2 3/4 inch vs 3 inch buck for deer
 

I'm wondering which size buckshot shell is better. A lot of guys in my area use dogs for deer. I'm wondering if 2 3/4 buck moving at 1325 fps would be better then anincreased pellet count at 1225 fps on a moving deer. (P.S. I'm using 00 buck or would 27-41 #4 buck pellets be better vs 9-15 00 buck pellets) Thanks.

Remington 1100 I own only takes the2 3/4 shells and I use #1 buck. It has more pellets at only a .003 loss in pellet size. Shoots the best pattern out of my shotgun. Have heard some use #4 but never knew an actual user. Best advice is buy a box of each and see which one gives you the best pattern at the ranges you are hunting. Good luck.

Thanks. I have some 2.75 00 buck and some 3 inch 00 buck. Guess I'll have to pattern here soon. Gun season is only 2.5 weeks away. Just wondering if 27-41 pellets.would be better than 9-15

I had planned on going south and participating in some hunts in an area that allowed buckshot. So I did some studying and patterning. Lots of patterning.

The real answer bottom line here is you need to shoot some different loads and see what groups well for you at various ranges.... It seems like everybody you ask has a different opinion and that's probably because everyone's gun groups a little bit differently.

I did not try #4s. But there are people who swear by them. That's allot of holes on target if it's close, so I don't doubt it's effectiveness. Key word :up close.

Shoot them and see! Make your decision based on what the patterns are telling you.

also if anybody reading this is a member of a club or knows of a club that allows guests to hunt PM me. I've always wanted to hunt deer with dogs and shotguns and I've got a pump gun patterned and ready! :party0005:

-Jake
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I am going to be the contrarian with my experience using buckshot with 3 examples.

1 ) And the only good one hunting up in Maine . I shot ay a HUGE buck running in an alder swamp at about 60 yards late one afternoon with my rifle. It got dark 20 min later and I couldn't find a blood trail . I though I had a good aim but couldn't find anything. Came back the next morning to look for sign of a hit . But this time I brought my Browning A5 12ga magnum with a 28 inch full choke barrel loaded with 3 inch magnum 00 buck with 15 pellets . As I reached the swamp and was in about 20 yards , I heard something running towards me out of the thick spruce running towards me standing . And to my surprise a bear comes running full speed right at me. I fired just as it entered the edge of the grass at maybe 18 yards. That bear went down like a rock. I thought I blew its head off . BUT after checking I only hit that bear with 2 pellets . One followed the backbone in the fatty layer and only penetrated about 8 inches . Never hit a bone and just stayed in the fat. The second one hit that bear square in the center of his forehead . Perfect round hole going into his brain . It was not a big bear . 136 lbs. Only 2 pellets with the bead right on his face ? And it gets worse from here.

2 ) Hunting in NH I had a big Doe STANDING at about 65 yards in mature hardwoods . She would walk and stop. She stopped between 2 trees where I could see her front legs but not her head . Her back legs were behind a tree. But I could see her whole chest and mid section. Piece of cake shot. I fired once. She just stood there . I was baffled. I fired again . Nothing. Still standing there . Third shot and nothing ! She moves a little bit to the next tree. Now I can see her head and full chest . 4th shot . NOTHING ! She turns and looks at me ! Just as she started to trot away I fired the 5th shot ! She just keeps trotting . She went 20 yards and stopped again and looked back at me standing there with an empty gun . I packed it up and left the woods swearing I would never use buckshot again.

3) Not as critical because I was shooting at a coyote running at a clearcut about 80 yards. 3 shots and never hit a hair . So after the coyote was gone I fired another shot at the tree line that was about 100 yards . It took at least 2 to 2 1/2 seconds for those pellets to hit the trees . So where is the 1300 feet per second ? This was only 300-350 feet and it took that long to hit. Maybe they leave the barrel at that speed but they lose power quickly.

So if this is how it performs with 15 heavy pellets , shooting at a deer with # 4 buck will be like shooting at a deer with birdshot . I needed to know how bad the performance was at a target . I just put a full size 4x8 sheet of plywood standing up at 45-50 yards . Aimed at dead center the middle of it. I hit it with 3 pellets . One hit a foot from the ground on the right side, one hit 6 feet up from the ground dead center and the last one barely chipped the edge of the sheet about 4 feet up on the left side. If you ask me buckshot is worthless after 25 yards.

If you have a rifled slug barrel get some sabots, or if you have a smoothbore barrel use rifled slugs like Brenneke and throw the buckshot away.

I've never shot a Deer with Buckshot but have shot a buttload of Fox with 00. To say I was underwhelmed would be an exaggeration, near useless would be closer to the truth. I figure if they won't reliably knock down a Fox I'm not going to try on a Deer.
I've used smoothbore Brenneke 2 3/4 slugs and they knocked down Hogs well at 35 yards or so, they'd probably get the job done at double that distance, but IMO iffy after 50 yards.
I hate wounding game and what is worse yet is wounding it and losing it forever. One reason is my personal hunting ethic, secondly is I spend a lot of time getting a decent shot at a decent Deer and darned if I'm going to waste a shot using inferior equipment.
Yes, I know many swear by Buckshot for Deer, though they rarely say how much tracking they had to do afterward or how many they have lost completely.

They key to using buckshot- and any other hunting tool- is understanding what you're using and using it appropriately.

Pattern your load, and respect the distance limitations. Guys that say they have a 100 yard buckshot shotgun are not respecting the limitations. Even IF they have a good pattern at that distance.

Use it appropriately. My gun will keep 6 00 pellets in 12" at 40 yards. That's deadly on a deer. At 50 yards it's not so great. So I know if I ever go I'll have to limit myself to 40 yard shots. Some guns may be limited to 30 yards, or 20. You don't know until you shoot it and see what your load is doing.

Another thing is that patterns can fall apart quickly. You have to pattern your gun at different distances. A nice pattern at 15 yards does not mean you're good to go. As it can be all over the place at 30.

People are BAD at range estimation. Which is probably where allot of the bad shots come to play. That is not the fault of the buckshot. That's the user.

Just like archery, pistol, spear, and rifle hunting... You need to know what you're using, how to use it, and what the limitations are.

-Jake

Here is an interesting picture . A guy on another site I go to shot this buck in Maine with a rifle.
When it was hanging on the game pole a guy noticed a spot on the deers left antler. The right hand side looking at the pic.
Look on the main beam under the G2 . There is a 00 buck pellet stuck in the main beam .
There was no evidence on the deers body that it had been hit with any other pellets.
Enlarge the pic to get a closer look. Pretty neat.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try to post a picture of the patterns when I pattern them. The 2.75 inch 00 buck is Cheap wal-mart estate brans shells. The 3 inch 00 buck is Remington Magnum Buckshot. As for slugs, I have a few shells, but only enough to sight in. I'm using a 12 ga Remington 870 w/ 28 inch vent rib barrel w/ Modified or Full choke. The only other barrel I have for it is a 21 inch "Turkey" barrel with extra full choke(.687) Both are smoothbore. P.S. would Mod or Full be better with 00 buck ( I know patterning is everything but which would be better for the large pellets)

Buckshot is usually not effective past about 40 yds or so. Try it on a target at those ranges. I would be suprised if more than 1 or 2 pellets even hit the target. Let us know what you find out at 65, 80, 100 yards. By then the pattern will be extremely wide.