Rifle or Shotgun

[nybuckboy]

I get the "want to use"  in using a rifle but unless you are sitting on a field edge can anyone think of a better weapon for a whitetail than a 12 g slug.  I've often said there is nothing more powerful inside than a 12 g slug inside 50 yards... maybe an elephant gun. 

Edited November 15, 2021 by nybuckboy

[doebuck1234]

Mossberg 500 with a 2 3/4" remington copper solid.packs one heck of a 1 2 

[REDNECK4LIFE32]

Remington 7400 carbine chambered in 30-06 150 grain core locks. 

[Bolt action]

I'd like to agree with you but not sure i can. I've shot deer in the chest with multiple Remington 12ga sabots and was unable to recover the deer after 5+ hours and 800+ yds of tracking. I was inexperienced at the time so shot placement was probably not perfect, and i likely pushed when I should've backed out. Since switching to .308 though, I've never had one run more than 30ish yds.

[grampy]

For the bulk of my 50 years of deer hunting, I used a 12g. My Ithaca Deerslayer 2 put down a pile of deer.

But now it's all about my go to rifle. Sako 85 Classic Hunter, in 270, fed with my special recipe handloaded 140gr Nosler BT's.

DRT results. No recoil to speak of. And 3 times the range if needed.

Though I would like to get one more deer with a shotgun, before hanging up my hunting cap. Kind of come full circle. 

[Engraver99]

46 minutes ago, nybuckboy said:

I get the "want to use"  in using a rifle but unless you are sitting on a field edge can anyone think of a better weapon for a whitetail than a 12 g slug.  I've often said there is nothing more powerful inside than a 12 g slug inside 50 yards... maybe an elephant gun. 

Am in rifle country and always choose my Browning A-Bolt 12 guage Slug Gun utilizing lightfield slugs. My shots are typically under 75 yards and no tracking is EVER needed as long as you do your part. I do have an 06 and 30-30 but they never go on a deer hunt - they watch the safe!

[E J]

I have a friend that has done a lot of hunting all over the place. When he hunted Kodiak Island for brown bear his guide carried a 12 gauge loaded with slugs on every track job through the thick and nasty brush. 

[Waterfowler]

Rifle 100%. A shotgun slug has lot of weight and energy but doesn’t compare to the speed and hydrostatic shock from a high powered rifle. No to mention range if needed. 

[Fletch]

I would choose a rifle every time, whether a 30-30 up to a 7mm Mag. Depends on where and what type of hunting condition I am in. The shotgun is an inferior tool imho. That said I have lived in a shotgun county my whole life. I will use a muzzleloader 95% of the season as my TC Triumph is a tack driving sob and can shoot out to 150+ easy. When I do use the slugs it is my Ithaca Deerslayer in 20 because shooting a 12 gauge just sucks if your shooting it a bunch.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Fletch

[First-light]

1187 auto loader. Over 30 years old failed me once. Hard not to take her into the woods........

[silent death]

If its 70 yards and under iam goin with a 12ga with sst sabot slugs especially in brush country 

[Pygmy]

I've killed plenty of deer with both and I have processed my own deer ( and other big game ) since the mid 1960s....

I have a lot of respect for the killing power of shotgun slugs,  but  given  good shot placement,  properly designed rifle bullets in appropriate weights at appropriate velocities  just plain MESS UP more  stuff inside a game animal....

Dead is dead,  but good rifle bullets kill just as well as shotgun slugs with GOOD shot placement, and kill BETTER  with marginal shot placement, and they do it three or four times farther away... 

 

[Hock3y24]

Ill take a Rifle 100/100 times over a shotgun. My county used to be shotgun only, now it sits in the safe. 

[SpacemanSpiff]

4 minutes ago, Hock3y24 said:

Ill take a Rifle 100/100 times over a shotgun. My county used to be shotgun only, now it sits in the safe. 

Same goes for me. 

[suburbanfarmer]

Whats not to like with rifles, lesser recoil compared to shotguns and way more accurate.

[Will_C]

I have a Remington 11-87 with a cantilevered rifled barrel, Leupold 1-4x scope. I killed 13 deer with it and around 5-6 with an Ithaca Deerslayer. Neither have left the safe since rifles became legal in 2005.

[Lawdwaz]

32 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

I've killed plenty of deer with both and I have processed my own deer ( and other big game ) since the mid 1960s....

I have a lot of respect for the killing power of shotgun slugs,  but  given  good shot placement,  properly designed rifle bullets in appropriate weights at appropriate velocities  just plain MESS UP more  stuff inside a game animal....

Dead is dead,  but good rifle bullets kill just as well as shotgun slugs with GOOD shot placement, and kill BETTER  with marginal shot placement, and they do it three or four times farther away... 

 

Thank you..........

[Daveboone]

Hunting southern tier I have shot alot of deer with 12 gauge slugs, including many heart shots. Darn things still would run heart shot dead on their feet for a good hundred feet. There is no doubt that a 12 gauge recoil is about as stiff recoil as ever handed out, and they are more difficult to mount a scope to. Once our ST area went ok for rifles, we never looked back, shoot less and get more deer. 

[mowin]

Lived in rifle zone all my life. Would never consider using a shotgun. Lots of fields in my spots. Taken deer out to 325yrds. Shotgun just wouldn't fit here. Can't ever remember seeing someone toting a shotgun in the 40+yrs I've been hunting.

[rob-c]

I have thought about getting the 870 out now and again. But I enjoy using my super red hawk more . 

[wolc123]

I only use shotguns, because the law won’t allow rifles in the wmu where I live and hunt the most.  I cant think of any other reason why I would deliberately choose a shotgun for deer.   
 

Rifle ammo is cheaper, range and accuracy is better, and recoil is less.  None of the deer that I killed with my rifle was able to take even a single step after the bullets struck.  I can’t say that about my shotguns.     
 

The one thing I do appreciate about shotguns, is that they don’t destroy too much meat, if your shot don’t hit exactly where you want it go.  

[mowin]

14 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

The one thing I do appreciate about shotguns, is that they don’t destroy too much meat, if your shot don’t hit exactly where you want it go.  

And how can you confirm that? What experience do you have above and beyond the 2 you butchered that were poorly hit with a 243? 

I've seen dozens of 20, 16, and 12g do some damage that would make a . 300 win mag blush. 

And your only sentence that makes sense, if you're shot doesn't hit exactly where you wanted.

Regardless of slug, caliber, your loosing meat, and both would be a equal loss. 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by mowin

[Larry]

I use a rifle because I have one. I didn’t go out and buy one when the area I hunt went to rifle. I still use my shotgun when I hunt the thick stuff. I would never feel under gunned using a shotgun.

If I were asked buy someone new to hunting, that could only afford one gun. I would tell them to buy a good 12ga pump with two barrels’ one bird and one slug. I would also tell them to put a decent piece of glass on the slug barrel. Now you can hunt anything you want in NY. The only reason I said 12ga and not a 20ga is the 12 is better on waterfowl over big water.

[wolc123]

1 minute ago, mowin said:

And how can you confirm that? What experience do you have above and beyond the 2 you butchered that were poorly hit with a 243? 

I've seen dozens of 20, 16, and 12g do some damage that would make a . 300 win mag blush. 

 

I have butchered about 10 that were killed with rifles and close to a hundred that were killed with shotguns.  

The one you are referring to, that my neighbor hip shot with his .243, had a good order of magnitude more meat damage than any of the shotgun kills that I have cut up.

The Bushnell Banner scope on my Marlin 512 went bad on me a few years ago, resulting in two hits about 15” to the left of my intended point of impact, one just under and the other thru the spine above the guts. Those Hornady Sst’s  hit from a hundred yards away.  They bloodied up a chop or two.  
 

I honestly can’t think of any that I butchered, and were killed with shotguns, where there was extensive meat damage.    
 

I will try to take some pictures for you this year, because you sound a little skeptical.  When was the last time you butchered one that was killed with a shotgun ?

[chrisw]

I hate slug hunting. Just because it's a big chunk of lead doesn't mean any more efficiency in killing power. I've seen a lot of deer lost with slugs, due to a variety of reasons. The reasons I hate them, is accuracy is shit generally speaking compared to rifles, they drop quickly, limited range, heavy recoil, heavier guns typically. I'd be happy if I never slug gun hunted again. I'll gladly choose a muzzleloader over a slug gun and I do. Thankfully all of the areas I primarily hunt are rifle now.

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