Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

Those that lampoon slug guns are sorely mistaken. Yes, they have their limitations, but how many deer in Minnesota are really shot at long range. We're not all sitting on the edge of a bean field or looking down a pipe line or power line. Shots inside the woods seldom test the long range capabilities of most firearms or shooters for that matter. The new slug guns can reach out further, and with greater accuracy than the older smooth bore and Foster slug set ups. As Berettaman said, we do give up a bit on the long range side of things, but these new rigs are very accurate to those that know how to make them perform.

I have two slug guns-an old smoothbore 870 and a Mossy 500. The 870 has the barrel silver soldered to the frame and wears a Leupie base and rings, and a Weaver K 1.5x-4.5x. It shoots one hole groups at 50 yards and 2" groups at 100 yards. Sighted in 3" high at 50 yards puts it 3" low at 100 yards. My little Mossy is a plain jane 500 that I added a cantilever rifled ported barrel to. I'm still working on loads for this gun, but it shoots inch groups at 100 yards with Hornandy SST loads. 'Haven't had a chance to take it out to 200 yards yet.

There are no such rules here in South Carolina as to whether to use rifle or shotgun in different areas. I have opportunities to use either/both depending on whether I hunt really thick places or open areas. Also I have had the experience of jumping up a deer going to or coming from a stand. My main deer firearm is a Baikal MP-94 over/under. The top barrel is 12 gauge with screw in choke tubes and the bottom barrel is .308 WIN. It is topped with an extended eye relief 1.5-4.5X32 Simmons scope. I have found it to be very accurate with either rifle barrel or shotgun barrel.
Actually this is my "one" gun which I feel is good for any game in season.

Stan in SC

but you can use buckshot can't you?

in the slug zones in MN it's a solid slug only. maybe it's that way in SC too, I ton't know. I do know buckshot is legal in many southern states.

Buckshot or slugs are legal. I carry buckshot going into a stand and change over to a Brenneke "KO" slug when I get there. Coming out I revert to buckshot.
The average shot in the upstate in the woods is 40 yards.

Stan in SC

Buckshot or slugs are legal. I carry buckshot going into a stand and change over to a Brenneke "KO" slug when I get there. Coming out I revert to buckshot.
The average shot in the upstate in the woods is 40 yards.

Stan in SC

that's what I thought, sounds about like Virginia then. I was stationed there for 3 years. blew my mind when I first learned they used buckshot.

kinda like when I moved to SD and learned road hunting was legal for small game and turkeys. just seemed wrong to me because I grew up with it being illegal.

I still can't bring myself to do it

Quoted for truth.

The "culture" of our shotgun zone hunters is quite different than that in the rifle zone.

I did the shotgun zone once (other than muzzle-loading season, which is obviously quite a different animal) and won't do it again unless I am on about a zillion acres of private land. Alone.

Fixed

I grew up hunting the shotgun zone. Never hunted the first two day season always hunted the 4 day second weekend. The farmers I knew all did the first and let me hunt the second worked well for me. I was always invited to hunt with them but liked to be on my own.

I'm really not sure why someone would want to from rifle back to shotgun. Kinda weird IYAM, but nobody did. there were plenty of shotgun area near my place in WI, but we were in rifle. A few years ago, they switched to rifle and nobody I know or heard of wants to switch back.

I wish we would switch to rifle where I hunt. (South of 10)

If they did, I doubt people would want it switched back.

Well you guys in eastern ND are weird, so who knows.

Dave,

I'm assuming it was too cold for an ice castle break, this last weekend ?

Damn near froze me butt to the living room couch !

Im just happy we can now use 22 centerfire for deer.

I have traveled over to the rifle zone 3 miles away and took a doe with my 22-250. There was more damage there than when I have shot deer with shotguns or or my 7mm mag. That little bullet makes a mess and definately kills.

We could have pulled it off but I prefer to not have the fam out there when I know its going to dip under -30. The smaller lp tanks don't have the capacity to overcome that kind of cold, they usually do fine when full but you are likely to have troubles if you try to run one out before switching tanks. The thin walls of the fish house, it would work, we could stay warm but the furnace would never stop running. All of this, and also the vehicles, and the little Honda generator, nothing performs perfectly in those temps.

That's a lot of cold to keep that many mechanicals running without issue.

tzone

Here is this years forky with the mighty 338. I had not used it on anything since 07 so this year it went deer hunting.

That looks liken to worked better for you than the deer.