Who hunts deer w/ a 12ga & rifled/slug barrel?

Some require drill and tap, others soldering, or some clamp onto the gun without any gunsmithing. Mounting sights can be a good entry level gunsmithing project.
 
a rifle seems like a much better tool for deer.
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Iowa does have a rifle season now, lower 2 counties across the state late hunt anterless deer.

Been hunting since the 60s, a shotgun is a comfy feel. I am good with a rifle out to 300 yards, but never have I shot a deer that far away. Most were 50 yards or less.
 
Been hunting since the 60s, a shotgun is a comfy feel. I am good with a rifle out to 300 yards, but never have I shot a deer that far away. Most were 50 yards or less.
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That fact that you shoot deer at (typically) under 50 yards and feel comfy getting punched in the shoulder by your shotgun does not make a shotgun a better tool than a rifle for hunting deer. Rifles do just fine at under 50 yards, last time I checked, and they don't punch me in the shoulder, at least my 7-08 doesn't. If YOU are more comfortable with your shotgun than you are with your rifle, you should use the shotgun, of course. But my argument doesn't apply. I'm suggesting that if the hunter is equally practiced with both tools, the rifle is the better one. I have seen nothing in this thread to argue against that. Everyone just says "I shoot less than 50 yards so my shotgun is fine". Yes, it's fine, but is it better?

Zhe Wiz
 
I have not in a while. But 2X scope with an 11/87 at 100 yards from a tree stand. They fall right down, very quick.
 
The rifle shoots a light weight bullet at high velocity, which creates alot of hydrostatic shock which ruins alot of meat around the bullet placement.
The shotgun shoots a heavy weight bullet at a low velocity, which does not create as much shock, which saves more meat. When using the shot gun for more than just deer, such as squirrel, rabbit, turkey, ect. its the same manual of arms also. I would guess more deer that are hit with a rifle round are lost vs getting hit with a slug.
 
The rifle shoots a light weight bullet at high velocity, which creates alot of hydrostatic shock which ruins alot of meat around the bullet placement.
The shotgun shoots a heavy weight bullet at a low velocity, which does not create as much shock, which saves more meat.
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Oh come on, you can do better than that! :-) Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement!! If you hit 'em where you should (in my opinion) hit 'em - in the ribs and thru the lungs, no meat is damaged regardless of rifle/shotgun choice. Not only that, but I would also argue that you're much more likely to hit them where you should if you're using a rifle instead of a shotgun. Greater accuracy of the "tool" added to less likelihood of a punch induced flinch equals better shot placement.

Now, there ARE occasions when the deer doesn't cooperate and you can't get a nice broadside shot. It's either quartering to or away, etc. In those cases (which aren't that common in my experience...you can almost always wait for a broadside shot) you are going to ruin some meat, so MAYBE you could argue that a shotgun will ruin less. I say it doesn't happen often and there's very little additional meat damage. Not enough to offset the advantages of a rifle.

As for your second argument - that you "guess" more rifle-hit deer are lost than shotgun hit deer - that's a very difficult theory to test. I would "guess" that at equal distances, more shotgun deer are lost than rifle deer are. Why? Reduced accuracy/poor shot placement.

Hunters are possibly more likely to take a longer shot with a rifle than with a shotgun and may very well overestimate their ability to successfully make such a shot. That overestimation would cause a poor shot at distance with a rifle, a shot that may not be taken at all with a shotgun. That, however, is not the "tool's" fault, at least not the tool we're discussing. It's the "other" tool at fault in that case - the hunter. :-)

OK, I've completely taken this thread in another direction. I'm sorry. This is an interesting (to me) discussion, however. I primarily hunt in shotgun only counties of NY state and have taken all but 2 deer with my shotgun. One was with a rifle and one with a muzzleloader. But I'm very much looking forward to those counties switching to allow rifles. When they do, I'm switching to my 7-08 as my gun of choice. It is bolt action and my shotgun is semi-auto (reduced recoil, of course!) so the shotgun has a slight edge there, but follow-up shots are rarely needed anyway.

I may change my mind after using the rifle for a while (if the option ever comes to pass,) but for now it seems to easily be the best tool in my gun cabinet.

Zhe Wiz
 
does not make a shotgun a better tool than a rifle for hunting deer.
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It does for me. My 30-06 kicks too. A box of 20 at the range will be felt out of the rifle, the shotgun? Not so much.

Hey use what you want and feel comfy with. I prefer the shotgun.
 
Will any 12ga slug be safe to fire from my fixed choke (modified choke) barrel? I've heard stories about people using chokes that were too tight and cracking their barrel.

I was specifically considering the Brenneke K.O. Slug, 2-3/4" Shell, 1 oz., 1600 fps
Seems that a lot of people say they get the most accurate results from this brand, and (for now, due to cost) I won't be buying a whole bunch of different brands to compare, but will in the future before doing any hunting w/ slugs.
 
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Brennekke makes a good slug for smooth bores, the sabots wont work as well without a rifled barrel. Slugs are relatively cheap so you can get a couple boxes to try out at the range. Makes a diff on longer shots for accuracy.
 
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