Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting #1 Buckshot vs. deer??

I'm gonna try some of this Remington 12ga. #1 buckshot November 17th on private land.16 pellets and still respectable size pellets.I use a smooth bore with a slug,always my first shot.I use buckshot only for follow up shots. The deer is either going to drop or run.That's when I like the buckshot for a little something extra on the run.I had no problems with 00 buck,But there is 4 more pellets flying with the #1's.Has anyone had experience with this load??

Limit myself to 40 yards, #4 nickel plated buck has killed every deer I've ever shot at.

I don't use big stuff because I"d rather a bunch of holes be in the deer, than looking for 1-2 big ones...

I have shot some hogs with 1 because it was all I could find at taht time... couldn't tell much difference.

Used No 1 all my life. No complaints.

# 4 buck works great in thick stuff also

I use the 12ga 2 3/4" short mag load , 20 pellets,#1 buck
Works for me


Mike

I killed my first deer with #1 Buck. It will work fine within its limited range.

6mm250-What load/Brand are you speaking of?/12ga. 2 3/4 short mag 20 pellets of #1 buck.Sounds like a nasty load!!!I thought the max pellet count was 16.

#1 works quite well. The Federal Premium 3.5" #1s pattern much better than both #4 and 00 in my 835 with an extended modified choke. Out of Win 3.5 #4, Rem 3.5 00, Win 3.5 00, and the Fed Premium #1s at 50yds, the #1s were a no brainer. That particular set-up places multiple hits in the kill zone out to 75yds. It's only been tested on one buck just past 40 and did quite well.

I used to just use either 000 or 00 and a mod choke. I never patterned them, just killed any deer less than 50yds with ease. After patterning the 835 it was an eye opener as to how pathetic some of the patterns were. Higher pellet count doesn't mean squat, shoot them at large(36x36) pieces of paper to find what really works in your rig.

Good Luck

loder

I grew up dog hunting here in the lowcountry of South Carolina.
Very few folks even owned a deer rifle, and still hunting from a elevated stand was unheard of.
South Carolina also has one of the most liberal hunting seasons, in the country. Aug 15th-Jan 1st, no limit on bucks.
so when we talked about guns and deer hunting it was usually around the side by sides, vs auto loaders-pumps, and buckshot sizes.

#1 buck was, and still is quite popular around here, and is deadly as hell. I wouldn't even venture a guess as to how many deer I've killed, or seen killed with a load #1 buck. Winchester Super X was by a wide margin, the most popular buckshot load, but when the Federal Premium copper plated buckshot hit the market, that's what most guys switched to. That stuff will roll a deer at 60 yrds with no problem.
I absolutely agree with taking a few different loads out and patterning them. Some guns will shoot 00 buck best, while others prefer 0, or #1's

2-3/4" guns are just fine for deer. I hunted with a Browning light 12 and a LC Smith SxS for years and never had a problem with killing power. Hittin them, well, that's a whole nudder story...

Winchester & Federal both load 20 pellets of #1 buck in a 2 3/4" shell.

Mike

Didn't Capstick advocate #1 Buck over 00 for use in dispatching wounded dangerous big cats in Africa?

Never hunted deer with buckshot but have been intrigued by it.

In the Super X Line, No. 1.. 2 3/4 loads had a higher velocity although not as many pellets as the 3" (16 vs. 24)

The velocity of the 3" shells was around 1040, the velocity of the 2 3/4 shells was around 1400 fps.

I always shot the 2 3/4 in an auto 5. I opted for the higher speed vs. more pellets.

(6mm250) I looked into the #1 pellet buckshot in Winchester and Federal.There is no 12GA. 2 3/4 Short mag that has 20 pellets.Only 16.Maybe you had bought them a while back.Because there is none currently on there websites.The 3 inch mag- 12ga. holds 24 pellets in #1.I'll stick with my 2-3/4 plenty of firepower for me.

When I was about 13, an old man that took me hunting would only use #1Buck Special.
IIRC they were made by Winchester and must have been worse than Thors hammer as that old dude killed a bunch of deer in front of the dogs.
Don't know where he ordered them from as I never have seen any on the shelf..

Have killed deer out to 45yds with #1 Buck, 2-3/4" 16 pellet 12ga. and 12 pellet 16ga.

Seems the demand for #1 and O Buck is declining. Federal has dropped all it;s 2-3/4" #1 & 0 loads. Winchester still offers it's 16 pellet Super x load (my favorite).

Remington is the only one of the Big 3 to still offer a 2-3/4" 0 buck load, but they only produce occasional runs of it. They still offer a 2-3/4" 16 pellet #1 load. They have dropped the 16ga. #1 Buck load. Winchester & Federal still have it.

#1 and 0 Buck have always performed better for me than 00 or 000. Never had much use for #4 Buck.

for what it's worth, in high school I did a science project involving wound volume tests in ballistic gelatin (had half a keg of that stuff leftover, but don't know where it went). #1 was my top rated stuff in terms of total wound volume. Never shot anything with it though.

Hell of a good coyote load...

#00=.35
# 0=.32
# 1=.30

And too, in the shotguns I've used, the #1 buck patterns much better than the #00.

What kind of choke are you guys using? Do use barrels with rifle sights?

thanks,


Okie John

In the late 50's when I started deer hunting there were few deer & virtually all the hunting was with shotguns & using hounds to push the brush. I have shot a lot of deer with buckshot & seen lots of deer killed at hunting camps. Two major problems in my opinion. Frequently hunters take shots too long & most never pattern their shotguns. One club I belonged to in south east Virginia had a black board with the names of hunters that either missed or wounded deer that escaped. With about 75 members there would be over 100 names with some members listed 4-8 times. I have used virtually all sizes of shot at one time or another & prefer 00 buck in a 3" magnum shell. No buckshot load kills like a rifle bullet. I have seen lots of dead deer in the woods from being shot in the a$$. Since so many deer hunters trespassed with their dogs this method has significantly declined in the states I hunt (Virginia, NC,& occasionally SC).