Buckshot for whitetail?

[jrdolall]

I killed my first whitetail in Alabama in 1976 or so. OO buckshot.
In the 80s I was a member of a club that was mostly ex military and pretty much everyone used 308 or 30-06. During the Christmas Holidays Alabama had a doe season that allowed a hunter to kill antlerless deer for about 2 weeks. During those times we often made drives through the river bottoms and virtually always used buckshot because the shots were generally at close range and extremely quick. Now in Alabama we can kill two doe every day for the entire season so we don't do any drives.
In the 90s I was a member of a club that exclusively hunted using dogs. ONLY buckshot was allowed. Lots of hunters came up from Florida for this club and every law in the books was broken just about every weekend. The wardens knew where we would be and handed out lots of tickets.
I haven't used buckshot in probably 15 years because I generally hunt from an elevated stand or stalk hunt. It is an excellent choice in some applications but probably not the best for most people or situations. Quick shots at running animals is where buckshot is the best option. At 25 yards you have 6-9 pellets all of which can penetrate to the vitals rather than one projectile with a slug. If you just throw up your gun and aim in the general direction of the deer then there is a good chance of making a bad hit but that's the same with a slug or rifle. Using buckshot from a tree stand or blind? I personally don't see any advantage to that.

 

[T.R.]

I've read that some southern woodsmen hunt with dogs and load their shotguns with buckshot. But I've never personally talked with any of these hunters about their experiences.

Years ago, I killed a doe in Ohio with a full choked 16 gauge shotgun loaded with buckshot. Distance was about 15 yards or so. I aimed for the spot where head and neck are joined (broadside) and the animal dropped right away. The wounds were quite ghastly at this distance. Since then, I bought a slug gun and have taken many deer with sabot loads at distances out to about 75 yards or so. Although recoil is stout, this outfit is the way to go if shotgunning for deer is your choice.

TR

 

[red rick]

I live in a shotgun only county and in my club we can only use a slug gun if you are in a tree stand and we use dogs .

It just kills me with what some of you think about buckshot .

In the terrain we hunt using dogs , it is my preferred choice . It kills just fine if you hit them in the right place , same as 30-30 or 30-06 . You just have too be closer and we don't hunt bean fields where our club land is .

There are not as many deer in our hunting area now , but when I was in my early teens in the 80's , we would kill 20 some bucks the first day of the season and all with buckshot .

 

[d2wing]

One thing to consider is that Southern deer tend to be small and likely do not have the winter coat and fat layers of a larger Northern deer so are easier to kill with buckshot. It is not legal where I hunt.
As far as point and shoot. Yes it may be lucky and a poor practice but not always. There is a science to it. I was taught how to do it in the Army. And later I became a certified instructor. There is a reason that he hit the deer but doesn't know how he did it. There is a method to trick shooting as well. I am not giving online lessons but it can be taught but you have to have native skill, training and practice to do it right. And it is not foolproof. It doesn't replace aiming in hunting.

 

[HOOfan_1]

I've killed 2 deer with 12 gauge 3 inch Magnum buckshot. One was on a dead run at about 30 yards. The other was standing stock still at about 50 yards. That was all that was legal in those two instances. 3 shell limit too. Both deer dropped within 10 yards of where I shot them.

I have shot a small doe with a .30-30...dropped within 5 yards.

Shot two bucks with a .30-06 the first, a double lung and a piece of the heart shot....he ran about 50 yards before he dropped.

The other jumped just as I pulled the trigger...so I severed his leg just under the lungs and heart. I had to chase him for about 400 yards.


I haven't killed many deer, but luckily I have never lost one. 95% of the places I hunt are buckshot or muzzle loader only. Yeah, muzzle loader is ok, but slugs aren't, just proves the people who make the laws often don't know anything.