Buckshot for deer?

[turkeyfeathers]

""Buckshot happens to be the most recommended round for a shotgun used for defensive purposes. Why is that if it isn't effective?""

In a nutshell : home defense is probably a 10 yarder  tops and "men" are not as tough as a deer. and a shot at deer is 50-75 yards

[ants]

My guess is that wing nuts who would attempt a 100-200 yard shot at deer, with buckshot, are the reason why hunting with buck shot is illegal in NYS

[Pygmy]

 

I don't know how you can say shooting at a deer with buck shot is spaying and praying. I don't know if you ever have been on a deer drive or not. But its been used for decades up in the ADK and I don't think those guys are spaying and praying. Using buck shot may be safer then using a slug that may carry up to a mile or  a 30-06 that could travel up to 4.5 miles. Buck shot only travels a few hundred yards.

 

Not trying to start a pissing contest, just asking.

I don't remember buckshot being legal for deer ANYWHERE in New York, at least not since 1950 or so.

I may be mistaken, but I'm wondering if the buckshot use in the Adirondacks was prior to that.

[Pygmy]

I just checked my 1949 NY hunting and fishing rule book.

As far as I can determine, buckshot was not legal for deer anywhere in the state at that time.

I suspect that at SOME time it was legal in the "dacks" but it was a lot of years ago.

[Curmudgeon]

First off, this was what we in the world of owning and running a forum call a "baited thread". Something to just kick people in the pants to see who they can rile up. The original poster hasn't even commented since he made the thread.

 

Believe what you will. If I want to provoke people, I can find much better stuff - like coyotes, lead-free ammo and Astorino being pro-fracking. The guy I met last week was the first person I ever spoke to who had hunted deer with buckshot. The OP is getting an education.

[Doc]

Yeah, I think if a bill were introduced to allow buckshot, I would probably campaign against it.

[Mr VJP]

I believe those that bash buckshot have never used it, but feel obligated to trash it based on hearsay of others who have never used it.  

 

It's legal lots of places and it is used by lots of hunters to great effect.

 

JustRob, I wasn't referring to you about those who want it to be banned, I was referring to those who have said it.

 

If you don't want to use it, fine.  But don't start attacking those who know what it can do, pattern their guns well and have used it to kill many deer already.  If you have no experience using it, you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Doc]

There is only one situation that I can think of where shooting a spray of projectiles really has any advantage over one carefully aimed single projectile, and that is when the shots are planned for shooting running deer where one hopes that "close" is good enough. "If only one or two of those pellets gets into the deer somewhere .... anywhere .....". That is not the mental state that I want in anyone who is hunting anywhere near me.

[PREDATE]

No matter how we feel about the use of buckshot on deer, I think we all can agree that it has a very abrupt cutoff in it's effectiveness to cleanly take big game. The same can be said about foster style slugs. I don't discount it's ability to be lethal, but IMO 50yds is about the max. I can keep all 27 pellets of 2 3/4" #4buck in a sheet pizza box @50(devastating coyote load!!), BUT #4 is smaller and can be shot out of a necked down choke. Try choking 00 or 000 and the pellets are gonna deform inside the barrel due to the pressure. That being said, try to wing a load of 00 much past 60 and those 9-15 pellets are gonna open up to the size of a 95 Chevy Suburban.

Then on to foster slugs. I can smack a cigarette pack @ 90 yds with a plain old Federal slug and I don't think I need to mention what will topple a deer faster, a 1oz. slug placed in the boilermaker or a few pellets placed willy-nilly "somewhere" on a deers body. It's common sense.

This day in age where "tackdrivers" are the norm and most hunters wishing for more areas to open up to rifles, there really doesn't need to be any guesswork in our shot placement.

Edited October 26, 2014 by PREDATE

[Culvercreek hunt club]

There is a weapons for all hunting styles. In New York the tradition of deer drives is dying. In a state like Virginia where deer can be run with dogs, I can see a use for buckshot. Like anything we use, it has a place and is lethal when used within its capability. I guess no difference than running rabbits with a dog or pheasant hunting, I wouldn't select a 22 for that purpose. But I have stalked and still hunted many a bunny with a 22. As is normal we shy away from and judge what we aren't familiar with. I don't think running deer with dogs would be my cup of tea but I wouldn't mind d trying it once to find out. I tried the bear over bait thing and it was ok, not something I would repeat. If it's legal I would give it a whirl.

[phade]

There is a weapons for all hunting styles. In New York the tradition of deer drives is dying. In a state like Virginia where deer can be run with dogs, I can see a use for buckshot. Like anything we use, it has a place and is lethal when used within its capability. I guess no difference than running rabbits with a dog or pheasant hunting, I wouldn't select a 22 for that purpose. But I have stalked and still hunted many a bunny with a 22. As is normal we shy away from and judge what we aren't familiar with. I don't think running deer with dogs would be my cup of tea but I wouldn't mind d trying it once to find out. I tried the bear over bait thing and it was ok, not something I would repeat. If it's legal I would give it a whirl.

 

 

Running deer with dogs is something everyone should experience once. It's not something I would prefer to have as a lifestyle every season, but it is a method that seems to be more focused on group success rather than individual success, which I digress seems pervasive here in NY and isn't always the most enjoyable experience for me either.

 

You want your heart pumping, take a stand and wait til you hear the dogs. When they're coming in hot toward you, its not unlike hearing the crunch crunch crunch of frozen leaves here before knowing what it is.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Running deer with dogs is something everyone should experience once. It's not something I would prefer to have as a lifestyle every season, but it is a method that seems to be more focused on group success rather than individual success, which I digress seems pervasive here in NY and isn't always the most enjoyable experience for me either.

 

You want your heart pumping, take a stand and wait til you hear the dogs. When they're coming in hot toward you, its not unlike hearing the crunch crunch crunch of frozen leaves here before knowing what it is.

I an only imagine. I grew up hunting rabbits and hares with hounds. Love to her that in the woods.

[jjb4900]

Running deer with dogs is something everyone should experience once. It's not something I would prefer to have as a lifestyle every season, but it is a method that seems to be more focused on group success rather than individual success, which I digress seems pervasive here in NY and isn't always the most enjoyable experience for me either.

 

You want your heart pumping, take a stand and wait til you hear the dogs. When they're coming in hot toward you, its not unlike hearing the crunch crunch crunch of frozen leaves here before knowing what it is.

I would love to experience that....buckshot and all!

[Pygmy]

Me too...Like a rabbit hunt on a bigger scale.. I'd go on a dog/deer hunt in a minute.

 

Calling elk during the rut can be similar to spring gobbler also..Except the game has a NOSE and might weigh 700 pounds.

[Mr VJP]

I am acquainted with a hunter in a deer hunting club in western NJ that only does deer drives, and only allows buckshot to be used.  Apparently it's a safety issue with them.  When on stand and a deer runs your way, when it gets into your 50 yard zone, you shoot.  They feel you are LESS likely to hit another hunter with buckshot.

 

I've seen the photos they take every year at the end of the season.  25 guys with 25 BIG deer, EVERY year!

 

Never had 1 accident in the 50 year history of the club.

 

These guys will attest it is effective AND safe!