Thinking about changing to slug hunting for deer. Where to begin??

[regulat0r]

Hi all,

 

Thanks so much for the detailed advice and opinions! First, I have not had any issues with my 270. The only thing is i think it might be a little overkill given my hunting conditions. For example, the deer i harvested this year during gun season was shot at about 30 yards. I have my gun sighted in dead on at 100 yds so i was second guessing my shot before i took it. A 270 just seems a bit too much at such a short distance. 

 

Second. the term "brush gun" gets tossed around a lot and i feel like people interpret that differently. I mean it as I hunt in spots with cover as opposed to open fields. Regardless of the gun i have, i never shoot into or through brush. I wait until deer step into a clearing (similar to bow hunting). I guess I will spend some time this winter playing with choke/barrel/slug combos and see what my gun likes best...

[Lawdwaz]

 

Regardless of the gun i have, i never shoot into or through brush. I wait until deer step into a clearing (similar to bow hunting). I guess I will spend some time this winter playing with choke/barrel/slug combos and see what my gun likes best...

 

Good man.

[Lawdwaz]

 

 

Thanks so much for the detailed advice and opinions! First, I have not had any issues with my 270. The only thing is i think it might be a little overkill given my hunting conditions. For example, the deer i harvested this year during gun season was shot at about 30 yards. I have my gun sighted in dead on at 100 yds so i was second guessing my shot before i took it. A 270 just seems a bit too much at such a short distance. 

 

 

 

I wouldn't swap guns, maybe next year you'll get an invite to hunt new ground and be darn happy to have that JOC ,270 ready to rock!

 

30 yards with a slug won't be much different than a 130gr .277 slug, certainly not enough to sweat about it.

 

Stick with the CF rifle!

[Buckmaster7600]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the detailed advice and opinions! First, I have not had any issues with my 270. The only thing is i think it might be a little overkill given my hunting conditions. For example, the deer i harvested this year during gun season was shot at about 30 yards. I have my gun sighted in dead on at 100 yds so i was second guessing my shot before i took it. A 270 just seems a bit too much at such a short distance.

Second. the term "brush gun" gets tossed around a lot and i feel like people interpret that differently. I mean it as I hunt in spots with cover as opposed to open fields. Regardless of the gun i have, i never shoot into or through brush. I wait until deer step into a clearing (similar to bow hunting). I guess I will spend some time this winter playing with choke/barrel/slug combos and see what my gun likes best...

What were you second guessing about a 30yd shot with a 270? If it was point of impact it will be within 1" nothing to worry about and closer than any shotgun would be with a smooth bore and no scope and most rifled barrels with a scope.

[DirtTime]

 

 the mossberg came with a 2nd barrel but tbh i do not know what it is intended for, maybe waterfowl??

The second barrel is most likely a slug barrel. It should say what the barrel is for on the side.

 

I wouldn't step back from a .270 rifle to a shotgun unless you are in an area that only allows shotguns. 

[growalot]

Honest to Pete...years of hearing you guys run down the accuracy of smooth bores & open sights...Well over 38 years of shooting them I call BS....If you do not know your weapon and ammo, any gun can be "sloppy". I know mine and I'd bet many others here can say the same. I Personally will take my 20ga smooth bore / bead sight from zero to 120 yrds over a scoped rifle all day long...and do.

Edited December 29, 2015 by growalot

[grampy]

Honest to Pete...years of hearing you guys run down the accuracy of smooth bores & open sights...Well over 38 years of shooting them I call BS....If you do not know your weapon and ammo, any gun can be "sloppy". I know mine and I'd bet many others here can say the same. I Personally will take my 20ga smooth bore / bead sight from zero to 120 yrds over a scoped rifle all day long...and do.

To each their own. But my rifle is far more accurate than my old Deerslayer 2 with a slug barrel and scope. And my 7mm\08 did just fine at 30 yards in VERY thick cover on my buck this year. I'm sticking with my rifle, but like I said,to each their own.

[Lawdwaz]

Honest to Penelope, not too many police SWAT teams using open sighted 20ga smooth bores for THEIR task.

 

I don't take my responsibility lightly, I choose the most accurate option available and I dare say I knew my shotgun/slug as good as ANYBODY.  I shot plenty of slugs each year, testing different loads when they came out with new/better options. Rifled barrels, telescopic sights etc. are not going to be out shot by smooth bores and open sights at the extended ranges that the best slugs today are capable of.  Ain't happening............

 

 

Fire Suit Donned!

[Pygmy]

Honest to Pete...years of hearing you guys run down the accuracy of smooth bores & open sights...Well over 38 years of shooting them I call BS....If you do not know your weapon and ammo, any gun can be "sloppy". I know mine and I'd bet many others here can say the same. I Personally will take my 20ga smooth bore / bead sight from zero to 120 yrds over a scoped rifle all day long...and do.

Growie, all I can say is that your Browning must have a pretty fine bead...

Ol' "Whitey" Whitehead hunted with us for years, and he had one of those "special" smoothbores, a Win M12 16 gauge..

He swore that at 50 yards he could blow a hole in a hummingbird as big as your fist..

None of us could ever prove that he COULDN'T....<<grin>>..

[chiefbkt]

Like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Why use a slug gun if you have the capability of using a rifle?

[Buckmaster7600]

Honest to Pete...years of hearing you guys run down the accuracy of smooth bores & open sights...Well over 38 years of shooting them I call BS....If you do not know your weapon and ammo, any gun can be "sloppy". I know mine and I'd bet many others here can say the same. I Personally will take my 20ga smooth bore / bead sight from zero to 120 yrds over a scoped rifle all day long...and do.

Prove it!!! Tomorrow shoot a video of a 3 shot group with this magic gun you pick the distance and the shooting position and After posting I'll do the same shot with one of my rifles and we will see who wins.

I'm not dissing shotguns at all, I have killed plenty of deer with them but to compare the accuracy of a smoothbore with a bead to a Scoped rifle is ignorant.

But the challenge has been layer out let's see what you do.

At 100yds your standard 1/8" bead covers roughly 15" and about 16" at 120yds. Unless your browning shoots very high and allows you to lolly pop or 6 o'clock hold at that distance you would basically be covering the front half of the deer with your bead, not ideal for pinpoint accuracy let alone minute of deer.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Buckmaster7600

[Doc]

I have never had an accuracy concern with my Ithaca Deerslayer, but that 12 Ga. was never something I would call a pleasure to shoot. By contrast, I spent an hour up on my range "playing" with my .270, just loving every shot and seeing what kinds of tight groups I could get. It was truly recreation, and a familiarization process that I wish more deer hunters could (and would) experience with their deer guns.

 

Compare that with the typical annual 5-shot verification group that I would painfully go through with that old 12 ga.  Why 5 shots? ... because beyond that I would begin to bruise. Hopefully at the end of the 5-shot group I would be satisfied with the group, because anything after that involved increasing flinching and I would be in for an ugly re-sighting process that was absolute misery.

 

That 12 ga. has not been out of the closet since they legalized rifles in Ontario County, and I haven't missed it for a moment.

[growalot]

The proof is in the deer I have dropped each year and the shot placements..Now one members response was perfect ,to each their own. I'm not looking to act like a swat team ...though I have been in cop cars and those shotguns are not ..or weren't decked out in scopes or lasers...

Just because you don't care for a weapon or it doesn't perform well enough for you in your hands...doesn't mean they don't perform well...There is a difference between telling a person asking a question..what you observe and how things are set up and how to check things out for them selves and saying this is a poor choice and that's a bad set up. Especially when you have no clue as to how they shoot

I have a beautiful Remington 243 with a good Leupold scope and have taken deer with it...but I rarely use it for anything but target practice. I do not have 200+ yrds shots on our lands and I like a full sight view when shooting...That doesn't mean it's not a great shooting weapon. It just means that it's not the best shooting weapon in my hands in my personal experience.A better phase..my personal comfort.

BTW my brown has very tight groups.

[Buckmaster7600]

The proof is in the deer I have dropped each year and the shot placements..Now one members response was perfect ,to each their own. I'm not looking to act like a swat team ...though I have been in cop cars and those shotguns are not ..or weren't decked out in scopes or lasers...

Just because you don't care for a weapon or it doesn't perform well enough for you in your hands...doesn't mean they don't perform well...There is a difference between telling a person asking a question..what you observe and how things are set up and how to check things out for them selves and saying this is a poor choice and that's a bad set up. Especially when you have no clue as to how they shoot

I have a beautiful Remington 243 with a good Leupold scope and have taken deer with it...but I rarely use it for anything but target practice. I do not have 200+ yrds shots on our lands and I like a full sight view when shooting...That doesn't mean it's not a great shooting weapon. It just means that it's not the best shooting weapon in my hands in my personal experience.A better phase..my personal comfort.

BTW my brown has very tight groups.

What size groups does your "brown" shoot?

[philoshop]

I'm with Doc on this. I just don't miss being lumped up by my Model 37 every year.

[The_Field_Ager]

I wanna see pics of 1 inch groups in deer. Otherwise much of this discussion is moot. Yes, rifles are more accurate over distance and in terms of repeat-ability. But when you are shooting through the woods at average ranges of 20-40 yards, like me, it doesn't count for a whole lot on the day.

 

Dropped this guy at 45 yards with the Rem 870. Heart shot:

 

 

[The_Real_TCIII]

I have never had an accuracy concern with my Ithaca Deerslayer, but that 12 Ga. was never something I would call a pleasure to shoot. By contrast, I spent an hour up on my range "playing" with my .270, just loving every shot and seeing what kinds of tight groups I could get. It was truly recreation, and a familiarization process that I wish more deer hunters could (and would) experience with their deer guns.

 

Compare that with the typical annual 5-shot verification group that I would painfully go through with that old 12 ga.  Why 5 shots? ... because beyond that I would begin to bruise. Hopefully at the end of the 5-shot group I would be satisfied with the group, because anything after that involved increasing flinching and I would be in for an ugly re-sighting process that was absolute misery.

 

That 12 ga. has not been out of the closet since they legalized rifles in Ontario County, and I haven't missed it for a moment.

Im with you. Range sessions with my 12ga are counter productive, I flinch so much I cant make a good shot to see whats actually going on

[Lawdwaz]

I wanna see pics of 1 inch groups in deer. Otherwise much of this discussion is moot. Yes, rifles are more accurate over distance and in terms of repeat-ability. But when you are shooting through the woods at average ranges of 20-40 yards, like me, it doesn't count for a whole lot on the day.

 

Dropped this guy at 45 yards with the Rem 870. Heart shot:

 

You're inexperience shows.  Why not post up a picture of the entire woods; you know, your face and the "big woods" behind you? 

 

You were aiming specifically for the heart, WHY?

 

You were really stretching it at 45 yards..........

 

Admit it, you hunt Erie County and you can't use a centerfire gun but you would if you could.  Oh, I promise you my rifle (any of them) will be more accurate at 50 yards than your shotgun.

 

This discussion is certainly not moot.

[stoneam2006]

I hunt with all weapons legal from compound xbow shotty rifle...and inside 100 yards a rifle or shotgun will do the job everytime. I will say that I have seen deer shot with rifles at close range under 50 and get at clean thru with no expansion when out past its devastating. So in that aspect I MO if most of your shooting is within 100 yards I'd swap to 12 g too...I have a mossy 500 rifled barrel scoped with Hornady sst slugs that I'm confident to 150 with do I ever exceed that where I hunt no. I shot my doe with muzzle loader at 140 ish yards and that was as far as you would shoot....now if I am sitting in a spot where I know my range is 100+ I'll take rifle or loader to be safe bc it is more accurate...but remember we are talking about killing deer not shooting Bulls we have a 8 in play easy and that's all that matters.....I personally say go for the shotty figure out what it likes and have fun with it just all not her tool for the job....the kick isn't that bad????

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[Nomad]

I can't tell you how many deer I've killed with my Browning BPS Buck Special 12ga smooth bore. 50 plus I guess, on the run , 100 plus yards , under my stand , every possible way .

When Ontario county went rifle I took the scope off it and it's sat in the safe ever since .i like to practice with my guns a lot , but a 12 ga pump shooting slugs just sucks after a couple boxes

My .270 has killed a few since ,many at bow distance but some " out there" I seldom , maybe never even worked the bolt to load a second round, I just grin and hang it back up.

I hunt a lot of thick stuff too ,bringing the 12 ga just never occurs to me anymore.

If I wanted to change it up for close shoots in cover I'd consider a 30-30 open sights .

[Pygmy]

An expanding rifle bullet NOT expanding at close range, but then expanding at longer range ?

It doesn't work that way. Any given bullet will tend to expand MORE at close range because of it's higher velocity.

[Lawdwaz]

I can't tell you how many deer I've killed with my Browning BPS Buck Special 12ga smooth bore. 50 plus I guess, on the run , 100 plus yards , under my stand , every possible way .

When Ontario county went rifle I took the scope off it and it's sat in the safe ever since .i like to practice with my guns a lot , but a 12 ga pump shooting slugs just sucks after a couple boxes

My .270 has killed a few since ,many at bow distance but some " out there" I seldom , maybe never even worked the bolt to load a second round, I just grin and hang it back up.

I hunt a lot of thick stuff too ,bringing the 12 ga just never occurs to me anymore.

If I wanted to change it up for close shoots in cover I'd consider a 30-30 open sights .

 

Much more eloquently said and less hackles raised than I could ever say it but totally to the point.

 

Too bad every Larry isn't as smooth. 

[Nomad]

Well I haven't had much to drink tonight .....

[stoneam2006]

An expanding rifle bullet NOT expanding at close range, but then expanding at longer range ?

It doesn't work that way. Any given bullet will tend to expand MORE at close range because of it's higher velocity.

Ok I have seen it more than once tho call it a faulty round call it bad luck call it anything but I have shot a deer with both a 270 and a 3030 inside 30 and had a pencil hole in and out...then killed deer out round 100 and comes out like a golf ball or better....now take a 12 g slug at 50 yards it goes in like a gumball and comes out like a baseball...same at 100...it's a better round when you don't need to shoot over 100 just bc it hurts some to shoot doesn't mean it will hurt him

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[Pygmy]

A faulty bullet that doesn't expand is certainly a possibility.I'm not calling you a liar.

However, that same faulty bullet would pencil right through at 100 or 200 yards also.

The phenomenon of a bullet "pencilling through" due to high velocity is a myth.

Bullets DO have MINIMUM velocities when they are no longer going fast enough to expand properly, however any given expanding bullet will ALWAYS expand at least as much and usually MORE at closer range, due to its higher velocity.