sight" it in the evening before season every year. The target was a 12" paper plate at 85 yards. All the shots were within 4" of the middle, always.

Don't count out the smoothbore.

22lr

With an unrifled Slugster barrel I was consistently able to hit the black at 50 yards. The key is choosing quality slugs.

do able.... here in NJ we practice slugs at 50, 75 and 100 yds all the time. I can hit 10 steel plates regularly at 100 yrds with a mossy 500, 18" barrel, smooth bore IC, and fiber optic bead. Rifled slugs drop about 4" at 100yds for my gun.

I do not hunt with slugs but have practiced at 100 yards with my 20" barreled 870 with rifle sights and an IC choke. It is easy to hold 5-6" groups at that range.

The first time I shot my 870, I was patterning it with 00 buck and rifled slugs. At the end of the day, I had 3 slugs left, so I decided to screw around with them.

Went to the 100 yard range, and set up a 9" paper plate. Walked back to the firing line, and let my 3 slugs fly from a standing position. Walked downrange to get my plate, and was surprised to find three great big holes in a five inch spread.

I haven't been able to do that again since

Gun is a Remington 870 Police Magnum, 20" IC barrel, with rifle sights. Gallon jugs at at 50 yards are cake. Federal's Tru-Ball slugs do make a difference, in my experience.

Plausible.

There used to be a Redneck Jamboree I attended for a few years.A group of friends getting together and having fun, shooting and eating game dishes. One event was shooting at a 10" steel gong target at a MEASURED 110 yards, Most folks could get frequent hits offhand with slugs from smoothbores after a few sighters.

Another group of friends used a pony keg to mark the 80 yard line at a casual range/shooting pit. Most of us could hit the thing most of the time and get lots of hits on a similar keg at 130.

Just sounds like a good shot, not an unbelievable shot. I'm thinking about switching back to smoothbore because of the high cost of sabots in my rifled bore now.

I have to believe your prof. I shot a doe at 120yards (lazered) off shooting sticks with a 28" rem choke barrel, and a vent rib for sights. I took one the year before with that same combo at 65 yards, and the year before that at 110. It is quite possible, though a cantilever fully rifled barrel with scope and sabot slugs is more accurate.

Get out and shoot more.

I shoot Winchester brand rifled slugs, the bargain bin ones at 15 shells for 5 dollars, and find they print within two inches of the bull at 50 yards with the I.C. tube screwed in. I'd feel comfortable shooting out to around 75 with my setup. Those pumpkin balls drop pretty fast past that. I also use a cheap $30 Tasco red dot on my slug gun.

It ain't the arrow, it's the indian.

Shotgun slugs are aerodynamically stabilized (like an arrow), not spin-stabilized like rifle and handgun projectiles are. A rifled slug barrel imparts a very gentle spin in order to improve consistency, but rifling is not necessary for them to fly true.

Sorry, have to correct this:

Shotgun slugs are aerodynamically stabilized (like an arrow), not spin-stabilized like rifle and handgun projectiles are.

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TRUE, generally.

A rifled slug barrel imparts a very gentle spin in order to improve consistency, but rifling is not necessary for them to fly true.

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Not exactly; as a broad statement, mostly false, I believe. Depends on the slug in question. Long saboted slugs most definitely require rifling to fly true. Short, low-SD foster type slugs don't require any rifling. Doesn't hurt, and may help a little, but they don't need it to be stable (stay front-forward and fly consistently).

Huh. I'da thought you were calling "BS" on the allegation that a professor actually hunts. We're a rare breed.

Now, if the man were claiming to employ that same shotgun for 200 yard varmint-duty, then you could legitimately call BS. But, to assume he could hit a 14" X 16" kill-zone on a deer at 100 yards, doable.

I shot a 10 year old Remington 1 ounce rifled slug through the same gun I use for Trap. The dear was running (not fast) from right to left at 75 yards. I stood up in my tree stand shouldered my Citori and shot just as I would when shooting low gun in Sporting Clays. I hit the dear in the esophagus and aorta. The dear did a face plant and bled out in less than 30 seconds.

My hunting "friend" said "I thought you said you know how to shoot that gun. How cum you shot it in the throat?". I told him that I'm used to 1,180 fps rounds; these 1,400 footers just get there a little quicker.

I would be confident shooting that combination of gun and ammo out to about 100 yards.

About five years ago I shot a coyote with my 870 and 3" copper solids at 140 measured yards. I've got a Remington rifled barrel and a 1.75x6 B&L scope, and I was shooting supported.

If you have doubts, I'll PM the phone number of my friend that witnessed the shot.

FWIW...I sight in at 125 yards so it wasn't exceptionally difficult.

If you look at the ballistics, a modern rifled slug has about the same flight as a .45-70.

Many deer have fallen to a Foster slug out of a smooth bore.

not even unusual

Last week I hit a silhouette at 50 yards with a 20-inch smooth bore with just the bead sight.

So...sure, why not?

Well said Xavier

I think most folks don't know them meaning of true hunting anymore. I find a shot like this less than remarkable even if it is true.

A true hunter can get close enough to an animal for a one shot, quick and merciful kill.

I think it is a truly lazy person that might want to think about retiring from the hunt when you have to either

a) Put food out and wait until the animal walks up to eat and kill it while sitting on their fat behind because they are too lazy to really hunt.

or

b) Take crazy, wild ass pot shots at an animal more than 150-200 yards away where you only wound the animal and it gets away and suffers and dies from infection days later.

There are very few true hunters out there any more. That is one of the reasons I quit hunting. Many people in the woods that call themselves hunters today are a disgrace to the sport.

Old Colonel Cooper would probably return from the dead if he could see what's in the woods that calls itself a hunter these days.

There are some that truly know how to hunt but they are few and far between these days.

Molon Labe,
Joe

You all are missing the OBVIOUS!

Are none of you stunned that a college biology professor hunts?

Seriously...we nothing escalated about his claims. He may be a guy you want to shoot with...sounds like he may really know his way around a shotgun...always good to get in good with a professor or two.

I'll print an sheet of paper at 75 all day with my mossberg 500 smoothbore. I don't like my spread, so I don't use it to hunt, but I can take a deer at that distance if i want to.

I have a Browning Auto-5 that I shot a three shot cloverleaf at 50 yards offhand with slugs through a smoothbore barrel and rifle sights (and a really good trigger). No scope. Taking a deer at 80 yards with a smoothbore barrel and a red-dot? The equipment is capable as long as the operator is. Not a problem. Might be difficult with a bead sight though, at least for me.

weak sauce. i once hit a coconut at 214 yd with a smooth bore m500. i was using winchester silver box slugs. nobody believes me, but thankfully i had a friend there who confirmed it through a spotting scope



all i know is i never did it again. but i dont care it was a funny shot

some people on the line said they saw the slug traveling down range. i wouldnt be suprised, you can often see them on a bright day against a light background.


as far as sabot slugs. they can fly straighter than you think compared to a rifled slug. i bought some for S&G one time and wanted to see how they would perform. managed a respectable grouping at 30yd

i guess people always think its impossible til they see it done eh

OK, I'm not a hunter, but I'm curious..... with rifled slugs, you need a smoothbore barrel, and with sabot slugs, you need a rifled barrel? Is this right? Or can you use either type of slug in either type of barrel?