Thinking of hunting with two guns...
 

...in certain situations. I was on a population control hunt this week, and afterward I thought about how I could have hunt it differently. I just brought my slug gun (shotgun only area) with me, and, since we don't have the opportunity to scout, picked out a spot using a topographical map and walked to it. After sitting for awhile once the sun had come up and fully revealed my surroundings, I decided to get up and scout for another spot. In doing so, I spooked several does that were hiding in thickets...all bolted within 20 yards of me. Had I been traveling with my slug gun strapped on my pack and a buckshot-loaded shotgun in hand, I could have done what I came to do, and that is more effectively contributed to a population control hunt.

Anyone run with two guns when the situation calls for it? Keep in mind, I wasn't trying to catch big great grandaddy.

Oh, does anyone know...FOR SURE...if buckshot causes damage to rifled barrels? It makes sense that it would, but I haven't done the actual testing to find out for myself.

You know it isn't legal here in Illinois, right? But assuming you were elsewhere, shooting shot that isn't tungsten shouldn't hurt a rifled barrel. Tundsten IMO is hard enough to probobly or possibly damage the rifling.

But I wouldn't expect much of a tight pattern with just a rifled barrel. It certainly won't print like a shot barrel with a choke would.

Frankly I think you are better off with one gun and picking your shot. You'll eventually need to make a decision on which gun to use. I think it's better to make that decision before you are out there. Otherwise you have a 50% chance of using the wrong gun. Deer hunting isn't golf.

no, but if youre really good at either, youll get alot of "white tail" (according to what ive seen on the news lately):biggrin:

Oops. My bad, that's not Tiger's wife!

iSnipe :biggrin:

This isn't an Illinois forum, is it? I don't live in Illinois, so I have no reason to become familiar with Illinois firearms and hunting regulations.

No, deer hunting isn't golf, and that would be a good analogy if I were talking about toting 10 or so guns on a gun cart.

Though I'm fairly new to it, a lot of whitetail hunting seems to be based on playing the odds. You could pick a great spot based on the wind, lay of the land, deer sign, etc., but no deer (or deer you want to shoot) may come by the day you actually hunt.

For the situation I was in, when I was slowly moving to locate another place to set up, I would have much preferred to have a buckshot-loaded shotgun against the deer I encountered along the way. When I found a spot that I wanted to set up in, I would have preferred my slug gun.

Dude which one is which? I don't even know!! :s2:

Edit: Oh...they're the same chick...shows how much I've been paying attention!

I wouldn't see the point of packing in two similar options but....I have been known to travel with an aresenal. Currently, I carry my .30-06 and a .45 ACP pistol because dark + big hogs = you never know. When my crazy uncle tells hunting stories, they usually end up with one of his cousins climbing a tree to escape and angry boar. Then again, he is crazy so it might be the same story retold with different details.

Until I got my house robbed, I had a Remington 700 in 7Mag that was my primary gun. for back up, I had a Remington 740(?) in .30-06 that had an extra short custom barrel. It was lightweight, agile and a bad blanker-blanker. If I was stalk hunting, rattling in heavy brush or running hogs, that was the choice. Otherwise, it was the big dog. I used the .30-06 to take the 11 point I posted in the 'favorite calls' thread. Shot him in the lower neck, head on off hand at 125 yards. With the 7Mag, I took plenty of game where I had a chance to get a rest and take a longer shot.

Different optics among options might make a difference too.

over analyzing it bud....just pick a gun

Aren't the the most successful deer hunters the ones who analyze their experiences and those of others? You don't drop big bucks on a regular basis by just picking what appears to be a nice spot and just sitting still long enough. The more I read about whitetail hunting, the more I find analysis plays a role in hunting success, whatever you define that to be.

Yes, but....there is a certain amount of luck involved. Deer are....well, crazy sometimes. I enjoy all the planning and set up but I always 'miss' something. Then again, sometimes it doesn't matter.

Spend a whole month in full camo with cover scents in a 'perfect location' where trails criss cross, game cameras are always clicking on game and never get a good shot....while someone else, in their white T-shirt, with body odor, eating donuts in noisy wrappers, talking on their cell phone, kicking the inside of the blind when stretching will bring home a trophy. It happens. All you can do is prepare the best you can then pray.

Having only lived in states where buckshot was not legal for deerhunting, I don't fully understand your issue.

If you couldn't hit the deer with a slug, how were you going to hit the deer with buckshot? Was it a situation where you were just going to point and shoot in hopes of hitting the deer? If so, you probably shouldn't have been taking the shot with a slug or buckshot.

Funny, Saturday I knew we would be putting on some drives, so I brought the rifled slug gun and a smoothbore. I figured if i was a driver I would put the slug gun in the truck and take the other with buckshot, and thats exactly what I did. I won't damage the rifling, but with the pattern you might as well use a wrist rocket.

That would be true if you were after that big buck. Reading about analyzing the situation and actually coming up with a strategy, based on all information gathered and scouting, is much different. Pus you stated you were involved in a population control hunt, much different that trying to outwit a big, mature buck.

Like others have said, take one gun that you feel comfortable with and go on your hunt with your highest priority being a quick, humane kill.

I understand where you are going. A few weeks ago I had two deer jump up not 4' in front of me and I couldn't get them in my scope fast enough but if I had my 12 guage smoothbore with me I could've done the 'point and shoot'. As close as they were I'm pretty sure I could've put one down. The next trip I took my slug gun and sat in the stand for a few hours and then went back to the truck and got the smoothbore with buckshot and roamed around hoping to jump one like I seem to have done a bunch of other times when I had something in my hand with a scope on it. Of course, it didn't happen!

Shooting at a jumped deer with buckshot can be lethal with a crossing shot but can leave a deer to linger a long and painful death if shot in the rump or gut. For buckshot to be humane you need to hit him with a decent pattern. If the gun you're using patterns well and you hit the deer square in the ribs, you would have also hit him with a slug. A lot of hunters think that you should use shot on moving targets because that's what they use on rabbits and pheasants, for that way of thinking to work on deer you would need a shell that holds 300 buckshot pellets, not 12. My suggestion for you is if you use a scope on your slug gun, use one that has a low end of 1 to 1 1/2 power, that way it will be easier to aquire a running target. Another thing to think about is that if the deer is quartering away from you and you do wind up hitting it in the rump, the slug will travel lengthwise through the body and still strike it's vitals. It will be messy when you gut him out, but he won't suffer with buckshot in his rump. If i'm not mistaking I think they call that a Texas heart shot.

BTW, buckshot (or any shot for that matter) through a rifled barrel will have a spin imparted to the shot column. Not only will the patterns be doughnut shaped, but they expand so rapidly that you'd shoot a circle around your intended target.

Ok I was clearly talking about picking a gun! I wasn't talking about anything more about hunting or tactics to kill a deer.
Just pick a gun and use it

Nato...The gun you are talking about is what I call my scout gun...When I'm on one of the farms and checking for sign or acorn drop, etc, I'll carry my slug shotgun...

Now, mine isn't rifled nor does it have a scope on it, but it will keep foster slugs inside a 5 inch circle at 100 yards and put 6-7 Winchester #1 Buck into a 10 inch circle at 40 yards...

Mine happens to be a Remington 1100 with the rifle sights that I bought back in the 70s...I also carry this gun or my Browning
B-80 in 3 inch Mag when I suspect the dog hunters will be dropping their dogs off on my property...

Any good shotgun with a vent rib could be equipped with an add on sight and this option also lets you load one slug and then followup with buckshot...In this way, if you have a shot at a standing deer, great, if not then you can get rid of the slug and follow up with buckshot...

Either way, I'd leave the "buck" shot at home. I've never seen it put a deer down quick but I've sure found enough wounded ones that were shot with it.

I regularly carry two guns. I used to carry a ML for shots up to 300 yds and also an 11-87 with open sights to catch any running down the same ditch I sat on (within 40 yds typically). After awhile the slug gun started staying home and was replaced with a peep-sighted ML, which is the current double setup I carry.

If the gun throws a tight enough pattern with buckshot to be shooting at deer with, and you can hit a deer with it, you could have hit it with a slug. Deer aren't pheasants, no wings to break, anything outside the vitals will just be a painful gangrenous death.

for a few years i carried a slug gun and a muzzle loader, after awhile i noticed that i never even thought about using the shotgun so now i carry only the muzzle loader. My thinking was if im walking and kick up a deer i would want my shotgun with its additional shots, now i just scream at the deer if there running and about half the time they will stop and give me a nice shot for my M.L. I know for me as i matured as a hunter it wasnt as hard to just let the ones that dont present you with a good enough shot go.

Centaur 1 and Spaniel are dead on....IMO buckshot is a joke and tends to wound more deer then its worth....Im sure someone will post how they have killed dozens with it. Its great for coyotes...but thats about it.

There is a reason its outlawed in as many states as it is.

Thanks for the replies all. I'll get back to you all with my thoughts ASAP, which will probably be lengthy, but my job right now is to go to BED so I can get my arse up at 3am to do what we all love to do (got a bit of a drive and need to be in the woods by 5:15...and it's gonna be COLD!!).

I have killed dozens of deer with buckshot in clearcuts, but that is not why I am responding. Those particular leases, were buckshot only, so I had no choice.

Most hunters just don't know how to use it.
Actually, it can be like bird hunting.
You still have to lead the animal. Shoot where it's going, not where it's been.
I think most hunters just point and shoot like the pellets are magically going to hit the target. And they might hit it, just in the butt.
You have to know your pattern too, not just grabbing a smoothbore, and banging out some buckshot.
I use an A-5 24" cylinder smoothbore with rifled sights. It patterns 00buck better than my 28" modified 1200 Winchester.

Also, you have to know distance...fast.
Too many 40+yd, pray and spray types out there.

As far as taking two guns, if I were in a large tree-house stand, all day, I might take two guns. Overall though, its just too much to keep up with. Thats why I always chose a smoothbore for my shotgun only hunts. They are more versatile for me.
I don't plan on any 100+ yard slug shots, in the woods anyway.

Okay...my thoughts on some of the posts here...

As to buckshot not being effective or lethal, I have to disagree just using my own limited experience. If it is patterned correctly, it can be devastating. My choke will put 9 out of 9 pellets in 6-inch circle at 25 yards and 9 of 9 in a 10-inch circle at 40 yards. That will most certainly do the job, and has.

As to there being no advantage to using buckshot over a single projectile at a quickly moving deer, I disagree there as well. Having a 6 to 10-inch spread to work with in the vitals area is a huge advantage, IMO. If you're slightly high, low or to the rear with a single projectile, you could be looking at a huge tracking job or a lost deer. That same shot with buckshot would be a heart or lung shot.

As to not taking (running) shots at deer being spooked from their cover, I can agree and disagree, depending on the situation. If it is a broadside shot between out to 30 or 40 yards, there is no reason not to take the shot, IMO. The deer is JUST beginning to run, they're not at full speed, and if they are broadside, well, that's just what you want. Now if they're quartered hard or facing away, I definitely wouldn't take the shot. I wouldn't just shoot in hopes of hitting part of the deer, so let's get that one out of the way.

As to shooting buckshot at quickly moving deer not being ideal, quickest, most humane way to take a deer, I can agree with that. However, you have to look at things in context. NORMALLY, I would not use buckshot because for me, it would never be necessary. I'd be in my bind waiting for an excellent shot at a deer I want to take. I want that deer to go down hard and not get up (but I want to reemphasize that CAN happen with buckshot!!). So I'll use a .308 or a 12ga slug. But in the context of this/these hunts, they are POPULATION CONTROL hunts. The DCR/DMAP is telling the hunters in these special hunts to KILL AS MANY DOES AS POSSIBLE. Now, that doesn't mean to me you should take unethical shots...not by any means. However, it changes things up a bit as to what kind of shots I'm will take vs. what I would normally take. You have to think, WHY are they telling us to kill as many as does as possible? What are the ramifications of an out of control deer population? Starvation. Malnutrition. Mamed, suffering or slow-dying deer that got away from a motor vehicle accident. Humans getting killed or seriously injured from motor vehicle accidents. And I'm sure there are many more. So, in a case where I'm hunting for reasons of population control, there ARE certain risks I'm willing to take that I normally wouldn't. And one would be taking a good shot at a spooked deer with buckshot.

You said you were carrying a shotgun with slugs in it right?? put in one or two buckshot then a slug and you can shoot at close running deer or if its further away you can take out the buckshot and shoot with the slugs...thats what I do.
Justin

I had a slug gun...rifled barrel. But even if I were carrying a smoothbore, if I were to unload buckshot to put slugs in, I'd get busted from the noise. At least with a pump action.

I always bring two guns when I go on hunting trips to other states, example; Kansas. I always have a short range gun for shots 100-200 yards. It would be a gun that I could use for doing short pushes or drives as well. And I also bring a long range gun. Something that I can easily shoot 300-500 yards. I have not carried both guns at the same time though.

Trust me you can fling out the other shells plenty quick. Or atleast I can. or you can do it slowly and quitely. oil up your gun well and it shouldnt make much noise.
Justin

I was just thinking about what you said about your not being able to take out the other shells. Well suppose you have your 2 guns with you and you see a deer at 100 yards just standing there while you have your buckshot gun in hand. Now you have to set down your back pack and take out your other gun and load it cause it shouldnt but loaded on your back pack and then shoot. That would involve way more noise than just cycling the gun. Just my thoughts
Justin

That's why I would have a slug in the chamber, followed by buckshot...If a deer got up, I'd have a close shot for the slug, then followup with buckshot...If the dogs were running, I could slip the slug out and use buckshot...

thank you ncchawkeye somebody agrees with me! I know that here in maine your not going to get more than one shot running if your lucky.
Justin