Originally Posted by
Phil from Maine
I have seen a lot of people do this very same thing with rifles.. Why because the deer never fell like they thought it should of.. Or in some cases to discourage other hunters so they can continue even though they could of tagged out.. There is a lot of different reasons for people missing and that lists goes on and on.. I have helped recover more than one deer that was shot at. All because they could not pin point exactly where the deer was standing when they fired at it.. It is in some cases experience that matters..
I agree Phil.
The difference I see is that with unloading buckshot at running deer at 30-60yds - if you are holding on the deer...imo, you don't miss. Sure, you may not drop the deer on the spot, and maybe all your pellets didn't hit the deer, but some of the buckshot is definitely hitting the target. Too often they don't bleed well and/or run off and die. Alot of the buckshot hunters chalk it up to "I missed".
It CAN be deadly and is very devistating at short range. You shoot a deer at 20-30yds with a good patterning load of buckshot, man you can fold em up right now. First buck I ever killed was with 00buck, dropped him on the spot. I've also had one that didn't leave any blood trail in very thick woods. After about 30mins of a few of us searching, we found him. Couple holes right in the vitals, just no blood. Deer ran about 80yds.
Personally, in shotgun only areas I'd prefer to use a m/l or slug gun now.