My son has taken the hunter/safety course, passed with flying colors, and my brother gave him a shotgun for his birthday. My husband hunts deer with a bow, but my son wants to use a gun. The shotgun is the only gun bigger than a .22 that we own. It is a Mossberg 500 12g. It has 3 choke tubes (modified, improved, and full). We are planning on perhaps buying an cylinder bore choke tube for it as well if necessary. Anyhow, problem is probably obvious - not really the right gun for the target (whitetail/mule deer in WA state). Is there any way we can make this work without spending a lot of money on this gun? With perhaps the right ammunition? I would really like to get him a rifle, but it's not in the budget right now.
hunting deer with a shotgun
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Here in the midwest, thousands of deer are harvested each year with smoothbore shotguns. Using rifled slugs is the lowest cost way to go. You can get by with the improved cyl choke tube quite well. Since he's using the smoothbore with (I'm guessing) regular bead and groove sights keep the range about the same as archery, not much longer. Wish him luck for me!
as long as you know the limitations. Congrats to him on passing his safety test!!!I killed my first 20 or so deer with a 20ga slug and a wild hog too! I have plenty of faith in a slug.The slug has a range of about 100yds, so you need to work with him on judging distances and as Marland suggested keep it within the 50yd max range. Practice.Buy some of those deer posters/targets and put them out there at the given ranges so that he can get a feel for what a deer looks like at 20-30-50 yards, might surprise you how small they look. Practice.Imp cylinder choke with the foster-style slug is fine, dont worry with the sabots, they work better in rifled barrels. Which you can purchase a slug barrel for that gun for not a lot of money, will have rifled sights and be about 21-24" long. And did I mention practice? You might have to try a couple of brands to get one that is consistent, but he should be able to hit a pie plate, about a 9" circle everytime
I agree with everything stated here so far. I would like to add that if the money is in the budget a smooth bore slug barrel would be money well spent.The rifled (grooves inside the barrel) barrels I own don't shoot the standard slugs very well and you wan't him to get all the practice affordable. Kill it and Grill, yeah!I love animals. They're tasty!
Yes, we hope for a deer for the freezer too (or two since hubby is hunting with the bow now) - last year hubby got one with his bow (his first year!) and she was tasty - had to pace ourselves so we could have deer for most of the year because we were grilling steaks almost every night at first! Oh, and the homemade smoked sausage I made, YUM 
Anyhow - we have seen the 'slugger' type rifled slugs - are those acceptable to use then in the smooth bore with the improved choke? That certainly would be the least expensive way - and since he will be hunting in the wooded areas, he will probably be very close to the deer. My husband (not a gun person) was paranoid that a slug was going to blow the end off the barrel.
Anyhow - we have seen the 'slugger' type rifled slugs - are those acceptable to use then in the smooth bore with the improved choke? That certainly would be the least expensive way - and since he will be hunting in the wooded areas, he will probably be very close to the deer. My husband (not a gun person) was paranoid that a slug was going to blow the end off the barrel.Yep Karin, the sluggers will work just fine. They are a soft lead "thimble" so to speak and won't harm the barrel. Just a word of caution, make sure you buy the right shells for the chamber on the gun , if it says 2 3/4 inch only put 2 3/4 inchers in it if it says 3 inch you can use either 2 3/4 in or 3 in.Tell hubby to relax Mom has it under control Is Mom looking at hunting in the near future? It is an excellent way for families to spend quality time together.
Is Mom looking at hunting in the near future? It is an excellent way for families to spend quality time together.The first link shows many of the various slugs that are available to handload, if you wanted to see what was in the shell...., the Foster type is the Slugger, which is a brand name of one of the mans, Federal or Remington I think.... and is fine in the ImpCyl smooth bore, the second link is an article covering many aspects of shotgunning for deer and slugs.Good luck, enjoy, and be safe!!Ballistic ProductsArticle There is a fine line between a hobby and insanity.
I really appreciate all your guys input on this. I don't know how I'd find out this info otherwise. I don't know anybody around here that uses shotguns to hunt with, everybody uses rifles or bows.OK, I checked the barrel of the gun and it says it's chambered for 2 3/4" or 3" shells. I ended up picking up some of the Remington Slugger ammo - they are 2 3/4" 1 oz rifled slugs. Hubby says if I think that they are OK to shoot in that gun, then he says, "*YOU* pull the trigger then." Humph, maybe I will.The gun is nearly new, has the improved choke in it right now, there isn't any reason I couldn't is there? His worrying has got me second-guessing.Is there a difference between a normal 'stock' smoothbore barrel and a smoothbore slug barrel? I am looking into the end of the ammo I just got and I see that they look like the Foster type, but I don't see rifling. Is the rifling on the sides?Those links were great - I printed them off to read later - I scanned through the pics though and those "AQ" ammo look very interesting - they look like they'd put a lot of spin on the slug!Ugh, so many questions.As for mom taking up hunting - probably not. Well, maybe, I dunno. I raise rabbits and still haven't gotten up the guts to butcher them out myself. I can't imagine I could do a whole deer, ick. Don't mind once it's 'meat', but the whole gutting process is blech.
Uhh Karin, I've been hunting for 30 years, harvested a variety of game and still can't drop the hammer on the tame rabbits we have here, or my pen raised quail or pheasant.Again, tell hubby you have it under control, then show him. Blow up a milk jug full of water with the slug.The smoothbore slug barrel will be about 22 inches + or - , have cyl. bore and rifle type sights.Yeppers the rifling is on the side, it must contact the barrel to spin. If you aren't careful you will know more about guns and hunting than hubby does , but then my wife says she knows more about everything than I do...
If you look at the pics the slug itself has the rifling or fins down the side of it to impart some spin as it does not derive any from the smooth bore.You can cut one of those that you have open and see, the base will be concave as well. Be careful if you do this as the plastic has a tendancy to be tough and then cut right through....there is no major danger in cutting one open as to the powder. Or, you can go downrange after shooting a few and dig them out of the ground."Is there a difference between a normal 'stock' smoothbore barrel and a smoothbore slug barrel?" There is no real difference in a slug barrel and a normal barrel, other than they are shorter and have the nice iron sights, some are heavier. The first slugs I shot were out of a an IMP CYL barrel the very same one that I shot 100's of bird shells through, till a few years went by and I bought the smoothbore slug barrels, they had the nifty sights. You can get the clamp on style rifled sights as aftermarket addons. Slugs will kick a bit, so make sure that you have the gun placed firmly against the shoulder, make sure you are leaning a little forward, most new shooters tend to have their back tilted away from the gun. This exagerates the recoil that you would normally be able to absorb with a slight fwd cant....try to keep both eyes open(wear safety glasses and ear protection Please!) and realize that the gun isn't going to hurt you. Yes, after repeated shots your shoulder may get sore and if your upper arm is bruising then you are not mounting the gun correctly. IF you would like help with this, ask your local gun store about a shooting range--there are usually shooting instructors there, also the folks at the hunter safety office, or the game wardens/conservation officers....there is also a greenwing program in Ducks Unlimited. Most sportsmen are more than willing to give someone a hand and I applaud you for going to the lengths that you have so far...great going MOM!!!!You might be surprised, if you use a nice ground blind where you both can stay comfortable you will be the proud parent when he shoots his first one....the death of any animal is a sad occasion but, that has to occur for us to eat them and to maintain a healthy balance in nature, as "we" have removed the normal predators. One of the final things to think about is what to do with the animal when it is down....do you have a local processor nearby that will skin and field dress for you? This will let you off the hook till you get a little more practice under your belt. There is a fine line between a hobby and insanity.Edited by: Rick618 at: 9/19/02 12:08:18 pm
There is a fine line between a hobby and insanity.Edited by: Rick618 at: 9/19/02 12:08:18 pmWell, I'd actually say that 'Mom' already knows more about guns than 'Dad' does - I'm the one that went to the hunter/safety course with our son and I have to say I learned a LOT. I didn't have to actually take the course myself (I'm OLD and us old folk are not required to take it to get a license ::snicker: , but I am so glad I attended. We had to fill 'Dad' in all about what chokes were and a lot of stuff that we learned that he didn't know until we told him Did someone say that I can get turkey sights and put on this barrel since it only has the bead sights? Something more would be nice for sure. It has a 'bar' that sits on top of the barrel itself that the bead sites are on (not sure what that bar's called!) that is about 1/8" thick and about 3/8- 1/2" wide.
, but I am so glad I attended. We had to fill 'Dad' in all about what chokes were and a lot of stuff that we learned that he didn't know until we told him Did someone say that I can get turkey sights and put on this barrel since it only has the bead sights? Something more would be nice for sure. It has a 'bar' that sits on top of the barrel itself that the bead sites are on (not sure what that bar's called!) that is about 1/8" thick and about 3/8- 1/2" wide.Oh, forgot to add - about the field-dressing. My hubby has a good friend that has hunted for years (rifle hunter) and he helped field-dress, skin, and butcher the black-tail hubby got last year. He was a saint and we cooked up tenderloin and liver/heart for his generosity in helping. He even let us borrow his grinder to grind what wasn't steaks/roast
That bar would be called the ventilated rib as in a vent rib barrel as opposed to a plain barrel.If the boy takes a real shine to hunting you could spend about $200 next year and get him an NEF Handi-rifle, single shot and comes in a variety of big game calibers. it will give him a lot more reach and probably better shot placement. (better yet have him earn it, there is a surrealistic connection between a youngster and the first gun he earns)
This is a link to one companys offerings...you can usually find something similar at WalMart or local sporting goods store. The major catalogs also have them...Cabelas or BassPro/RedHead.These are usually magnetic or they clip onto the barrel.Hi-Viz Sights
That depends on how skilled you are with the gun and load combo. If you practice to out to 50 yards and hit consistently but can't at 75 then your range is 50 yds. I don't use buckshot, but would guess that somewhere in the 40-75 yard range should be about max., likely more limited by the brush and undergrowth. There is a fine line between a hobby and insanity.
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Hey Karin check out the womens forum Plllzz and post on some of the topics!! Browning, The Best there is because second best is well...second best.
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·Hey i have an idea for you. I work at Galyans, I dont know if you have heard of it but try a rifled slug barrel for it you can usually get one for around a hundred bucks .
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