Originally Posted by
sjsfire
I've been hunting Illinois my whole life. I have 4 slug guns and to be honest they haven't seen the woods in 7 years. Do yourself a favor and consider a muzzloader. You can use a muzzleloader both seasons and they have a muzzleloader season the weekend following the second firearm season.
I agree. You can buy a good quality muzzleloader for less $$$ that will outshoot any slug gun. I used to use a slug gun, but bought a cheap-o muzzy that performed light years better than the slugger and never looked back. Case in point- with my old Winchester slug gun, I might average 5" groups at 50 yards with a lot of recoil involved. With the cheap muzzy- 1" groups or less at 50 yards and 2" or less groups at 100 yards. Every deer shot with muzzy was DRT or recovered a short distance later.
Having said all that, if you are set on a slugger, I would recommend an H&R single shot slug gun in 20 gauge. My hunting buddy has one- we call it "the howitzer" and it is accurate and has brought down deer from 30 to 120 yards. He uses Lightfield slugs.