Joelb53

I am traveling out of state next week to hunt deer. Only shotguns are allowed in the area I will be hunting. Can I use my Benelli Nova 12 gauge shotgun or do I need a shotgun with a rifled bore?


Will slugs accurately shoot out of my smoothbore shotgun? Should I limit myself to buckshot? Thanks.

BillBrasky

Joelb, you won't need a rifled barrel for your shotgun in order to shoot reliably out to 50-75 yards, depending on how much practice you can get in before you go out into the field. Just make sure that you have your modified or improved cylinder choke in. I would recommend brenneke's KO slugs or winchester super-x (but check to see which ones work well in your gun. I personally don't trust buckshot because it's poor accuracy and penetration will really limit your range. Good luck and make that out of state tag count!

HardwoodHunter

Definitely practice shooting the slugs. My ol' man got one of our shotguns out a few years ago and hadn't really practiced using slugs through it. He had a shot at about 50 yards he said (wasn't there to back that up haha) and he missed completely, (never before have I seen him miss a deer....) But yeah, that'll do the job, just practice it first!

UncleNorby

Skip the buckshot. I've never seen regs that require a rifled bore shotgun. In your smoothbore, shoot rifled slugs or hybrid designs like Remington Buckhammer, Brenneke KO, Lightfield, etc. (as opposed to sabot slugs). Pay particular attention to your sight picture, be as consistent as you can in how you aim. 50 to 75 yds is usually doable.

lovethebigguns

I live in Indiana where we're pretty close to shotgun only and I've been hunting here for 20 years now. There's no better advice to give than what these gentlemen have just told you!

Have fun!

7.62NATO

In the end, it really depends on what your budget is, AND how often you think you'll be using a shotgun for deer hunting.

If you can shell out $300-350 (or less if not already scoped), you can pick up an H&R Ultra Slug single shot in 12 or 20 ga. I hear they are tack drivers and can't be beat for the money. Here is a link to some for sale at Gunbroker: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SearchResults.aspx

If you don't like the idea of having a single shot and want to spend more, I really like the Savage 212 or 220 F. They are both bolt action slug guns.

If it's something you are gonna use regularly or at least annually, I really like the idea of a dedicated slug gun. HOWEVER, I do not agree that it is the only way to go, especially if you're not going to be using a shotgun for deer often...or ever again. And I also do not agree that there isn't a place for buckshot. I'll explain as I relate my experience with my Remington 870 (Express ) with its 28" smoothbore.

With the standard Remington chokes, my patterns with Remington buckshot were awful. I'd probably get 2-3 pellets in the 10-inch circle I was aiming for at 50 yards. With rifled slugs, I was hitting high about 8-10 inches and left about 4 inches and at 100 yards I couldn't even hit paper (COMPLETELY unusable in the field). Now, granted I was very new to guns at the time and didn't try a variety of buckshot and rifled slugs in my gun to see what worked best (costs a few bucks to do also!!). But, in retrospect, with patterns and accuracy that poor, I don't know if there would have been a magic load that would have cured the issue.

But I decided to try one of those "magic chokes" instead. I ordered a Wad Wizard (google it...I don't think we're allowed to post links to commercial sites but I may be confused with another forum's rules) and decided to give that a whirl. Lo and behold, using the same cheapo rifled slugs, I was hitting an inch high and an inch left at 50 yards, with holes touching just about every time (using just a front bead...no rifle sights). Using the same buckshot, I put 7 pellets in a 10-inch circle at 50 yards. Both completely usable in the field.

So, if you're on a budget, I'd take your Benelli out as is, use a modified choke, and try a few types of buckshot and a few types of slugs (some of the ones suggested by the other posters in this thread) and see how she does. If the gun doesn't perform well, I'd say it was time to look into an alternate choke, an alternate barrel (not really a good option IMO...you can buy a whole gun for just a little more than an aftermarket rifled barrel), or look into a slug gun. Of course, if it were me, I'd just buy a muzzleloader (assuming they are legal where you are going to hunt...MOST areas that allow shotguns also allow muzzleloaders). That way you can hit the muzzleloader only seasons that you'll miss with a shotgun.

Almost forgot...back to buckshot, it has its place. I have hunted with it a grand total of one day, and killed three deer with it, all who died quickly. It is excellent for still hunting (where you might jump a deer) or hunting in thicker areas where your shots are never going to be more than 40 yards.

BillBrasky

I just realized (after NATO's comment on poor groups) that one major problem I had early on with my slug gun was that I was not letting my barrel cool down between shots. The barrel of a shot gun is much more thin than the barrel of a rifle (even on my rifled barrel) and as you shoot it really tends to open up and it will KILL your groups. I would suggest shooting only about 3 slugs at a time and waiting about 10 minutes between groups just to make sure that you are not wasting ammo (which can be quite expensive) and so that you are not overlooking a box that may work particularly well in your gun.

Also, I haven't had any experience with rifled chokes but it may be a cheaper option to consider if you aren't wanting to put the money into a rifled barrel. But rifled barrels don't have to be overly expensive--I bought one for my mossberg 535 for $200 with a boresighted bushnell 3-9x40 scope and I have no trouble getting 2.5" groups at 130 yards with a cold barrel. But like NATO said above, what you want to invest in will depend entirely on your budget and how often you will be using a shotgun for deer.

travis_ranger2000

I gave up shotgun hunting when I bought my Remington 700 50 caliber inline. Since switching it over from #11 caps to shotgun primers it is deadly, and usually just drops deer in there tracks. This is my last resort if no downed buck during bow season. 3-50 grain pellets and a 240 sst.

the blur

NY state is slugs only for shot guns. no shot.

warbirdlover

Wisconsin also. No shot, slugs only.