I want to kill a deer with a shotgun. I have killed a large feral sow just 30 ft from my canoe with cylinder/2-3/4"ooB. It worked fine.
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I want to kill a deer with a shotgun. I have killed a large feral sow just 30 ft from my canoe with cylinder/2-3/4"ooB. It worked fine.
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Thanks eh.
I never had a chance this year to use any shotguns for deer or shoot a deer period. I was able to connect with a moose and my 38/55 model ‘94 though
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I like the 1885. You're shooting smokless or black?
I have lived in South Carolina most of my life. Pop & grand pop were from SC. We have been blessed with an over abundance of deer. The biggest reason buckshot has been traditionally used here is safety. Hunters were placed on stands relatively close together and the deer were driven with hounds. Buckshot is generally required so you don't kill the next stander. It's not foolproof but it helps. Standers should know where the adjoining standers are & not shoot in that direction but there is human nature & Murphy's law. Another reason is buckshot is the weapon of choice for fast moving deer at close range. Hunters criticize dog hunters for bad sportsmanship then go sit in a tree over a pile of corn. Many couldn't kill a deer if their life depended on it without bait. Bait is the most effective way to get a shot if not the most sporting.
Personally, I'm not too picky. I am happy anytime I am in the woods hunting & don't criticize others as long as they are legal & ethical. I don't like buckshot for hogs but it is often the best choice for deer. I base that on 50 years of hunting deer with buckshot, lessons I have learned from my peers, and extensive pattern tests & research. I have come to believe a number of things about buckshot. Obviously, it is not a long range weapon. If you expect shots over 40 yds., you need a different load. The most often asked questions are, how far will it kill & how many pellets does it take to kill a deer? The answer is, it depends. Up to some predetermined range, it will kill as far as you can place an adequate number of buckshot in the vitals of a deer. The main limiting factors are, buckshot rapidly looses velocity & energy & that very tight patterns defeat the advantage of buckshot, which is it produces a pattern. If that's what you want, shoot a slug.
This is just my opinion & you are perfectly entitled to disagree. If you prove me wrong, it won't be the first time & likely not the last.
I have found that "OO" & "OOO" tends to pattern better & definitely penetrates better than smaller sizes. How many pellets? I have seen 1 pellet kill more than one buck but that's the exception. 3 or 4 will likely do the job more often than not. A lot of people have told me that this is overkill but I like to see 8 large size buckshot in the heart lung area.
I have killed as many or more deer hunting with a rifle which I definitely prefer when still hunting or hunting from a tree stand. I like to hunt with a muzzle loader with the patched round ball.
CONGRATS on the buck .. good meat for the freezer .
I have killed several with buckshot
One of the biggest deer I ever shot was at about 15yds and buckshot. he came out of a swamp and thru a wall and I do mean a wall of brush right straight at me I pumped 2 shots in him and my brother took another one . he literally slid right up to my feet
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I grew up in Orangeburg county, so I know what you mean about the drive hunting. Personally, I never understood the appeal, but Ok.
I disagree with you on bait being the most effective means though. Been living and hunting in the Flinthills region of Kansas more than 20 years now and a pile of corn out there isn't gonna do anything for you. This is the richest agricultural region in the country. Where I hunt, there is so much milo, soybeans, corn and Winter wheat growing at any given time that the deer aren't even going to notice a bait pile. Feeders aren't even legal here as far as I know, nobody uses them if they are.
During the rut, movements are unpredictable, but I have had no problems getting very close shots on deer on public land that anybody can walk out onto and hunt. It just takes doing a little homework to figure them out, never seen a need to drive or bait.
I almost wish buckshot were legal here, I'd like to give it a try. Probably 50% or better of the deer I shoot are in range for it.
North Louisiana
Stalking in wetland area, going slow
Browning Citori 12 gauge, 26" barrel, fixed IC/Mod chokes
#4 Buck 3" 12 gauge
Dead deer, no tracking, DRT
https://ammo.com/bullet-type/4-buck
Mike
Oh, yes, distance, less than 20 yards
Last edited by skeettx; 12-26-2017 at 07:37 PM.
NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95
Hey Rich,
I saw the same thing here last year. There were not any large agricultural fields where I was hunting but the acorn crop was so big, a deer couldn't walk without crunching acorns. They had no interest in corn. You have to modify your tactics to fit the conditions. I don't recall ever killing a deer over bait but that is what I see everybody doing. I hesitate to say this because I don't want to encourage anybody to shoot at deer over 40 yds. with buckshot but I have developed buckshot loads with "OOO" in my 10 ga. SXS Beretta that will put 8 out of 16 "OOO" pellets close enough together at 60 yds. that you can cover them with one hand. Note that this is a gun specific load. I have 4, 3.5" 10 ga. SXS doubles & they all pattern differently. I don't like to shoot at deer that far with buck shot but that gives me a margin of error if I miss judge the range. I have made a number of instant one shot kills with my 12 ga. L.C. Smith, which has put the whole load of 12, "OO" in a deer's chest cavity at about 40 yds., more than a few times. Pattern your gun, what you see is what you get!
I prefer to still hunt with my muzzle loader with a .535 cal. patched round ball but I get invited to hunt on a dog drive occasionally. It is a nice change of pace on occasion. Rifle hunting around here just caught on some time in the 70's. When I was a kid, buckshot & hounds was pretty much all there was.
Is that a Sask jubilee 94. I had one of those and the **** chamber was to tight to allow seating anything larger than .375 and the bore slugged at .377 wouldn't group worth a dang...sure is cool around here these days isn't it (-37 at my place this am), too **** cold for shooting anyways...
I always have wanted to shoot a deer with some of Dixie's Tri-Ball buckshot.
http://www.dixieslugs.com/products.html
Thanks, Dinny
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You were about maxed out on the lethal range on buckshot. Iv seen countless people shot with it and its not impressive unless the range is under 30FT. Nice deer.
In general home defense 00 buck is different than hunting 00 buck shot. Hunting buck is assembled to pattern tighter using harder shot or copper platted balls. And a lot of times they use shot buffer and hulls all designed to keep the column together a little longer after it leaves the shot gun. A modified choke can help but it takes a few shots to see how far your gun can shoot it.
Home defense 00 buck doesn't have the extras and is usually fired in a IC choke. It's cheaper and that would be better if your gun can shoot it good at some distance.
I'd like to try it but can't where I hunt. I think I read somewhere that varmit hunters with the right setup can reach out to 75 yards, maybe more?
Last edited by pmer; 12-27-2017 at 09:03 AM.
Oh great, another thread that makes me spend money.
Congratulations.
NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle
Ditto for what pmer said. I never saw anybody shot with buckshot & hope I never do. I don't know what a self defense/police buckshot load will do but I do know what my buckshot loads will do. I have pretty near a perfect one shot kill record using buckshot on deer. My best loads will produce instant one shot kills at 40 yds. over 90% of the time & more often than not at 60 yds. The reason has a lot to do with the fact that I don't shoot at deer at marginal ranges & if I don't think I can make a clean kill, I don't shoot. A deer standing broadside is a lot easier to kill with buckshot than one running straight away or coming straight at you. The biggest problem with buckshot is not the buckshot but the people that use it. The majority of buckshot hunters will bang away at any deer they see at impossible ranges. Their chances of killing it is nil but I hate to think how many are wounded & die as a result. If you don't shoot, he will usually come back later & you have a chance to get a good shot. Wound him & you will never see him again & likely, we have lost another deer to stupidity. Please don't shoot at deer at 100 yds. with buckshot. You have almost no chance of making the kill but buckshot still has enough energy to inflict a wound that will later become lethal.
"The biggest problem with buckshot is not the buckshot but the people that use it."
This could be said of pretty much any weapon system out there.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |