Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Question for the slug gunners??

I have a 220 with VX3 3x9. I would feel comfortable to 150 yards, but where I hunt the likelihood of getting that shot is extremely rare. Both my son and I have the same gun and we have killed a few deer with them. They are deadly.

Look through the "16 gauge society" in the shotgun reloading forum here in the fire. Little sifting will garner some very good info...

i have killed one doe at 153 yards with my 870 12 ga rifled slug gun. My H&R 12 ga. ultra slug, 209 yards. many more much closer but those are my farthest shots!

I used to hunt shotgun only areas in VA frequently, and I used a Mossberg 500 slug gun shooting Hornady SST saboted slugs.

I felt comfortable under field conditions to 100 yards. I killed several deer with that setup, including my first deer. I think my longest shot was about 75 yards.

I was preparing to buy a Savage 220 slug gun when I happened to obtain permission to hunt a decent amount of private land very close to my house, which was in a rifle area. The slug gun went in the safe snd has never come back out.

If I had it all to over again, I would have purchased a 220 as soon as they hit the market, found a load it liked then stockpile a bunch of that ammo.

I hunt Virginia shotgun-only areas and limit myself to about 100 yard. But that's because I am shooting open-sights or zero-power red dots. I have a low power variable optic on one slug gun, but its a smooth bore. I had a Savage 212 that would shoot 1" at 100 that I would have pushed to 150, but I no longer have that gun.

With my Ithaca M 87 Deerslayer with a 25” FIXED barrel and Bushnell 3-9x40 Trophy scope a nice doe never had a chance at 140 long paces. Ammunition was Federal Classic Sabot Slug sighted 2” high at 100 yds. It’s a deadly combination...

The lack of ammo is an issue, but after I've also decided I just like the gun. I have used an 870 as my dedicated turkey gun for over 20 years, but I just don't like one for long range shots. So I will see if I can find a slug barrel for my TC pro-hunter and go from there for my next arsenal hunt in 3 years or so.
The buck hunt Wed was fun but I did not fill my tag. I will go again.

I'm sure you are the only kid on your block with a 16ga rifled barrel. So you got that going for you. Too bad about not getting a buck. 3 years is a long time to wait and prepare and then not get one.

I actually saw Brenneke 16 gaue slugs for sale at Green Top Hunt and Fish in Richmond yesterday. I didn't even know they made 16 gauge slugs. I know there are, or were, fosters out there. But didn't know about Brennekes. Brennekes in 12 gauge are very good - accurate and deep penetrators. If I had a 16 gauge, I would have scarfed these up.

https://www.brennekeusa.com/hunting-ammunition/brenneke-16tm/

I got a nice white tail at 175 yards this year.

Savage 220 Remington sabots bushnell Forge scope.

Like said before zero it for 125 to 150 yards.

Should go over 200 with a good rest.

They are impressive

Did you see any shooters[out of range, etc]?

Also, what stand did you draw?

Pick up a Savage 220, a used Browning Abolt, or a Browning auto slug slinger.

I had 27, the same stand I had 5 years ago for the doe hunt, the only other time I've been there. It was foggy during the first couple of hours and very windy the rest of the day. I did not see any shooters or many deer for that matter from the stand. Last time out of that same stand I saw a monster at 185 yards about an hour in, and another shooter within range but would not have had a shot the way he came through.

There were tons of deer in the food plots on the ride out. Lots of shots in the afternoon. They take you straight to the gate at closing so I really don't know what was shot.

I killed a decent OH buck at an honest 188 paces with an 870 Magnum Express, open sighted rifled barrel and Winchester BRI slug. Just had to hold a couple of feet over his back.

I shoot a Remington 11-87 12 ga cantilevered barrel rifled choke tube and killed about 50 deer with it using a Federal 2 3/4” sabot slugs. Shoots about 3” at 100 yards. Can hit gongs at 150 yards with a 12 o’clock hold all day long. Longest kill was 100 yards!

The 220f is a game changer. I call it cheating in the shotgun zone.

Farthest kill shot to date has been 139 yards and it placed right at POA.

I have a Nikon Shotgun BDC scope on it and shoot Federal Sabots.

While very accurate, I had terrible luck with Remington Accu-tips. Bullet retention was horrible. Blood trails were non-existent. After grid searching to find a few deer, I gave up on them and went to Federal and the difference has been night and day. Now if I recover the slug, it's a perfect mushroom. The Accu-tips were little pieces of blown apart copper.

I know they work for others but not for me, for some reason.