#4 buck, 40 @ 40yards.

[Henry Miles]

00 buckshot is highly effective within it's limited range. Beyond it's useful range, it's no longer effective and will only cause painful wounding. Don't shoot it if you don't know it's limits.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Thin skinned game or pests such as fox, coyote, that sort of thing sure, A deer is a strong willed creature and very surprising sometimes, Brit the damage it can sustain, regardless of the issues of snap shooting through cover or not what ever the projectile. I have shot a lot of buck 00 Remington copper plated law enforcement 8 rounds per shell, in a Remington 870 pump riot gun 25 yards is the furthest it will satisfactorily perform and this on a controlled range with wide open shooting lanes. I stand bye my convictions that buck shot is not a excuse for the inability too make a good shot, or ones poor marksmanship skills. I should suggest if one is so un-sure of the shot what ever the load do not shoot.

I respect your opinion and view point and would never condemn you for it.
I too would never recommend nor did recommend buckshot as a replacement for a lousy shooter or shooting through thick brush, heck I don't recommend shooting through brush with anything less than 3" diameter! Likewise I also would not condemn someone that has done his homework for his set of unique requirements and successfully achieves the goal.
Yes, I know how strong deer are, Walt Disney got it wrong!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Just to add. This is supposed to be about muzzloaders only. Cartridge guns a; should not be discussed here and b; muzzleloaders are better at it anyhow

 

[Henry Miles]

Why do you think they call it BUCKSHOT?

 

[megasupermagnum]

It amuses me that the people who actually patterned their guns, and then used buckshot are not only having good luck with it, they are rolling deer in their tracks. You don't get that kind of performance with a single ball unless you connect with the spine or some other major bone.

The penetration thing is nonsense. You can find dozens of videos of deer examined after getting shot with buckshot, and even #4 buckshot fully penetrates. There is even a guy in Canada, who doesn't hunt our puny little whitetails, he is shooting big mule deer with buckshot, and I distinctly remember one he shot with 4 buck that was made with very soft shot that looked more like pyramids when it left the gun. Even that went all they way to the other side of a big mule deer.

Let me ask you guys this. Nobody bats and eye when someone uses a 40 or 45 caliber rifle with a single pure lead ball on a whitetail. Why would you think eight or more 32 or 36 caliber hardened balls would be way out of the realm of reality? Lets pick a middle ground, 1 buck. We know a .300" hardened ball will penetrate completely through any whitetail under 50 yards. That's a fact. If you pattern your gun, you will be putting 3 or more of those balls into the vitals of a deer, plus you are likely to get more hits elsewhere on the body. Do you truly believe a .440" pure lead ball is more effective than three or more .300" hardened balls to the lungs?

As for the comment on poor marksmanship appalichian hunter, until the day I see you knocking ducks out the sky with a 32 caliber rifle, your opinion means nothing to me.

 

[Hawken1980]

I’d love to see a ‘sportsman’ go down to the swamps of Louisiana and tell one of them old boys they shouldn’t use buckshot on deer. I used to hunt down there around Houma and the deer were always on the run and if you got a shot at all it was 7 yards away and you had to be fast on the trigger. Of course, those boys mostly logged or worked shrimp boats and if they missed the shrimp or the Mills weren’t taking lumber it was Possum in the pot, deer full of buckshot, or government cheese. Absolutes don’t work in a world that has more than one frame of reference.

Amen as a southern man myself buckshot is great for close in clear shots.

Good heavy load of 00 or 000 kills them dead quick.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Let me know when you want too go duck hunting mega. Your the one who mentioned buck shot in dense cover and running deer. I do not like the buck shot thing and yes I know there are states who allow its use, And as in previous post along this issue have stated so, I stand bye my statements and convictions on its use. Keep the buck, and shot for smaller game, and varmint's.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Brit, you are absolutely correct on period weapons and projectiles, my comments were used too demonstrate the effective usage of buck shot and its capabilities, in my opinion. In 26 years of law enforcement work and 8 years as a marine there has been a lot of it sent on journey's down range, sometimes in not so good of a situation.

 

[Booneliane]

I'll tell ya one thing.

I've spent a lot of time in big bear country. And although I've never had a close, tense encounter with one, if I ever do, I hope it's a 12 gauge with 00 buck and a slug or two.

I carried a popular sized, large bore handgun. And after seeing what it WOULDNT do to a crippled angus bull, made me more of a believer in the scattergun.

 

[bud in pa]

I started hunting in NJ 67 years ago. I was 10 years old with a juvenal license, which cost a buck. I had my grandfather's 12 gauge Ithica double barrel with 30 inch barrels. When it came to rabbits I very seldom hit them. Squirrels on the other hand, no matter how high up they were, they were dead. I never got to shooot a deer with it, I did sort of check it out at 40 yards with 00 Buck in paper shells. A 2 foot wide cardboard box would get from 4 to 6 holes in it. Many years later I borrowed a book on Ithica shotguns. I found out what the number 4 on each of the flats on the bottom of the barrels. The number 4 indicated full choke. No wonder I couldn't hit a running rabbit at 25 feet, but squirrels way up there were easy. I am sure that if I had been lucky enough to see a deer at 30 yards, it would have been in the bag, as we used to say.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Boon- figure a load of OO at close quarters with a charging bear is a lot different that slinging bunch of buck shot through the thickets at a running deer. I agree especially in a very tense bear charge. Wanna go duck hunting with mega and me bring yer .32

 

[BrianL]

Kind of agree.
My interest is just fox shooting and then in reality the same payload of #4-#1 bird shot would be better in reliability on fox.
Had these three shots with the buckshot been at actual foxes they would be dead now so.....

Not much on cripplin' foxes either.........just sayin'

 

[megasupermagnum]

I wish. I'll take duck hunting over deer hunting any day. I began my countdown to September 25th a while back.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I am pleased this thread caused a stir. We aired our differences respectfully and valid points were made by everyone.
Good fun

 

[LME]

Mega, so you recommend buck shot in order too off set poor marksmanship, I agree buck shot is a crippler on deer, sure sometimes one will get lucky and kill one with buck shot but I do believe that is not the norm. Buck shot is designed as one thing a man stopper and then at close range.

I am not a big fan of buck shot but I do believe you underated it? I have shot one deer in my life with a shotgun and it was the first year I hunted deer by dogs which I don't like to do now. I used a 10 guage semi auto ithaca to stop a big buck running wide open at 60 yards with one shot. It dropped him like a bowling ball. The problem with buck shot is some people use it because they don't know how to hit a running deer with a rifle? They also don't know how much they have to lead a deer that is running with a shotgun?

 

[megasupermagnum]

You bring up a good point on leading a deer. They are not slow, deer run about as fast as a duck coming into decoys. The buck I mentioned in one of my scenarios, he was right about 40 yards, perfectly broadside (crossing shot), running full speed. I can't recall perfectly where I had been aiming, but I'm fairly sure I had the sight blade just a touch in front of the body. The ball, which was a .520" pure lead ball leaving the rifle at maybe 1400 fps, impacted about a hands width behind what I call the armpit of the deer. This centered both lungs up and down, and was about 2/3rd to the back of them. Overall, the impact was 12" to 16" behind where the sight was. With a modern super high velocity rifle, lead might only be a couple inches, or otherwise un noticeable. If you put the bead right where you want to hit with any muzzleloader or handgun, you are going to gut shoot them. Of course how fast they are going plays a part, and distance. You could put the bead right on the shoulder if they are only trotting along at 15 yards. That's all part of practice.

For the most part, I shoot a shotgun using the sustained lead method. When shooting ducks I focus on the head, and let my brain do the aiming. When shooting geese, I focus on the white patch on the cheek. With deer, I've been focusing on the center of the shoulder meat. Not the shoulder itself, but where all the muscle is. I've heard plenty of times with buckshot a good spot is where the neck meets the body, because it does not move much when the deer is running. That, and you get half your shot in the head and neck of a deer, which provides dramatic instant stops.

 

[nhmoose]

Easy answer is do not shoot at running deer. I do not with a ML or Un-mentionable unless the deer has been previously shot. Since I went to a 54 cal with .530 balls and 100 grns 2f I have never need a follow up shot.

The burn em up boys with 5-6 rounds don't care and take any shot they get. Here in NH shots at deer can be hard to find but I still want a standing still deer to shoot at. I try to get that shot and it has made me a better hunter. Note the last 31 years of hunting big game has been with a ML sometimes flint sometimes cap lock no inline at all.

 

[LME]

Easy answer is do not shoot at running deer. I do not with a ML or Un-mentionable unless the deer has been previously shot. Since I went to a 54 cal with .530 balls and 100 grns 2f I have never need a follow up shot.

The burn em up boys with 5-6 rounds don't care and take any shot they get. Here in NH shots at deer can be hard to find but I still want a standing still deer to shoot at. I try to get that shot and it has made me a better hunter. Note the last 31 years of hunting big game has been with a ML sometimes flint sometimes cap lock no inline at all.

Hunting southern swamps isn't the same hunting you do in N.H.? Using a shotgun is almost the only way to hunt swamp deer. . I know a few rifle shooter that can drop a running deer with ease. They are in the minority but they are not handicapped by having the deer running. When I was able to hunt we practiced running shots at our hunting club. A car tire with a cardboard insert rolled down a irrigation ponds pile of excavated dirt at 35 and fifty yards Tall weeds on both sides of the shooting path left a 20 foot opening to shoot in. This game weeded out the ones that couldn't and shouldn't shoot running deer.

 

[nhmoose]

Shows you ain't never been in a nor'east hemlock swamp. Swamps be swamps. No reason to shoot running deer unless you be using dogs chasing them Up here we would also shoot the deer chasing dogs first. Different areas are just that don't get upset about it.
\
Some of our clubs up here also have running deer and boar courses set up and scores at most shoots show why not to shoot at the running game.

 

[LME]

Shows you ain't never been in a nor'east hemlock swamp. Swamps be swamps. No reason to shoot running deer unless you be using dogs chasing them Up here we would also shoot the deer chasing dogs first. Different areas are just that don't get upset about it.
\
Some of our clubs up here also have running deer and boar courses set up and scores at most shoots show why not to shoot at the running game.

If you would reread my first sentence you will see the punctuation mark is a question mark! Semitropical swamps are some what different than northern swamps due to not having the effect of hard winters to deal with.I wasn't upset but your post led me to believe you are?Where I am from hunting deer with dogs is legal. I wouldn't consider a person shooting another mans hunting dog a wise thing to do.