Tell me about buckshot, brush and deer.

M

MeekAndMild

New member
I have been wondering about going hunting with a shotgun to thin down the herd of does down in the swamp behind my house. Conditions are heavy brush and small trees (hickory, oak, willow, huckleberry, sycamore and the like) so that one usually jumps the deer about 15-20 yards, kind of like rabbit hunting. I've been frustrated recently in that I can't get them to jump the right way to get a clear shot with the rifle and I don't want bullets zinging off in all directions. I don't hunt with dogs.

Does anyone have experience with shotgun deer hunting in similar terrain?
 
buckshot

try a short barrel.18.5-20" with or without sights. cyl or imp cyl. choke. at 15-20 yards loaded with #1 or 0 buckshot you should get some good pellet hits on them. some of the areas i hunt here in nj. shots are pretty limited to within 50 yards. heavy brush, swamps full of cedars you may only have a 20 yard shot. so i load up with #1 buck. unless i am sitting then i have a slug in the chamber.
 
Get out the lopping shears, clear out a shooting lane and a little cleared area and set up a clock feeder. Build some sort of elevated stand.

About thirty minutes before feeding time, go sit. About five minutes before the feeder goes off, you'll see does.

If you can get a double no more often than every week or two, the does won't get all that wary.

It ain't "sport", but it's an effective way to cull a herd.

Art
 
For that range..

you may want to pattern the buckshot with various chokes to see what give a good dense spread.
What Gauge? a 12 have better variety.
Use to carry a Win97 & Ithaca M37 w/ 20" barrel, if I was sitting the chambered round and second in tube was slug, if walking swapped to #4 buck for immediate jump then 00 for second third thru fifth were slugs.
(Helped keep the barrel down)

Are you able to use tree stands? Probably too late for this season, but in the spring before leaf out consider some time spent erecting a good sound elevated platform, then you could safely use rifle as you are shooting down???
 
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For the area you describe, buckshot will work great.

I have killed more than a dozen east Texas whitetails in similar terrain and never had one take a step after being hit. I prefer 00 buck out of my Benelli Super 90 12 ga with a 21" barrel, and it patterns best with my modified choke or Patternmaster choke.

If you keep your shots 40 yards and under, buckshot is a great deer/hog killer.

Buckshot gets a bad rap on internet message boards, but 99.9% of the time, the nay-sayers have no first hand experience actually hunting with it.
 
I use it in much the same conditions you describe. I use a pump with a 20 inch barrel and modified choke.
 
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