another slug topic..long

[hillhntr]

Last year I had some good luck with my smoothbore 12 gauge. It's a Mossberg 500. I had a doe walk right out in front of me and she was knocked flat and I really think died about the same time she hit the ground. There was no exit wound and it was a close shot. This year, however, I had a deer wander about 40 feet in front of me. I took aim and the deer jumped up and threw its head back real hard and took off. I had a young fellow with me who immediately yelled out in excitement and started after the deer (which we never found either because I missed or its adrenaline carried it farther than I would have guessed because of the "tracking" we did, but that will be reserved for another topic). Anyway, the point is, I don't think I'm getting as good a blood trail out of my gun. So, would you all recommend just getting a rifled barrel and using sabots, or just purchasing a rifle, like a 30-30? Recoil is not a problem with me, but the shotgun felt a mile long after using a 30-30 the next weekend. Sorry for the lengthy post, just curious what you all would do.

[Deertracker1]

I have a 12 gauge rifled bore and I use Lightfield Hybred exp. 2 3/4 sabot slugs.
My son got His first Deer with it this year 25 yards away Frontal shot, and it dropped like a bag of potatoes...

[lances]

I too have a rifled barrel and shoot federal 2 3/4 inch sabot slugs. I have got 8 deer with about as many shots. Most have bleed great the others did not have time, instant traking. It has a better track record than my 7 mag. I am looking at the new hornady SST.

[MrHank]

Either get a rifled barrel or a 30/30 they both will work great.

[fireduck]

I have a rem. 870 super mag with a rifled choke. I shot the cheap winchester 2 3/4 rifled slug. I have killed three bucks in three years on fort knox with no trackingg job. The farthest being 105 steps. This years deer dropped in its tracks with a golf ball size hole in its bottom side.:)

[Valley Station]

Forty feet, don't matter what your usin'. Plain ol' cheap, Foster type slugs work just fine within their range.
The key with anything is to put the shot in the kill zone and you don't have to worry about trackin'.
Knowing where your gun shoots or having adjustable sights/scope are the key to success.

[Deertracker1]

Forty feet, don't matter what your usin'. Plain ol' cheap, Foster type slugs work just fine within their range.
The key with anything is to put the shot in the kill zone and you don't have to worry about trackin'.
Knowing where your gun shoots or having adjustable sights/scope are the key to success.

You are right on this one...
But 40 feet does not happen everyday... yah...it will happen...
I opt for a little longer distance...(safer) 150 to 200 feet.:rolleyes:

[hillhntr]

"Forty feet, don't matter what your usin'. Plain ol' cheap, Foster type slugs work just fine within their range.
The key with anything is to put the shot in the kill zone and you don't have to worry about trackin'.
Knowing where your gun shoots or having adjustable sights/scope are the key to success."Valley Station


You're right about the 40 foot comment. I do know where my gun shoots and I've practiced a lot by trying to aim quick and the gun has been successful. I am assuming I somehow missed or hit it in just the right spot for the deer to make some distance before dying. I took aim just behind the shoulder, but again, I don't think having the young man with me take off after the deer as soon as I shot helped any, but I guess I could have prevented that with a better shot.
I'm looking into a rifled barrel as of now. Thanks for the advice.

[Hunter'06FlKY]

if you don't want to buy a rifled barrel or a rifle. you may want to look into the new federal true ball rifled slugs. i'm looking into getting some for my 870 to use down here in the swamps. they get alot bet accuracy than regular foster style stugs, or that's what federal claims. i have yet to try them out but plan to.

[hillhntr]

Thanks Hunter06'FlKy, I will look into those slugs. I'm now leaning over to getting a good rifle and scope combo so that I can kill the deer before they get right on top of me and see or smell me. I've noticed that I can usually spot them via sound our movement well before I'm seen. Again, fellas, I sure do appreciate all of the advice.

[Multidigits]

Rem. makes a rifled choke tube that works fairly well with sabots and pumpkin ball slugs. It also shoots their Buckhammer slug good. Some rifled choke tubes are available for other models except those with back-bored barrels.

[Scoony]

I have a Mossberg Semi with a rifled choke tube and scope mount that fits around the reciever. With BRI sabots, it shoots a 3 inch group at 75 yards.

This year I got a 20 ga. HR Ultra Slug. It shoots sabots 2 inch at 100 yards.

I get full penetration on deer with both of them, no tracking involved.

[Turkeyhunter4]

you cant gor wrong with the 30-30 marlin,

[ptbrauch]

Here's my experience with your situation. For years, I've hunted with a Mossberg 500 rifled barrel. Did it for economic reasons (for $130 I had a deer gun out of my shotgut). I've spent a lot of time on the range with it and first found that it didn't matter whether I shot foster-type or sabots. They performed about the same for me (what I did was shoot a 9" paperplate target at 100yds). That said, during deer season, I think my longest shot was maybe 40 yds. All the deer dropped immediately or only took a few steps--never left my sight.

This past year, I bought a .30-06 (finally had the money). Shot a deer at about 15 yds out from my stand. Shot it right through the lungs. After I shot it, I watched it run in a big circle while it tried to make its mind up about jumping a fence, jump the fence, and run down over the hillside. I've never seen a shot deer run so much. While it was running around, I saw the hole in both sides of its body. The bullet didn't expand much and the exit wound was really not much bigger than the entrance wound. As I was dragging the deer back up the hill my thought was that I didn't think it would've run so far if it had an ounce of lead in it.

After that, I shot another deer from over 100 yds away. Got it in the heart and still watched it run a little ways. I wouldn't have had a chance at it if I was shooting slugs (but then again, I wouldn't have been hunting in that spot if I was shooting slugs).

My thoughts are that if you want to knock 'em down, hit them with an ounce of lead. If you want to be able to reach out and say hello to one, get a high powered rifle. It really depends on where you're hunting and what kind of distances would be reasonable.

[eddiejohn4]

The 12 ga has plenty of ke to handle any deer. Deer are amazing animals sometimes they will drop other times they may bolt.But if you hit the deer right and take out both lungs the deer is only going to go so far,it is going to die.Always remember to stay with the tracking if you know you hit the deer good you will find it.