Most versatile hunting setup?

B

BadVegetarian

Inactive
Howdy Guys-

I've been duck hunting about 7 years and slowly expanding into turkey, deer, elk, and who knows what's next. I'm extremely happy with my 12 guage and was wondering, why couldn't you set up that one gun for just about everything? Change out the ammo, choke, and add a scope as needed depending on the season. I think it'd be kind of a fun challenge to hunt a bit of everything (within about 100yds) with one gun. Even with the usual temptation of finding any reason to buy a new gun :), has anyone here hunted a year with just one?

Thanks,
BV
 
I have spent MANY more years with just one shot gun than years with multiple shotguns and rifles.
My dad's hand-me-down .410 3 shot bolt action with poly choke served me as my only gun for quite a many years (10 or more I think). In the same season I have hunted and killed rabbit, dove, pheasant, squirrel and deer. Later I have used my Mossberg 500 20 gauge to hunt as my only hunting gun.
There is no reason one gun can't serve all your needs. A couple 2 or 3 barrels would be ideal but not required.
Brent
 
We have several shotguns and rifles. But my go to for all my hunting is my Mossberg 500a. I use the factory smooth barrel for everything. It will kill clay pigeons to deer(15 so far) I do have others I have carried the last couple years, but by the end of season when the freezer is not full the Mossy comes back out.

I have a brother in law in Illinois, he uses a Rem 870 for everything except clays. He uses a smooth bore with different chokes.

Regardless of what you use, if you are comfortable with it USE IT!. Just experiment with loads and chokes.

On the other hand, everyone needs another gun:)
 
That shotgun would work.

My pick for this role: a T/C Encore. You can change barrels from shotgun to rifle, from bull barrelled varmint rifle to a .338 magnum for elk to .22 for rabbits. You can also use it during handgun only season if you have one and during muzzle loader season if you have one of those.

No, I haven't hunted the whole year with just one gun, but it sounds like a neat challenge.
 
A shotgun is a great all around gun for multiple critters here in Kentucky. Deer, squirrel, rabbit, birds and turkey all bow before a good shotgun. I hunt with a shotgun most of year but can't bring myself to hunt deer with a shotgun. Not that a shotgun wouldn't do it, I just prefer using a rifle for deer.
 
A 12 ga shotgun is the only gun that can effectively take ALL North American Game in the hands of the average shooter. Anything from quail to grizzly bear. You don't even have to set it up. You can buy a Rem. 870 express combo that will come with a 28" barrel with 3 choke tubes and a slug barrel with rifle sights. Seems like the price is around $300-$350. I like scopes on my slug guns but they are completely optional. The slug barrel will come in either a rifled barrel for shooting sabot slugs or a smoothbore for shooting foster type slugs. I prefer the smoothbore because of cheaper ammo and my ranges are short. But if you are hunting game out to 200 yards you may want the rifled barrel.

You can get combo guns from Rem, Win, mossy and others.

If I had to only have one gun it would be a pump shotgun. Opinions will vary but a shotgun will put more food on the table in the hands of an average shooter.

LK
 
[has anyone here hunted a year with just one?[/quote[

Yeap. Hunting with a Model 70 Featherweight in 257. Everything from varments to elk. I dont recommend it. If elk and moose the 270 or '06 would be a better rifle for everything in my opinion. I just like the 257 roberts. Dont hunt ducks but have take upland games birds for camp meat. Its not that it was my only rifle, its that I really like it.

Anyway, the Wichester 73, 44 & 45 colts, 45-70s have been credited with "winning the west". In reality it was the shotgun that won the west. With shoot guns, settlers would load buckshot or rifle bullets depending on what they wanted for dinner. People didnt live in towns, there were no Walmarts etc to by shells. They bought powder, primers and lead, loading for what even the need was.

If I live like that I guess I'd go for the shotgun/rifle combo also, but I dont. I have lots of guns, and plan on getting lots more.
 
You definitely CAN do it, and I did it for years, but it's much easier if you have a rifled barrel as well, or at the very least rifle sights you can screw on / off. Aiming for big game with a bead is possible, but far from ideal.
 
A 12 guage with a change of barrel or choke will do that with no fuss. The ease and cost of doing it varies according to which 12 guage shotgun you have though. Extra barrels and chokes aren't readily available for all 12 guage shotguns.
"...uses a Rem 870 for everything except clays..." Smack him. An 870 will do everything, including clays. 'Clays' is target practice for shotguns. Much moreso than skeet or trap.
 
It would be really fun to get as many species as you could with the same gun. My 22 has gotten more play than any of my other rifles. I have taken squirrel, rabbit, ruffed grouse, pheasant, spruce grouse, raccoon, skunk, frog, muskrat, crow, prairie dog, fox, and a bunch more. You can get into the big game with the shotgun.
 
My go-to gun is an 11-87. I've killed everything from doves to deer with it. Like others have said, it's not ideal for deer at long ranges but those capabilities can be enhanced step-wise depending on your budget and desires.

The ultimate deer set-up for a shotgun would be a rifled slug barrel with scope but it would also be the most expensive option. With the right sabot slugs, 150 yds or beyond is possible. The next step down would be a rifled slug barrel with iron sights, then a smooth bore slug barrel with iron sights, etc. Remington makes a 20" barrel with iron sights and screw-in chokes. I tried using one for turkeys but my 26" barrel actually threw a better pattern with the same choke. I know several companies make a rifled choke but I've never used one so I don't know if they enhance accuracy with certain slugs or not. If they are a benefit, my instincts tell that it's a small one but I've been wrong before.

Some shotgun receivers are drilled and tapped for scope mounts and saddle mounts are readily available for many guns. You could mount a scope on the receiver and then use your bird barrel with slugs and, of course, you could just shoot slugs using the bead sight. In any event, you'll want to shoot quite a bit to know exactly what the capabilities of the equipment are. I don't envy you shooting a lot of 12 ga slugs. A lead-sled might be in your future.
 
I have one shotgun and two barrels; a Browning A5 with a smoothbore slug barrel and a Belgian shot barrel with a Poly-Choke. It does all my bird and slug hunting. It's put 8 deer down and countless squirrels, rabbits, birds, and other forest fauna for the pot. It even took care of an odious feral tomcat one year with a full warp dose of copper plated 5s. So far I haven't had to scope it yet, but if my diabetes doesn't cooperate, I might have to install the Burris 1.5x4.5 I have reserved for it. One gun for all seasons.
 
growing up, I used a Savage/Stevens single barrel 20 ga for about 8 years. I killed deer, turkey, ducks, squirrels, bunnies and a couple of 'gators with it.
I still have the old shotgun, and still hunt with it, although I have , er, have several others now. :D
 
I have my choice of hunting with anything but I still tote my 12ga single shot pretty regular. My dad bought it for me when I was 13 from a Western Auto store. It takes as much game as anything else I own.
 
Probably a T/C Encore rifle.

You can put shotgun barrels on it, handgun caliber barrels, or rifle caliber barrels.
 
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