RE: buck shot
 

Here in Jersey it is buckshot and slugs only. All the deer I have killed have been with buckshot. Never lost any, but have had to shot some twice, even three times. To give a range ? I would say it has a lot to due with the gun and not so much with poor shot selection or aiming.Every gun I own shots a different shot better then the other. DON'T GETME WRONG, you do needshot selectionand aiming. But if someones shotgun spread out 24" at 45 yards, you can't tell the guys he can effectivly shoot out to 75 yards. On the other hand someones gun may pattern great and can shoot 80-85 yards. In my gun I shoot 3" copper coated, 00 and 000. Don't really want to shoot past 60 yards, at that range thats when I sometimes have to shoot more then once. Most kills that I have done have been one shot and at 55 yards or less. last year I shoot my 1st deer ( out of state ) with a slug, awesome. 90 yards and dropped it, out going hole was the size of a base ball. So, I just picked up a Mossberg 935 and a rifled barrel. It shots great at 100 yards. I'm gonna shot some 3 1/2" buckshot with the vented rib barrel to see how it patterns and a good range.

RE: buck shot
 

Ya i wonder the same thing sometimes. I guess maybe for a hunter hunting with a shotgun with a smoothe barrel it would be more accurate with actual "shot" of some sort rather than a slug...who knows. A buddy of mine shot a 5 point a few years ago with buckshot, seemed like there were bullets everywhere. I also heard a story one time, not that i believe it, but some guy was using buckshot and shot at a buck at about 250 yards and all of the bullets missed except one and it dropped it on the spot. Personally i say slugs or nothing out of a shotgun, but its a personal preference. They both will kill the deer.

RE: buck shot
 

It's all about knowing your equipment. Here is a pic of a fairly good shotgun pattern (if the pic works).

Hard to see real good but over half of the load (about 14 out of 24)was concentrated right there behind the shoulder. I found a couple of flyers and I'm guessing the rest probably missed low. The range was probably about 40 yds but I have killed deer out to 60 with the same set up. That's about my max range and yes that is the largest cowhorn I have killed thus far in my hunting career. The pic is pretty large too for some reason.:D

RE: buck shot
 

Nice deer but yeah 60 yards is definatly the max. I read a post on page 1 that saidhe was shooting deer at 100 yards with buckshot I'm not sayin its not possible but why would you even think of doin thatits just plain stupid.

RE: buck shot
 

Being from the south and dog hunting most of my life, I have killed more deer with buck shot than I have rifle. Its just like everything else. pattern it and see what it does out of your gun. If 40yds is your max. Stop at 40. If 70yds is your max, then stop there. Its simple.

I have a Browning BPS that I dog hunt with (when i used to dog hunt). I have a Wad Wizard choke on it and with a load of Remington 3.5'' 00 buck, I can easily kill a deer at 60-70yds. But for me to shoot at one at that distance with buck shot, it would have to be standing still and broad side.

However, the only way I would use it still hunting is if I were in a situation where i knew my MAX shot would be 30-40yds.