buck shot

[sivart33]

don't have any slugs laying around, but have buck shot like no other for yotes. (normally using num 4 buck)

i have 3.5 inch 12 gauge mag 00BK shot laying around, good placement take down a bear, only reason i am asking is since i am calling a ton for yotes and cats and i swear everywhere i have found stands have beer crap everywhere.  just don't feel like buying slugs, so should i just let the bear pass, or that much kinetic energy in the 00BK to penetrate the skin/fat/ribs of a bear. if not ill just let the bear pass if i ever get a chance to call one in.

[JackOfAllTrades]

I don't like buckshot on Deer past 20yds let alone a Bear.    I don't care how you look at it, it's .32cal at 1200fps out the muzzle if you're lucky. Sure, there's more than one shot flying, but that's like hunting Bear with a .380 and just rapid firing.

Would you hunt Bear even at close range with less than a .357mag?

-Steve

[bobcat]

I wouldn't use it on a bear unless I was being attacked. Just buy a box of 5 slugs. That ought to be enough to cover you for any chance bear encounters.

[sivart33]

ya planning on it soon, but that is when i go back to town, the store is about 30 min out ( away from ym hunting area) so dont feel like driving out there till the weekend.

[backyard bucks]

shoot away!
we used 00 and 000 for bears when we use to be able to bait. you hit that bear behind the shoulder and he isn't going anywhere. back then it was 15 .33 call pellets out of the 3" shells (that is double 00) the 3 and 1/2 shells i think are packing 18 or more..
you hit that animal with at least 15 pellets of that cal he is going down.. at 20 yards out of a full choke your pattern will be the 10- to 13 inch circle  that is alot of energy being delivered to one area.
non of the bears we took went anywhere but down..
that is my  

[bobcat]

Well in that case go ahead and use it but let the bear get to about 25 FEET before you take a shot.  

[sivart33]

yes i have a very very tight choke, its shooting my num 4 buckshot in about a 12 in circle all 41 pellets.

[Curly]

Is it a good idea to be shooting 00 Buck out of a full choke .....  

[backyard bucks]

let me clarify myself.. i wouldn't use #4 buck..
but 00 i wouldn't question it at all.. i have seen it and have video of them dropping.
out of a full choke is fine.. the shot is buffered and like any other shot shell.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Well in that case go ahead and use it but let the bear get to about 25 FEET before you take a shot.

shoot away!
we used 00 and 000 for bears when we use to be able to bait.

As Backyardbucks has round-aboutly-stated, 'close range when we used to be able to bait' bears.
Yes, inside 20yds or so that will be deadly. 40yds would be stretching things a bit. Possible, but taking a chance on injuring and pissin off a bruin.

I wouldn't use it on a bear unless I was being attacked.

Yup.

-Steve

[Kain]

I would suggest you go pattern the gun to find out how it is patterning at each yardage.  I patterned mine and actually got a tighter pattern with the mod choke than a full choke.     If you get a good pattern I would say anything around 30-40 yards is dead with good shot placement.

[carpsniperg2]

i agree i would not try to shoot a bear with 00buck or 4 buck if you were going to get attacked then spray away. at close range it would have enough killing power but i would not strat with oobuck

[billythekidrock]

I don't like buckshot on Deer past 20yds let alone a Bear.    I don't care how you look at it, it's .32cal at 1200fps out the muzzle if you're lucky. Sure, there's more than one shot flying, but that's like hunting Bear with a .380 and just rapid firing.



-Steve

 

[FC]

Sadly enough the buckshot actually has better ballistic per pellet than a .380, 30-40 yards I would shoot a bear up to 250lbs or so, with slugs I would go 75 yards.

[Machias]

I use 00 buck for yotes all winter, knockes em dead out to about 60-70 yards, that said I would NOT trust it on bear.  I think everything would have to be close and PERFECT and since it rarely is in the field I would not use it unless I was in a self defense situation.   

[Ripper]

Why risk it, just go buy a box of slugs. They're cheaper than an emergency room visit or a funeral! 

[BLKBEARKLR]

Just got done finishing up a bear over 6 ft that was taking with 00buck. One shot one kill at around 35 yards teh guy said. Shot it in the head, what a lot of sewing...  It can be done, I myself prefer slugs

[Shootmoore]

All good advise.  I would not use #4 buck as reasoned in an above post.  00 buck would be fine inside of 25 yards, however I would pattern it to find the spread characteristics from your gun.  Out of a mod 18 inch barrel the "average" rate of spread is about 1" per yard.  So at 25 yards you are looking at about a 25 inch pattern.  Again this is just a AVERAGE and each gun, choke, brand of buckshot will be different.

00 buck is .33 cal and considered "low velocity" firearm as is slugs and pistols.  It would be close to shooting something 9 times with a 9mm however the instant multi hit seems to have more "knock down" affect than shooting something 9 times with a 9mm.  

I would suggest purchasing a few different brands and testing them through your shotgun.

For myself I prefer the 2 3/4 inch Federal Classic in both slug and 00buck.  I have been shooting it for years in many different 18 inch 870 smoothbores.  The buckshot is pretty consistantly tighter pattern than other brands I have shot and tend to strip pattern up and down instead of a circular pattern.  This allows me to adjust consistantly in keeping the pattern on target.  The 2 3/4 inch slugs "when I used to shoot alot" I could consistantly clover leaf 3 shot groups at 50 yards and keep 3 shots within 6 inches at 100 yards.  This was with a 18" bead sight.  I found the 3" 00 and slugs were not as accurate and the recoil for follow up shots was significantly increased.  I probably tested 10-15 different brands with none of the ones I tested meeting the consistancy and accuracy of the Federal Classic.  

In other words if you put in the time to know your ammo and how it performs in your gun I would say there would be no problem taking a bear with the shotty.  I have used the Fed classic on bears 3 times, on bear when asked to go in after others wounded bears in the brush.  The only failure I had was my fault when I hit a bear at about 10 yards between the eyes with a slug.  The angle of the skull allowed the slug to strike the skull and "skip" up along the skull.  It gave him enough of a headache that the second follow up shot in the throat did the job.  It was my fault for trying a facing headshot.

Here ends my diatribe on buck and slug.

Shootmoore

[Machias]

Good stuff Shootmore

[backyard bucks]

GREAT STUFF SHOOTMOORE.
what i don't understand is people instanly thinking buckshot in the same catagory as birdshot. TOTALLY DIFFERENT ANIMAL.
great advise about getting out and shooting it for yourself.. we shot plenty of them, and found the ones we liked and that performed the best.. it is like any weapon a hunter chooses to use, weather rifle, pistol, bow, muzzel, or shotgun.. get out and practice with it and learn your weapon.. then make your judgement on what you have learned, not just what others say.
 

[bobcat]

The person that posted the question just happened to have some buckshot "laying around" and wanted to know if it would work on bears. A little different than testing several different loads and chokes and finding the best combination, and KNOWING your maximum range with that particular load.

[Shootmoore]

The person that posted the question just happened to have some buckshot "laying around" and wanted to know if it would work on bears. A little different than testing several different loads and chokes and finding the best combination, and KNOWING your maximum range with that particular load.

In that case NO, for all the reasoning I put in my above post.

Shootmoore

[backyard bucks]

good point bobcat.
i guess i should of said test them out and do some research on them instead of shoot away.
i was going from my hunting partners, friends, and my own experiences with it.. but again we have used it alot.
as shootmoore said.. each brand is a bit different and each size is as well.
get to know it and it is a very efficient weapon.

[Kain]

All good advise.  I would not use #4 buck as reasoned in an above post.  
Shootmoore

And the fact that its not legal.    Got to have #1 or larger buckshot for bear.

Definitely need to make sure you are going to hit it with more than a couple pellets in the vitals.  00 may be .33 but unlike a bullet it will not expand.  I always have 00 buck in my shotgun when calling if bear or cougar season is open, just in case.  I also carry my 44 mag revolver with me even though my effective range is about the same with both I would prefer to use the 44.

[ICEMAN]

From the discussion above, what you have laying around is not the optimal load for bear for a quicky hunt. How about not testing it on a bear...