djschuett

I hunt with a 20 ga Remington 870 Express Magnum chamber using 3" slugs and I've never had a problem taking a deer down with 1 shot. I got the gun for Xmas when I was 12 and don't have enough money right now to replace it, and haven't had reason to!

It is the combo with the interchangable slug and shot barrels, and I'd rather carry a 20ga pheasant hunting than a 12 anyway! With 3" shells it packs about as much power as a 12 with a little less weight which can make a huge difference on your arms when you're walking through brush 10 hours a day!

As far as aim and shooting straight, I dropped a doe at 80-90 yards this past year with 1 shot while she was walking. I'm a firm believer in the "It's the indian not the arrow theory" though.

My dad always hunted with an old sawed off 12 ga until it jammed on him the year after I got my gun. Since I was at school, he took my gun back out for the afternoon and dropped a doe 1 shot at 100 yards. He's a better shot than I am (99% or better marksman score in the Army on every rifle he qualified on), but he was sold on the 870's and went out and bought a 12 ga 870 for himself that Xmas. He's had great success with it as well.



I guess what I'm saying in an extremely tangential and circumstantial manner is get the gun that works for you and practice with it. Remember it's the Indian, not the arrow.
If you don't mind the extra weight and want a bit more power, go 12. If you'd rather sacrifice a little power for less wt and a little lower price, go 20. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what gun I have with me as long as I'm used to it any day hunting is better than the best day at work!

BOWHUNTERCOP

If you hunt with a .50 cal muzzleloader and like the performance it gives, then you will like todays 20ga. performance......simple put the 20ga. with todays loads is perfect for deer

mwaite

[/align]In my opinion, it doesn't matter which gauge you pick, as long as you're comfortable shooting it. My only advice is to use a fully rifled barrel with sabot slugs. Your accuracy will be much better. And try a big variety of ammo with the setup to see which kind the gun likes the most. When I bought my slug gun in IA, all the outdoor writers were raving over rem copper solids, but my gun sure hated them! The federal 3in with the barnes expanders worked best for me, but it all depends on the gun.

whitetaildreamer

Go with the 12 g.

DoctorDeath

GO WITH THE 12ga ..I WOULD RATHER HAVE IT AND NOT NEED IT THEN TO NEED IT AND NOT HAVE IT.

dd

uncle matt

Yeah Doc, I use the same principals for my love life. It's worked out great over the years.

BowHunterFett

I have a Mossberg 500 20ga, it has a fully rifled barrel, and I never had a problem killing deer with it. I also found that my gun liked the 3"Federalbarnes sabots, i tried some rifled slugs, and a few other sabots, but the Federals had the tightest pattern, and less drop. With rifled slugs, I too couldn't get a 6" group if the target was touching the barrel, it was bad. Sabots are the way to go with a rifled barrel.

SwampCollie

I just moved back to VA, and sadly cannot hunt with a rifle any longer like I could in SC.

Infact, in our county in VA, we cannot even hunt with a muzzleloader during the general firearms season (lame). So it looks like two 20gas are in my future. Thats what I'd go with too if I were you.

wis_bow_huntr

Your 20 gauge slug is by far a bit more accurate that a 12. but the 12 will give you more options in loads.

bdosas

I have a 12 ga ultra slug and love it. I use Remington managed recoilcopper solidsand can "drive a nail" at 75 yards. The managed recoilcuts back some on the kick of the gun. I hunt in a wooded area so I don't get shots out to 100yds. Most of mine come in at 45-50 yards so I can't comment on the longer distance shots with it.