slug or buckshot?

[Wile E. Hunter]

Buckshot is round, their skull is round. Depending on where on the head, how it hits, could literally deflect. Depending on the distance, with a modified choke it gets pretty iffy. I just think a ribcage shot is a lot more ethical. I was taught growing up that a head shot is rarely the shot to take. 

Wile E.

[Mike O]

I vote for slugs.  And, if the option is available, add a rifled slug barrel.

[hillbilli]

OK so my first deer gun was a 20guage single shot.. and with slugs it is a 65 cal. musket. The 12ga is a .75 cal musket when loaded with slugs.. Normal winchester/federal/brenneke slugs should shoot fine through your modified choke. (but dont shoot them through a choke tighter than 'full' ..IE ex-full turkey choke.) The slugs that should only be shot through a rifled barrel or rifled choke tube are the expensive sabot slugs.( about 3$ a shot) My biggest argument against the buckshot is not that it wont kill deer at 30 yards, its that it may not create a consistent killing pattern at 40 or 45.. and not everyone, even bowhunters, is perfect about judging yardage.. at a glance can you tell the difference between 33 and 43 yards? with buckshot that difference can be the difference between a kill and a wound. Even if the deer runs and requires tracking.. would you rather blood trail a .75 entry  and maybe bigger exit.. or a bunch of small entries and no exit. i have 2 pump shot guns with bead sights.. the lest accurate of the two (870 rem) will still keep slugs on a paper plate at 60 yds.. 

[coachcw]

00 buck will be good to 50-60 yards  one pellot in the basket will smokem

[Ballance1]

go with a slug.  00 buck to many mistakes can be made with that on a deer.  i shot a doe under 20 yards and the BB's were just under the skin.  no penetration.  I'll never use 00 buck again on a deer or anything other than a coyote

[oneshotkill]

I definitely vote that you use slugs!  Having hunted on Whidbey and the San Juan Islands for the last several years where it is firearms restriction, I have seen a lot of both being used.  With slugs I have yet to see a deer not die.  All but one of the ones I have seen shot with a slug dropped on the spot.  The other one made it about 50 yards and left a blood trail that I could have tracked blindfolded.  Literally pools of blood on both sides of the trail as it ran. 
Buckshot I have been VERY unimpressed with.  Of the close to 20 deer that I have seen/ been close to seeing get shot with buckshot I have seen 5 recovered.  Of those 5 only 2 dropped on the spot.  The other 3 required at least a 2nd shot to finish them off and 1 of them even required a 3rd shot.  The other 15 that were not able to be recovered left little to no blood trail.  If anything it was a drop or 2 at the beginning of the trail and then nothing.  All of these shot are 40 yards and under and the people were aiming either behind the shoulder or at the head.  More success seemed to be in head shots because a pellet through the brain kills it instantly.  A pellet through the lungs makes for almost no blood trail because it is a small hole and doesn't seem to ever make it all the way through and exit.  The ones that were not recovered each were given 2+ hours of searching with little to NO sign of them.  Maybe I have just been really unlucky in my experience but I would HEARTILY recommend going with slugs.  Much more knock down power and more ethical IMHO.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I would just use the muzzy ....alittle added smoke to the hunt 

[bobcat]

I would generally recommend slugs over buckshot as well, but he said he wasn't shooting more than "20 to 30 yards". At that short distance I think buckshot will do fine. But further than that and I'd definitely want a slug instead.

[wadu1]

I would generally recommend slugs over buckshot as well, but he said he wasn't shooting more than "20 to 30 yards". At that short distance I think buckshot will do fine. But further than that and I'd definitely want a slug instead.

I aggree with bobcat 20 - 30 3" 00 Buck any farther slug. My gun shoots Remington 1oz slugs the best over Win or Feds with an IC choke tube the same gun with 3" 00 will keep almost all pellets in a 12" target at 20 yards. To bad you dont have two tags shoot one with a slug and one with 00 Buck and then tell us what worked best for you. 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Can they use a Jacket slug now days ...? If you can then definately SLUG !!

[bobcat]

I've never heard of any kind of shotgun slug not being legal to hunt with.

[coachcw]

I've shot quiet a few of the island and I always went with 2 oo buck chased by a slug . many times thew deer hold so tight then explode out of the brush and its more like bird hunting . 00buck shoots a pretty tight pattern at 30 yards and ive never had a problem with it ! each pellet is .32 caliber and if one slips through the rib cage the partys over . the only time i'd shoot a slug first over there would be if I was in a stand once I got on the ground the buckshot would be in the pipe .

[jechicdr]

If still hunting and hitting the brush and having possibility of a jumping deer, would go with buckshot.  If you are stationary and animal is meandering through, would use a slug, but the buckshot would work as well at short range.  With a good slug gun, could extend your range, so if you had longer shots from a stand, would go with the slug.

[jackmaster]

If you're only shooting up to 30 yards, I'd probably use buckshot. Even #4 buck would work good at that range. You might want to buy a few different loads and pattern them to see which ones your gun likes best.

[Bob33]

I guess I'm kind of an oddball, but if I don't think I can hit a deer at 20 to 30 yards with a single projectile, I just wouldn't shoot.  Relying on a shotgun pattern to hit a big game animal just isn't my cup of tea.  To those who do and can make a killing shot 9+ times out of 10, more power to you.