Greetings all,
I've been lurking on here for a few months and finally decided to register and post. Just recently passed my IHEA class and will shortly be getting mypermit for NY State, looking forward to going out in the field this season (although I already plan to not punch any tags this year as a new hunter
).
I am however curious about anyone's experience with shotgun hunting whitetails. NY has some counties with Shotgun rules (no rifle) for deer, and I had inherited a nice Western Field 550 (Mossberg 500) 12ga from a relative who used the shotgun about one time. I have just gotten my ported, rifled, cantilever mount, parkerized barrel and am now looking to find a slug to use for hunting. I can go with either 2 3/4" or 3" shells, but wanted to see what any of you thought or have experienced with using either one in the field. Will the increased fps on the 3" help that much? Is there really not that much of a difference between the two in the field since hunting in the woods doesn't give you an open 100-200yd clear shot every time? Should I go with hollowpoints or solid sabot slugs?
Any thoughts youall have would be helpful. I'm hoping the rumors I've heard that Pataki has signed in a change to the laws out here to let us use rifles, but knowing me I'll probably go out there with a Mauser 24/47 in 8mm w/iron sights just to be difficult [8D]
-dust