Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Shotgun suggestions

So I may join the club I visited this past weekend. They do a lot of dog hunting, which for those unfamiliar is a driven hunt where deer are pushed towards folks on “stand”. Weapon of choice is shotguns with buckshot. Shots are close in range and very quick on moving game. This leads me to an excuse to buy a new/used gun. I’m thinking older 870 or Mossberg 500. Something cheap but tough that I don’t mind banging around in back of a Jeep or on a 4wheeler rack. Any suggestions on other models to look at? Not opposed to an auto loader but want to keep cost down.

I grew up hunting deer with hounds and we all carried shotguns as well as rifles in our trucks. If you are stuck with factory ammo, the 3" 12ga 000 buck was hands down the best killer IME. I had great luck with Federal Premium Copper Plated 3" 000 with 9 pellets in a Winchester 1300 with flush modified choke or an 1187 with flush modified. My best patterning shotgun was a Mossberg 835 with 28" bbl, Northwind ext mod choke, and Federal Premium 3.5" #1 buck. That combo would put 18 pellets in the kill zone at a whopping 50yds, but I still liked the terminal effect of the much larger 000 buck.

If you are a hand loader, I would suggest a 20ga loaded with 18g/cc Tungsten #2 or BB size shot. A fast 1oz load will give full penetration on deer past 100yds. Just keep in mind the patterns will be very tight at normal ranges. Those small pellets will penetrate so much better than lead buckshot. Lead buck normally doesn't exit, TSS does.

Regardless of your choice, it is imperative that you pattern the gun on large sheets of paper. Not many shotguns shoot true to bead and you must find what ammo and choke your gun prefers. You may have 10 people tell you a certain load is the best, but your gun may prefer something totally different. Once you find what combo gives you the most dense pattern at 40yds, you can ease back in 5yd increments to see where the pattern falls apart. I personally wouldn't feel very confident in using a load that didn't consistently place 4-5 pellets in a 10" circle with say #1+ lead at a given range. You owe it to the game to find out the true range limitations of your chosen gun/ammo as buckshot will certainly wound at further distance.

Good Luck,

FWIW this buck was killed at 32yds this season with lead #2 buck from a 20ga. The patterns on paper proved it was possible:


loder

I have a REM 1100 with a deer barrel w. rifle sights. It swings very nicely and has always been great on deer at close range. Otherwise, an 870 with the same type of barrel.

Anyone ever try the Tri Ball from Dixie Slugs?

http://www.dixieslugs.com/products.html

Best patterning combo I've tried is an old Rem 870 police magnum, 20 in IC barrel, with 2.75 in Federal flitecontrol 00 buck. 4 inch pattern at 25 yds. I was surprised by how tight it shot. But, I don't hunt deer with shotguns, so can't give you any kill results.

I’ll second that. My 870 police cyl bore puts up extremely tight patterns with Federal Flight Control and Hornady TAP. Can’t comment on capping deer with those loads.

What R7RM said was spot on. Pattern whatever shotgun you decide on with different brands and size buckshot. The best I ever saw was an old Westernfield 12 ga. pump, and it only shot 2 3/4" shells. Super X 00 buckshot was the thing.

One of my shotguns likes Rem 2 3/4 #1's the best. The other likes 3" Federal #4's the best.

You just got to pattern them. I always took full sheets of newspaper, drew me a 1' square in the middle of the sheet with a magic marker, and hung it on a barbwire fence. Stepped off 40 yds and shot at the square. Looking for the brand/size that put the most pellets in the square.

It would hit like the hammer of Thor. My gun shot 4" patterns @ 40 yards with it and 12" patterns @ 90 yards. I quit using it 'cause I kept missing. Acted more like a slug than buckshot.

I have run hounds for deer my whole life and it is my preferred method of hunting. A mossberg or 870 Rem would be a good choice. Nothing wrong with an auto either, if you know it and keep it clean. I'd pick your gun, then start with a full choke tube (this year several of us have been using Kicks Buck Kicker tubes with great results. The good thing about the Kicks tubes is that the company will swap out the tube until you get the kind of patterns you are looking for.) Then get as many sizes and brands of buckshot as you can and spend time (and $) patterning it. You can about guarantee you will have to order buckshot to get a good selection of quality stuff. I personally wouldn't use anything smaller than #1, with the exception maybe of the TSS stuff mentioned above. Keep in mind, with the TSS stuff, you will probably be in it almost $10 a shell.

Don't settle for OK patterns, or believe a lot of what you read on the internet about buckshot and buckshot patterns. I have found several gun/choke combos that will put all or almost all of the pellets in 10-14" @ 40 yards. It just takes time and $. I have had the best luck with a 000 load in 3" guns or Rem 00 in 3.5" through a full choke.

I shoot a Benelli SBE2 with a 24" barrel and a buck kicker full choke. I also hand load a 3.5" 16 pellet 00 load running 1250 fps. This combo will put all the pellets in 12" @ 40 yards, and 20" @ 60 yards.

For a pump gun, I always liked the Ithaca/Browning bottom eject.

As others have said pattern and check POA vs POI. I use a 4x4 piece of paper with a 4" orange dot in the center. Shoot from a bench rest. A good used gun with screw in chokes should work fine. Buy what fits you best.

Remington 870 Supermag Kick's Buckkicker choke and Remington 3 1/2" 00 . Legitimate 65 yd deer gun

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can never go wrong with an Rem 870 or 1100.

Saw a YouTube video a couple years back where the guy whacked a mulie doe with that Fed Flight Control load way past what I would've considered effective range. Open choke IIRC too. Very impressive.

I killed my first deer with my 20 gauge 870 wingmaster.

If you can find an older Browning pump, it will have a magazine cutoff and a tang safety. I quail hunted with them for years and years. Best pump out there in my opinion. Bottom eject is nice, hulls are right at your feet. The magazine cutoff is really handy too.

Mossberg 835
3 1/2” shells or 5 2 3/4” in give and 1 in the chamber.

I have killed 4 deer with buckshot and 3 were with a 12 gauge Browning Citori Lighting Feather - my upland bird gun. It’s what I had available I have a Remington 870 that I took the other with. It’s heavy and clunky but an 870 is a great value.

I have harvested numerous whitetailed deer with 00 buck over the last 20 years with and 1187 3" the most recent have been with a Trulock boarblaster choke. Last fall that combo broke both shoulders on a 130+ pound buck at approx 35yards. Its a pretty lethal combination.it may be particular to certain loads in your shotgun. Mine puts 9 or 10 out of 15 in a 10"circle at 30 yards.

If I had to start over that Benelli Nova pump is pretty special.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

Old model 870’s are my favorites. Followed closely by the old Ithaca model 37. The 870 is tougher, but the Ithaca is a joy to carry in the field.