Larger game. When is a shotgun better than a rifle?

P

Pond James Pond

New member
I'm not hunting yet. Not even sure when I'd start, but I'd have 3 immediate choices as far as a gun goes.

A single shot 16g from about 1950. Not my first choice. Then there is a semi auto 60's 12g and my .308 CZ550 Varmint.

For the likes of boar and deer both seem feasilbe, but when is one better than the other. My guess is mostly range. Is that so? Anything else to consider?
 
I think it is mostly when you don't think you can hit it with a rifle or rifles are not allowed. Say hunting with dogs, or like my cousin who just can't shoot a rifle. Or, bear defense when odds of hitting a charging bear are suspect.

Your 308 is all you need if you can make the shot.
 
Larger game. When is a shotgun better than a rifle?
Click to expand...

Never!!!

I'd choose a 223 over any shotgun load for those animals. Your 308 is more than capable for anything short of dangerous game, and with the right bullets would be a much better choice for dangerous game than any shotgun load.
 
All depends. I would go between the rifle and the 12 gauge. If you can use a rifle it is always good for longer shots. If you can only use a shotgun, well then. If the shotgun has a rifled slug barrel or if you can get one for it that is best. Buckshot works but you really need to pattern your gun with it. Also I wouldn't shoot more than 40 yards with it. You will probably get people who swear they kill deer at close to 100 yards with buckshot....they got lucky and claim it is skill and they do it all the time. Wonder how many they wound though.

A 12 gauge with slugs is great. You will still need to shoot a couple different slugs to see what your gun likes. My Remington 870 likes Hornady SSTs the best. I have it sighted in at 100 yards.

If you are going to be hunting in a spot with shots 100 yards or more and it is legal then take the rifle.
 
For deer here max range with buckshot is about 25 yds !!! If Mr Pond hunts Red deer I wouldn't bother. Shotgun slugs extend the range of course perhaps to 75 yds assuming accurate gun. Here we have special slug guns which can be very accurate. My red deer cull gun is a 45-70 with premium 300 gr bullet --that works very well.
 
I use my shotgun(rifled slug/scoped 870) where I hunt due to the thick brush. I also hunt with a 10" Super Blackhawk 44 mag. If I were hunting fields or looking at deer/bear more than 50yds away I would use a rifle. 30-30 is always a good choice around here.
 
James Pond

A single shot 16g from about 1950. Not my first choice. Then there is a semi auto 60's 12g and my .308 CZ550 Varmint.

For the likes of boar and deer both seem feasilbe, but when is one better than the other. My guess is mostly range. Is that so? Anything else to consider?
Click to expand...

Do people actually read the OPs? 223 and 30-30 wont help him, why? Because he clearly says he has a 16 gauge(not his first choice) a 12 gauge and a 308.

As I said before it really depends on range like the OP guessed. That said it also depends on if he had a rifled barrel for the 12 gauge. If he does then doing some testing with slugs will be a good idea. Especially if he is hunting in spots with shots 100 yards or less. If he is out hunting open areas, fields or power lines where shots could be 100+ (and not that a 12 gauge slug can't be accurate out further) then the 308 would be the better choice.
 
When the hunting regs say you have to use a shotgun.
It's not necessarily a range issue. More about the range a projectile will travel. Bird shot is required for, um, birds. Bird shot doesn't go very far, but a slug can be deadly well past 100 yards.
So will buck shot. Buck shot is useless for hunting shots past about 35 yards, but a single pellet will kill way past there.
"...a charging bear..." You will never be fast enough and nothing, big slugs included, will stop anything in its tracks.
The only downside to the 16 is the availability of ammo. Ain't nothing wrong with a single shot 16 otherwise.
Kind of suspect your CZ is too heavy to lug around still hunting(quietly walking through the bush looking for game.). Be just dandy in a blind though.
 
I'll agree with some of the others. A shotgun is NEVER better on any large animal than a rifle is. Now, there are times when a shotgun is mandated by law. However, mandate does not equal better.
 
"...a charging bear..." You will never be fast enough and nothing, big slugs included, will stop anything in its tracks.
Click to expand...

Maybe not, but I would rather try to put a couple of loads of buck shot in his face than anything else I can think of.

I always carried a 44 Mag bow hunting in grizzly country, but it was more to shoot myself with if one got on me.
 
Of course the .308 is the best choice. In terms of range and versitilty, it wins, no question.

A shotgun?

Guys challenge themselves to take big game with all kinds of archery equipment. Ethical.

Guys challenge themselves to take big game with traditional firearms (BP). Ethical.

Guys challenge themselves to take big game with small caliber rifles. Ethical

Guys challenge themselves to take big game animals with a shotgun? Shirley you jest! It is a bird gun! It has limited range! It is this, that and the other thing but not a tool to be taken seriously for big game! Seriously?
 
I'm guessing most of the guys posting don't live in a state that has been limited to shotgun hunting for deer for years.

Here 12 gauge is far more common than 16. At close range a 12 gauge slug will put the brakes on a deer a lot faster than most other choices. the most popular choice for years was to use "rifles" slugs in your rabbit gun. Some guns handled these slug fairly accurrately for 50 yards or even farther. Later came rifled barrels and saboted slugs with effectice ranges of well over 100 yards. Buck shot has a VERY short effective range and is not lgeal for deer in Ohio, but has more popular in other states where the deer are small and they jump them like rabbits. 12 guage slugs do much better than bullets in thick stuff when small brush and briars get in the way.

Sure a rifle gives you a lot more range, and would be my first choice, by I would agree with your original assumption that range is the major factor.

An awful lot of "experts" in Alaska choose a 12 guage loaded with slugs and buck shot for bear insurance.
 
Maybe not, but I would rather try to put a couple of loads of buck shot in his face than anything else I can think of.
Click to expand...
Hmm. I'd much rather a semi auto .308 or .338fed over a shotgun.
bears have pretty thick bones a .308 will potentially penetrate much further than those buckshot pellets.

I don't trust pellets when penetration is crucial. I'd rather have a heavy slug to protect myself from bears with a shotgun.

12 guage slugs do much better than bullets in thick stuff when small brush and briars get in the way.
Click to expand...
no they do not. Every projectile will deflect significantly if it comes in contact with ANY 'brush' or vegetation. The whole 'brush busting' thing is a complete myth. Some bullets will deflect slightly more than others, but the bottom line is all bullets will deflect significantly when coming in contact with any sort of brush.
Also why would a ~500 grain slug 'do much better' than a 630 grain .458 cal RN?
 
Hmm. I'd much rather a semi auto .308 or .338fed over a shotgun.
bears have pretty thick bones a .308 will potentially penetrate much further than those buckshot pellets.

I don't trust pellets when penetration is crucial. I'd rather have a heavy slug to protect myself from bears with a shotgun
Click to expand...

What would be the best killer if you hit the bear between the eyes was not the point. Most forum hunters can hit a charging bear in the brain with a rifle. I am just not one of them.
 
You need to correct tool for the job, in hunting there is no "one does it all" gun...

I have a 338 lapua for when I went goat hunting, we were laying on a mountain 800 yards out, I went boar hunting and took my Browning BLR with scout scope in 7mm-08, I go turkey hunting with my Berretta a400 unico 12 ga, I go bird hunting with my Berretta white onyx over and under 12ga, I go black bear hunting with my 308, and for beer and hog I take my 6" 357 for a side arm...

NOW Deer hunting is a completely different animal for me, shotgun season I use my rifled Browning silver 12ga {saboted slugs}, Rifle season I take my rem 700 in 7mm-08, and bow season I take my bow, lol {no black power for me}..

Now I could get away with 2 guns, say a BAR in 308 for boar, deer, beer, and the long range stuff, and a shotgun with rifled slugs or buck shot for shotgun season and birdshot for birds, and turkey loads for turkeys, BUT WHAT FUN WOULD THAT BE?

I like to go to the safe and grab the gun I built for the hunt, my turkey gun is all setup for turkeys, has the turkey choke in it, my burris red dot mounted and all sighted in for the turkey loads I shoot, same thing with my deer shotgun, its all sighted in for the sabots I shoot...
 
in hunting there is no "one does it all" gun...
Click to expand...

I'd agree, but only to a point. I can see that you need shot for birds, a small calibre for small game and a minimum large calibre fo big game.

However, beyond that, the hunters I know here don't often have more than one gun for it: most of the population just can't afford to buy that many! So, they have to do it with one gun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top