Any advice on this? Is it frowned upon? What load do you recommend? Placement of the shot? Recommended range? Couple of factors have me pondering using my shotgun this weekend. I'm getting a lot of deer coming through close (~40 yards) on the trail to the feeder. There's a small watering hole in the middle of the thicket that they stop at en route.

Slug would work just fine. But why not use a rifle? Don't have one? Up for a challenge? What gives?

I bet my grandad killed hundreds of deer back in the day with buckshot. Different time though, different time. This was back when they used to run 'em with dogs in East Texas.

Never done it, prolly never will unless I move back to a state that doesn't allow harvesting of deer by way of a centerfire rifle cartridge. That being said, Hornady and/or Remington make loads that claim tight groups @ 100yds. Something like 2", pretty impressive.

edit: Slugs, of course.

[This message has been edited by maroonblood08 (edited 10/31/2011 2:48p).]

I kill pigs often with buckshot out to 40 yards or so. Never done it on a deer, but it should be even more devastating.

00 is the way to go. Just make sure you take a few practise shots to be sure the pattern goes where the gun is pointed.

Main reason is the fence line/property line is about 75 yards in the direction I plan to be unleashing the fury. The neighbor has a blind set up right on the fence line. Don't want to even take the chance. If i turned around the other direction, we have some blinds and feeders in that direction.

I also wouldn't mind the excitement along with it. Can't get enough of spring turkey and this seems that it would be better. There are other locations I'll be using the rifle but I want to set up along this trail Saturday morning.

I've hunted deer with my 870 remington 12 gauge shotgun since 2004 due to property restrictions.

I use the Remington Slugger and it has been lethal to every deer I've shot. The distance I feel comfortable with has been up to 75 yards.

This year I am transitioning to a Bone Collector 50 caliber black powder rifle.

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Main reason is the fence line/property line is about 75 yards in the direction I plan to be unleashing the fury. The neighbor has a blind set up right on the fence line. Don't want to even take the chance. If i turned around the other direction, we have some blinds and feeders in that direction.

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If I'm understanding what you're saying here, you want to shoot a shotgun in the same direction as a blind 75 yards away?

I've killed a doe with 20 ga. buck shot, very doable.

Before Texas, I never knew hunting for deer with anything other than slugs and buckshot.

I've killed several deer with 20ga buckshot mostly in Mississippi in front of a pack of beagles. Buckshot is very effective at taking deer down and can be very effective at killing them (shot placement/range). This isn't a bow or rifle hunt. Don't wait for a deer to bleed out when it goes down with buckshot. In my experience the best thing to do when shotgun hunting for deer is to get to a downed deer quickly and make sure it was a clean kill or make it one immediately.

ETA: Puryear makes a fantastic point about patterning your gun. I'd do this with the load I was hunting with at several ranges from 10yd to 50yd and determine at what ranges you're comfortable shooting the pattern you get at an animal.

[This message has been edited by normaleagle05 (edited 10/31/2011 6:07p).]

I got one of those scoped, ported rifle barrels from Cabelas that fit 870's. I can put cheap slugs in a paper plate from a benchrest at 100 yds all day, but wouldn't want to have to!

Abusive.

[This message has been edited by snowaggie (edited 10/31/2011 9:13p).]

Don't most of the guys who can't use centerfire (are restricted to shotguns) prefer 20 gauge slugs to 12 gauge slugs?

I've never taken a deer with anything other than a 12 gauge slug. I'm from Iowa so I've not had a choice otherwise. Good luck. Figure out what slug your gun shoots well and have fun (don't shoot toward all that stuff you listed please).


[This message has been edited by AgResearch (edited 10/31/2011 9:31p).]

Slugs are wicked whitetail medicine out to 100 yards. Many, many huge midwestern whitetails can attest.

A friend dropped a for at 20 yards with #2 shot in a 12 have. Not going to do that myself, but she never moved.
I have been wanting to kill a deer with my old single shot 20 using a slug, but I just can't put down my bow.

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/product_info.php/pName/5rds-12-gauge-ddupleks-2-34-1oz-expanding-shotgun-ammo/cName/12-gauge-slug

This looks interesting

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looks very interesting...looks like i need to alter my setup. didn't realize it would have a range of 100 yards.

It has a killing range of 100 yards or more. The actual ballistic range is much greater.

Who else would like to see the look on his face when he pulls the trigger on a slug for the first time?

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The March 2007 study looked at the maximum range a projectile would reach at various firing angles of elevation plus the distance the projectile would ricochet after impacting the ground. The data is intriguing.

At a maximum firing angle of elevation of 35-degrees, the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 13,926', 10,378', and 9,197' respectfully. Because of the angle of descent, there are no ricochets.

At a firing angle of 10-degrees, the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 10,004', 7,163' and 6,247' respectfully plus additional ricochet distances of 702', 949' and 913' respectfully.

Ah, but the big surprise comes at 0-degrees of elevation which would be more or less a typical shot at a deer on level terrain. Here the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 1,408', 840', and 686' respectfully plus ricochet distances of 3,427', 4,365', and 3,812' respectfully. Now the total distances traveled by the projectiles are 4,835' for the rifle, 5,205' for the shotgun and 4,498' for the muzzleloader.

"The smaller cross sectional area of the .30-caliber projectile and its shape contributes to a higher loss of energy on impact and, after ricochet, the 30-caliber projectile tends to tumble in flight with a high drag. Test data confirm that the 50-caliber projectile's larger cross sectional area and its shape contribute to less energy loss on shallow angles of impact and, after ricochet, the projectile exhibits less drag which results in a greater total distance traveled.


"It is recommended the Pennsylvania Game Commission address the public perception a shotgun with modern high-velocity ammunition is less risky than centerfire rifles in all circumstances ... Frangible, or reduced ricochet, projectiles for hunting firearms should be investigated as an alternative to the mandatory use of shotguns or muzzleloaders."

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I can't find the original report but this article references it.

[This message has been edited by WildcatAg (edited 11/1/2011 7:50a).]

buddy of mine has an old sxs that we shoot slugs out of occasionally, that thing is a monster

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Main reason is the fence line/property line is about 75 yards in the direction I plan to be unleashing the fury. The neighbor has a blind set up right on the fence line. Don't want to even take the chance. If i turned around the other direction, we have some blinds and feeders in that direction.

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I think a couple of other posters have referenced this, but not to beat around the bush:

If you use a load that will be lethal to a deer at 40 yards, it will be lethal to a person at 100+. Not that people are more fragile than deer, but you cannot take the chance. 00 buckshot will be certainly be spread out at 100 yards, but it will still be lethal to someone sitting on the treeline at 75.

00 buckshot /= #7.5 birdshot.

I shot my first deer at age 8 with a single shot 20 guage using buckshot. I dropped a nubbing buck (I thought it was doe) from about 50 yards.

To answer somebody's question above, most slug technology has been built around the 12 ga. It's only recently that 20's have had technology applied to make them comparable. Even so, you'll find 4 or five times the selection of 12 ga. ammo as 20 ga. Buckshot and rifled slugs will be the same for both chambers, but more accurate and longer range sabot slugs for rifled barrels will be much more numerous in 12 ga. Final note, unless you pay for a rifled slug barrel, all the aforementioned technology will be wasted. For slick barrels stick to to the cheap slugs or buckshot.

I agree with others that strictly from a safety standpoint, you are not improving your situation by using the shotgun.