Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Small area caliber choice?

Had good luck in the smoothbore days w M500s out to 150 yards.
Went 870 when rifled bbls came out.
WW Hi Impact Supremes were sub 2" at 100.
Good to shake the snot out of the sinuses too.

They dropped that slug and I sold my gun.
Had two 870s I ran w that ammo.
Wicked good.

Last slug deer was w 870P.....and Activ slugs.
Just an old school fun hunt. Double lung and busted off shoulder.....100" eight point ran 125 yards total.

Surprised me. Blasted him at 25 from a stand

Dont mind shotguns at all.
Like rifles better

I'm fortunate. My old 38-40 still shoots pretty accurate.

Jerry

Has no soul.

Sure! I was trying to come up with someone more esoteric and came up empty.

Slug guns are very powerful within their limited range of approx 100 yards. They'll clobber any animal within North America, but deer are not difficult to topple. Recoil is quite stout with these shotguns and may dissuade hunters from practicing with them. I vote for the 30-30 as a proven deer cartridge. As stated by others, the reduced decibel level may be just what you're seeking.

Majority of my deer hunting within the past few years has been with my modern crossbow fitted with a 4X scope sight. I hunt from a climbing type tree stand about 12 feet off the ground with great success.

Good hunting to you!
Sherwood

That would be a bow hunting proposition for me.

Nine acres is nice, but it still is pretty close to neighbors. If in square shape, one square acre is about 70 yards x 70 yards. So nine acres would be 3 x 70 yards or 210 yards x 210 yards. That means of you are smack can in the middle, your property line is just over 100 yards in any direction.

Go with the shotgun slug, 12 gauge Deerslayer or your 20 gauge Rem 870.

Consider archery for that piece of property. Southwest Archery Spyder XL takedown recurve, about $150. Get a set of 40# limbs for hunting, and 30-35# for practice ( about $80/set). Great bow. AMO 64" smooth drawing length.

300 BO or 350 Legend

I like the .30-30 in the '99 option. But I'd think about those 130 grains. They aren't really made to expand at .30-30 speeds and may hold together better. I'd go with some Core Lokt 150s as in Remington factory .30-30 ammo. It'll probably expand faster at .30-30 velocities.

I'd be all over a .357 Mag rifle for this scenario.
That and/or a crossbow.

I didn't read all the responses but I have 8 acres and pretty much same situation. I hunt with a ruger 77/44 95% of the time

I would use the same one I'd use in a large area. It's either safe to use a firearm or it's not.

I have 10 acres. Killed several deer, also hogs, with a Savage 99 .300 Savage. Have also killed two bucks with a .270. For hogs, mostly use a TC .44 mag with a suppressor firing suppressed loads.

Mostly very careful of shot direction.

Mike Holmes

Agree from a safety standpoint. But noise is also a consideration, if you want to be considerate of your neighbors...

I guess I'm not understanding why the neighbor would care if you used a 30-30 or .300. If it's not safe for one of them it's not for the other. What am I missing?

Some equate louder noise with more danger. Kids or babies sleeping? Dogs? Depends on the neighbors. Some it might bother. Some not. If it were me, and I had a quieter option that was just as effective ( e.g. 30/30 vs 300 WM) I would use it. YMMV

Archery would be the obvious choice. Bow or Xbow. Not a fan of the latter. But if you want a bang, i would shoot a 44 mag lever action with a defense load (wider hollow point). I shoot a lot of game w a 44 revolver with a red dot. I open up the Hornady XTP tips to 1/8" and 0,200" deep with a drill on a drill press. Bullet rarely exits on a shoulder shot and the wide hollow point aids in expansion and dumps them in their tracks every time if i hit the vitals. I bought a 44 lever gun last year to try something different.

But I agree with the ones that said to shoot from up high. only makes sense.

SnT

223 ,,, 40 gr vmax

Noise level of one shot fired from a .223 vs one shot fired from a .375 would not concern me. What happens after the shot does.

Poor placement, marginal power, and/or poor bullet selection resulting in a dead/dying animal on your neighbor's lawn........or in his swimming pool (yes)........will be a concern.

More than anything else, place the bullet well.