Number 4 lead shot, according to a friend does very well and does not penetrate like buck shot .
Killed my first buck with it at about 15 yards as a kid while squirrel hunting. It came bounding by and when it made a big jump to clear the same dry branch in Piney Creek bottom I threw up my lawn money bought Monkey Ward brand pump and fired, figuring it couldnt dodge from my movement while in midair.
The pattern centered low behind the left shoulder and took the front legs and feet and heart and lungs and ribs. Another shot took him while still in midair in the lumbar spine ahead of the hips.
It had made its last steps and leap, crashing into the dead leaves and white sand that had washed down the branch from the nearby hills and there, it became mine.
