ths78

I' ve been fortunate enough to go in past, but only once. Had a blast though.

My question is...Will a scoped, semi-auto rifle work well, or should stick with a shotgun?

I' m getting ready to join a club this year that runs lots of dogs. Last time I went, I shot a buck at about 20 yds. with my 12 guage and OO Buck. Made a mess of him. My ruger deerfield (44 mag) has a 4X scope on it and recoils very little.

Do you think this would be a GREAT choice for deer hunting with dogs, or should I stick to the shotgun?

timbercruiser

You probably need to check with a couple of members of the club and see if they have rules about what kind of firearms are permitted. Most dog clubs I have hunted with have shotgun-buckshot only rules. I have hunted with both shotgun and rifle while dog hunting and prefer the shotgun. It would depend on what kind of terrain you are in.

Gabe

please take this advice get you a slug barrel and carry your shot gun, use that buck shot for home defence and target practice. I dog hunt alot and every deer that we shoot with a slug is found right away. On the other hand most of the deer that are shot with buckshot are never found or found a great distance away from where they are shot. I have a dog that will bay a dead deer and you would not beleive how far they can go. The deer have a great amount of energy when they are being run. Plus a slug will give you a little more distance but still be short range for those who don' t like rifles on account of other people in the woods. I hope you take my advice on this, so when you finally see that big buck you drop him where he stands.
Ban buckshot
Just my opinion I have after lots of trial and error. Don' t mean to affend any buckshot hunters. I have killed deer with buckshot myself, but most of the time the deer since or see you and freeze perfect for a shot, although where I hunt I don' t use a scope I prefer Iron sites.

Gabe

kevin1

Buckshot isn' t legal here , but I agree with Gabe , go for the slug . Will the deer be sitting still long enough to use a scope ? I would find that unlikely , and scopes aren' t good for running shots in my book .

Tazman

Stick with the shotgun, I personally have had tremendous success with 00 buck, if you hit them in the boiler room they are going down quick, many people curse buck shot because they are taking 50-60 yard shots with it, if you keep your shots with 00 buckshot 40 yards and under you will find it does great. Slugs are fine, but shooting a deer with 00 buck in the boiler room is the equivelant of shooting them about 9 times with a 30 cal (Actually a bit smaller, but larger than a 22)

Nomercy

Here in KS, buckshot is illegal, I don' t really want to dive into a debate that is off topic here, but I agree, it is as it should be here in KS, buckshot just isn' t good for how people hunt anymore, i.e. at longer ranges everyday, at very close ranges, it is incredibly devastating, but at those distances, each pellet is kind of like a .32acp round, at close range, yeah, 6-9 .32acp rounds will kill a deer, so will buckshot, but too many people try to ' stretch their chokes' . Also, I will second the ' high adrenaline' point made earlier, when they get running from dogs, tearing a hole with a slug is great, heart' s pounding and all that, but a bunch of little (comprably) holes aren' t very effective, if you break a bone, they MIGHT go down, but doing that with buckshot isn' t likely, when their heart is pumping, even bleeding out of a slug wound can take a long time, but the hydrostatic shock that the slug made upon impact was the real killer. See how much farther you can run after someone knocks you senseless, and you finally realize after sprinting 50yrds that you' re bleeding terribly, part of your lung is now relocated to the outside, and you now have 5 tiny hearts instead of one.

If your club would allow it, I would probably opt for the semi-auto rifle, with a LARGE front objective, say 42mm at minimum, 2.5x-4x glass (not a variable power, but a fixed in the range from 2.5-4x). I would prefer a lever gun actually, but that' s just me, it' s almost as fast, and you don' t get crapped on all the time for going out and ' spraying and praying' like so many semi-auto shooters are blamed for all the time.

LAHUNTER

Personally, I don' t like using rifles and or don' t like anyone else using rifles while I am running dogs. I use a 12 ga. first shot is a 2 3/4" slug, followed by 2 3.5" 00 buck. The slug works great because you can get more distance and also if the deer is trying to " sneak" by you, you can get a good first shot. If you miss you can follow up with more lead after. That is what I prefer.

loner

I DON' T DOG HUNT ANYMORE,BUT I HATE TO SEE BUCKSHOT TAKE A BASHING.USING BUCKSHOT IS LIKE SHOOTING A BOW OVER 35YDS,SHOOTING AT A TURKEY OVER 50YDS.,OR A RUNNING SHOT AT A DEER AT 300YDS.BUCKSHOT IS PROBABLY THE MOST DEADLY LOAD WHEN USED WITHIN ITS CAPABILITY.THE PROBLEM WITH CRIPPLES IS THAT A POOR SHOT IS MADE WHETHER IT BE WITH BOW OR GUN.NOT TRYING TO START AN ARGUEMENT BUT LET' S BE REASONABLE.I HAVE A 00 BUCKSHOT IN MY LEFT LEG THAT HAS BEEN THERE FOR MANY YEARS.BELIEVE IT OR NOT,IT TRAVELED SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS BEFORE HITTING ME.THE HUNTER DID NOT KNOW I WAS ON THE PIPELINE WHEN THE DEER RAN BETWEEN US.HE WAS 400-500 YDS. FROM ME.HE DID NOT GET THE DEER BECAUSE HE TOOK A 100YD SHOT!

Tazman

loner I see you are with me in thew use of buckshot. It is DEADLY when used within the PROPER range. I have always felt that people who bash buckshot are taking 60+ yard shots and cussing buckshot because they wounded a deer, I have seen buckshot kill a deer at 60 yards, but that is further than I would ever take a shot with buckshot at.

Another reason some folks don' t like buckshot is because of the damage it does, these folks need to talk to the folks who say it doesn' t kill a deer clean. Buckshot within 40 yards is devastating! At 20 yards it will blow a huge hole right through a deer, as big, if not bigger than a slug!

benhuntin

I have been in both situations when I did a little dog hunting many years ago.
Was holding a shotgun when I wished I had my rifle and visa versa.
I finally decided to carry both. When I was setup in thicker areas where the shot
couldnt be more than 30 or 40 yards i would carry my shotgun. I know other states have thick areas also but I dont believe any state can compare to FLORIDA for its inpenetrable swamps and ti ti thickets . I have killed many deer at 10 yards with buckshot while dog hunting in extremely thick swamp heads. A rifle in these instances would not have been practical If there was a possiblility of a longer shot I held my rifle. I liked to use a 30-30 with a low power variable scope. 1.5x-5x power or a 2-7x power. I killed many more deer with the rifle. Semi autos are a good choice also.
44 vs the shotgun. I would probally carry my shotgun