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What's your favorite shotgun and load for deer?

16K views 18 replies 18 participants last post by  Glock18j 
#1 ·
So because I am from the southeast, I have taken my far share of deer via shotgun with buckshot. My supervisor and I often get into debates over which load is the best. I have two shotguns that I use for deer and both have their own load they like best. I was wanting to see which load you prefer.

#1
Remington 870 with a Kicks Buck Kicker choke with 3" Remington 00

#2
Browning Light 12 with a fixed modified barrel shooting 2 3/4" Federal flitecontrol 00

My backup load is 2 3/4" Remington 00 and both guns shoot these pretty well
 
#2 ·
Hello and Welcome to SGW!!!

I guess it depends on the type of hunting. We can't use dogs here in Michigan, my hunting involves LONG sits (in before daylight and sitting until after dark). My shots are typically from 35 to 125 yards.

I'm an 870 fan, so this is easy. I'm currently shooting a late 1970 870 Magnum with a cantilevered choke tube gun. Due to the Choke Tubes, I have to keep velocities low (below 1600 is best). I shot a TON of ammo through it and would have easily been able to purchase an H&R USG with the amount of ammo that I sent through the ol' 870.

ALL that said... I like the current rig and it works great with Remington BuckHammers. Once I settled on BuckHammers... Remington discontinued that ammo. I went on a buying spree and bought every 2 3/4" box that I could find across 3 counties. I'm good for the next 90 deer that I can put the cross hairs on.

If I wasn't SO attached to this 870, I would seriously look for a Savage 220 (20 gauge) or a 20 gauge H&R USG (I know... they're discontinued too).

My next slug gun will be a 20 gauge.

Maggs
 
#3 ·
Hey Browning!

So I have two go-to's that I use for deer. A pretty one and a semi-ugly one. The pretty one that I'll take a stand on a dog drive with that doesn't require running down in the swamp is a Browning Gold Hunter 3" with a Kick's buck kicker and 3" Win OO loads. That one has put down a good many deer with one shot in the last 6 or 8 years since I got it. The semi-ugly that I just acquired last year and took 5 deer with is a Franchi Affinity in bottomland camo and a factory full choke with 3" Win OO loads. It's gone in the swamps for ducks & deer and done a pretty number in a dove field on several occasions as well. I just got it last year and love it. I also just ordered a Kick's buck kicker for it today. Season starts here on 8/15 so I'm running late. :)

J.D.
 
#5 ·
Favorite shotgun(s) are:

12 ga Beretta 391 with a 2-7x Redfield Lo-Pro on cantilevered scope mount shooting 1 1/4 Lightfield Sabots

Or

20 ga Remington 870 (pre-1977 on a 12 ga frame), 3-9x T/C scope using Hornady SST slugs.

An occasional visitor to the blind is an H&R single shot 20 ga slug gun using Remington Accu-tips. I don't use it much as I don't like having only the one round on tap but it is very accurate at longer distances than the above two and I have rare occasion to need that. So far, the need has been rare but it has performed well.
 
#7 ·
Ithaca model 87 MAG with fixed barrel rifled barrel and a Leupold Scope.
I shoot 3" Rem Copper Solids and it groups 1 inch at 100 yards. I have taken deer at up to 230 yards with 3 1/2 Copper Solids.

If I were to replace it (I won't) I would replace it with a 20 gauge Savage....
 
#8 ·
Benelli super balck eagle 2. I'm shooting Rem 3.5" 00 through a Trulock extra full (meassures the same as the factory full .685). I'm getting great 13-14" patterns at 40 yards with this set up.

I've been working on finding a handload that will shoot as good. I'm tired of it costing me $2.25 every time I pull the trigger. So far the best load I've come up with is 14 .35 cal (almost 000).the same set up is putting that load into 14-15" @ 40. I'm fine with those patterns, but still have a few others to dry before I decide.
 
#10 ·
I purchased a used benelli m2 20 gauge slug gun a year and a half ago, not really knowing what to expect out of it. It shoots brenneke KO's like they were made specifically for that gun. I only use the shotgun while in wooded stands.

I see a lot of guys wishing for the savage 220. I've owned 2 of those and although they do shoot well, ejecting a spent shell is much to be desired turning the gun into a single shot until you fish out your empty.
 
#12 ·
My favorite slug gun is an H&R Ultra Slug Hunter in 12 ga. and 20 ga.. Both guns are 200 yard capable...

Favorite slug for the 20 ga. is Remingtons 3" Accu Tip...

Favorite slug for the 12 ga. is still the old Federal Wasp Waisted slug...

Both guns scoped, will keep 3 shots inside a 2" circle at 100 yds., and more often than not, all three bullet holes will be touching...

Of course these guns have been customized, with a 2 1/2 pound trigger, pillar and glass bedded forend, base and barrel modified to 5 screws and the base bedded to the barrel. The barrels have had 1/2" cut off the muzzle, recrowned and a muzzle brake added. Now, they shoot like what they are supposed to!
 
#13 ·
I live and mostly hunt in an area where only shotguns and muzzleloaders are allowed. I feel very blessed to have (3) shotgun/sight/load combinations that have never let me down on deer. That makes it difficult to pick a favorite, so I will list them all, but I will call it a tie between the first two.

1) Ithaca model 37 pump, 16 gauge deerslayer with Weaver fixed 1.5x scope. This one has killed my two biggest antlered bucks and most overall. For my first 15 deer seasons, it is all I used. I killed the first deer I shot it at when all it had was open sites, but missed the second. After that, I put the Weaver on it and have been 100 % ever since. That is around 40 deer, mostly killed with Remington 16 ga "sluggers". This combination groups about 6" at 75 yards which is what I would consider the limit of it's effective range. I did strike my largest buck with it from 110 yards, outside of the vitals, but fortunately I was able to run him down and put him out with a followup shot from point blank range. I don't use it a lot these days, preferring the longer effective range of #2, but I did take my second-largest buck with it a few years ago when I brought it out. I could have shot a smaller buck with it on the only hunt I carried it last year, but he would not take 2 more steps to get off posted land.

2) Marlin 512 slugmaster bolt-action, 12 gauge with Bushnell banner fixed 3x scope. This is my primary gun now. It will consistently hold a 2" group at 100 yards with 2-3/4" Hornady SST's and my longest kill with it was at 163 yards. We are allowed to take up to (4) antlerless deer and (1) antlered per season here. This gun/scope/load has killed every deer I have shot it at but unfortunately none of them had antlers. Hopefully that will finally happen this fall. I have passed up on a fair number of smaller bucks with it, so that I can save my tag for another zone where rifles are legal (I also have one of those that has got the job done every time and has accounted for most of my bucks in recent years).

3) Remington 870 pump 12 gauge, short smooth-bore barrel, open-sights, 2-3/4" foster slugs (various makes). This is what I carry when it is raining or snowing, and windy because I do not like a scope in those conditions. I held a 2" diameter 3-shot group with it at 50 yards on the range last fall with Brenneke KO slugs, which was slightly better than most years. I have killed every deer I have shot at with it including 3 or 4 with antlers and more does than I can remember. All but one were under 75 yards. The spike buck that was at 100 was broadside, feeding on clover when I noted the mud fly over his back telling me my first shot was high. He looked up, then went back to feeding. I used the "artillery correction" method, lowered my point of aim, and my second shot hit his spine and put him down.

Prior to getting my Marlin bolt action, I tried a Hastings rifled barrel with a cantilever scope mount and a 2-7 Redfield scope on this gun. That combination let me down big time, hitting a few deer far from where I aimed and missing one clean. I was able to determine the cause of that trouble was deflection of the cantilever mount, dependent on the temperature of the barrel. You could actually watch the shots walk up the target as the barrel heated up. I traded that barrel for a 50 cal T/C Omega ML, put the Redfield on that, and hunted with that as my primary gun for about 5 years, while having the 870 with open-site barrel in my stand/blinds for backup. That is the duty where it notched most of its kills. I had several (2) deer hunts where the ML took the first one and the 870 the second. Now I just carry the Marlin 512 which packs (3) slugs, allowing for multiple kills with one gun.
 
#14 ·
My favorite is a Benelli M2 & Kicks buckkicker x-Full
with winchester double-x 3" 15 pellet copper plated OO
Next is 870 Remington with smooth bore rifle sights
Using federal truck-ball 2 3/4" 1 ounce slugs.
Last is Remington 887 modified choke using federal flight control OO buckshot
I'm working on a SA-20 Mossberg buckshot gun/choke
 
#16 ·
tru-ball said:
I'm working on a SA-20 Mossberg buckshot gun/choke
Factory loaded 20 gauge buckshot has not kept up with the wad systems and fluid pellet stack arrangements of current top performing 12 gauge buckshot. However, with trust in the pattern board, some moderately successful choke/factoryload combinations may be found.
 
#17 ·
I have never hunted deer with a shotgun, however I do use a shotgun for Elk.

Browning Auto 5 with a Hastings rifled barrel; ammo is a DDupleks steel slug, "Broadhead" sometimes a the solid steel by DDupleks.

4 years ago I shot an elk at 50 yards with the DDupleks broadhead, drop it on its tracks.
 
#18 ·
To answer the OP's question:

Your pattern board will not lie to you!

Test each Gun/choke/Load combination at 25 yards first. Only the loads that place the entire load into 10 inches or less are worthy of further testing at greater distances.

Then with the best combination(s), pattern at further distances to deterimine the Minimum Pattern/Maximum Distance. You will probably find at least one combination capable of maintaining a sufficiently dense pattern out to 50 yards or slightly more.

Your pattern board will not lie to you!
 
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