Slo-Pitch

In my county in Va. That is all you can use. No Slugs here. We have bow season, Muzzleloader season, and shotgun season. Just in the last 2 years they have allowed all 3 counties around us can useslugs and we can use them next year.
Everyone one around here hunts with dogs during the shotgun season anyway.

killadoe

I have an 870, and my best groups come from 3 inch remington # 4's at 65 yards. They kick like hell but but group well. I tried them with my modified choke then my full and have to say I like the way the full performed. These loads have 40 something pellets in them, and at 65 steps I put 25 in pie pan.. they are bad ass...

Tigerfan

Check out the November edition of Field and Stream. There is a good article on Buckshot on page 42, titled "Buckshot Shootout" by Philip Bourjaily

Allen Denton

My county is also buckshot only. I use Federal 3 1/2 00 with a 870 Rem, Kicks chole tube. I killed my biggest deer at 80 steps, about 65 yards and it only went 20 yards. I use as a rule, if I can get teh deer to stop I will shoot out to 70 yards but if the deer is moving I keep the shots to under 40. This will be my 20 year hunting whitetail and I have only used buckshot and have not recovered only a few. The deer that I did not find was not the fault of the buckshot but my shot.

Todd1700

When I was a kid here in Alabama most people ran deer with dogs and used shotguns loaded with buckshot. So did we. Buckshotgained a bad rep for just wounding deer but I feel that's sort of an unfair perception. When you are shooting at deer running full speed with a pack of hounds on their @$$ bad hits are common. You can hardly blame buckshot for not being lethal on a ham hit. Also you must respect the limited lethal range of buckshot and most people do not. It's just hard for them to grasp that something which is so deadly at 40 yards can be so inadequate at 60 yards. Shooting at calm deer from a treestand at bowhunting distances (Say 45 yards and closer) I would dare to say that I would never lose a deer with 00 buckshot. Back in those deer drive days and within that 45 yard rangeI have folded many deer up like a well hit dove with number 1 or 00 buckshot.

one on one

50 to 100yds, but no more. good luck

Catus Magnus

Bad advice... taking shots at 50+ yards is getting dicey, esp. on moving deer, and is an invitation to wounded & unrecovered deer... shooting anywhere near 100 at unwounded deer, is just plain wrong, IMHO. You're much more likely to would than to kill.

Most of my deer have been with buckshot... it is tempting to take longer shots than you should. Todd1700 has it about right.

Deerhunter150

i would use my bow before i would use buckshot

one on one

Just curious how affective is 00buckshot 3 1/2 inch?? What is the max safely effective range up to fatal wounding a deer and not just wounding it??
this is what the question asked, now everyone has their own opinon,but no mention of shooting at running deer, that i read, each gun and ammo will proform different, its up to you to test itand see the results.IMHO

Catus Magnus

one on one said:

Just curious how affective is 00buckshot 3 1/2 inch?? What is the max safely effective range up to fatal wounding a deer and not just wounding it??


I dunno. I just don't trust it very far. Never shot 3-1/2; my shotgun chambered for 3" max. You get three more pellets at a little less velocity, I think.


After having shot many, many deer with buckshot - I would opt for something else in most circumstances, unless jump-shooting deer in very, very thick stuff up close. With a slug if you hit, you'll prob get a bloodtrail; with buck, you're less likely to. You'll never hear me say it won't work - it just is unreliable the further out you get. My own limit, for ones shot at a standing or slow-moving broadside deer, is around... 40-50 yards. And I think 50 is getting dicey. I'll be tempted further. If you use a slug or rifle - and I hunt almost exclusively with a muzzleloader these days - you'll get a bloodtrail, or more likely a clean miss. Lots of deer wounded by buckshot, IMHO.

If you're going to use buckshot, get flipchart paper and pattern it, get used to judging that distance. Remember that those individual pellets have less energy than little pistol shot