Buckshot for Deer?

i have a trade rifle in about 18 gage can a person shoot 00 buck in the gun and cleanly take deer to about 40 yds or should i use a round ball thanks Jerry

take a round ball.

Buckshot is good to about 20 to 25 yards, then it spreads too far to be effective.

Many Klatch

First check to see if it is legal to use multiple projectiles for deer in your area. It is not in NY.

Shot is a close range proposition. 20 yards or so.

I'd highly recommend a round ball.

If you really care for the game that you are hunting, you would never use "buck shot" 00 type shot.
It only maims and cripples with a slow miserable death.
One single ball in the stomach or lung will cause a long and slow death.
Please use a ball!
Fred

use a ball you will be more happy with it.You may be close enough that buck will work ok but to 60 yds your 1 ball is a good clesn killer. I've never had a deer run more then 100yds and afew droped right there. Buck will kill for sure but you need to be close or you'll leave the deer a slow death :nono:

Unless you are in an area that requires shot loads, you should honor the deer and use a properly placed roundball. It is by far a more effective load, and one that will bring you much more success!

I have never shot a smooth bore and the last thing I want to do is to wound something So thanks very much for the good advice Jerry

If I was to,,,, it would be under 20yds and no less than 10gauge!

B.

I may have miss spoke on my post, I've never used buck shot and I hope any smoothbore hunter is using ball even if buckshot is leagle. Buck shot will kill a deer,as will a 22. however both hunter and game are best served by a single ball. I'm all for hc/pc but this is one point I would differ from the old timers I would never use buck shot even though they did and killed deer with it. :v

it is legal to use buckshot in muzzleloading smoothbores here as long as its 60 cal or larger. however for the reasons stated above i dont think i ever would.

-Matt

Crapshooter...I have killed plenty of deer with buckshot, here in NC it's quite legal and as we have hunters that run deer with dogs buckshot has been used since the 1700s..

That being said, I can get a great group out to 40 yards but it's with my Browning B-80...

I doubt if you will be able to get a good group out to 40 yards with a traditional muzzleloader...

Thats why it's CALLED buckshot. Back in the day, way before my time, my Grandpa shot MANY deer using buck shot. However it was with a modern, extra full choke, shotgun. I have heard my Grandma say in the past that they were forever picking buckshot out of the deer meat. Both Grandma and Grandpa are gone now..as are the methods of shooting deer in the state of Ohio with 00 Buckshot. If you going to attempt it and assuming it's legal in your state, make sure you have an extremely tight pattern.
Just my 2 cents

The buck shot load is an argument that will never be settled but it is true in the South buck shot was standard with dogs. I think Rutledge killed around 300 deer with buck shot but the main thing is it is a close range only deal. In some southern "jungles" 30 yards is a long shot. The closest deer I shot was about TWEVLE feet away. A load of buckshot at that range is used in Africa to stop a charging lion.
Now a days- I think you ought to see how a single ball patterns. If you are getting any sort of accuracy it would be the better choice.

I dinked with "buckshot" in a 62 cal and a Bess- actually it was .310 shot in the 62 and .350 in the Bess. In the 62 it worked out that four layers of 3 shot each (total 12) was best. In the Bess I thought I could go six layers of 3, but actually got better patterns with 5 layers, or a total of 15.

"Best" is relative. I got patterns with the 62 that I'd use to 20 yards, max 25 yards. In the Bess I'd go 30 yards and no further.

Best combos in both featured a lubed Type A card under the shot and a pair of overshot cards on top, and as much corn meal as I could vibrate down among the shot. Total loading time after arranging the shot as you loaded, adding corn meal and all was somewhere north of 5 minutes per load.

Saying all that, a bud of mine is kind of a buckshot specialist with his modern gun. He grew up in an area that required it, so fully appreciates its range limits. He loads his own using hardened 000 buck, poly filler and just the right choke. With his best performing loads ( 3 1/2" 12 gauge) and a whole lot of pattern testing, he says he can reliably put at least three shot into the chest of a buck at 40 yards. He therefore limits his shooting to 35 yards.

BTW- I used his 3 shot in the vitals as a standard for rating my own loads. He was quit impressed with the range I got with the two muzzleloaders, but I wasn't. He won't hunt with the ML because of the reload time. He's pretty quick to shuck another round off after the first shot to limit trailing distance. Ain't a possibility with a ML unless you're shooting a double.

I totally agree... keep it close with buckshot. For the record...I would suggest using a roundball over buckshot. I don't worry too much about the suffering, nor do I much care how long it takes the deer to die. However, using the roundball gives the hunter a much more effective range.

S.kenton said:

I don't worry too much about the suffering, nor do I much care how long it takes the deer to die.

Click to expand...

:hmm:

When I kill a chicken or lamb for the table I try and do it quickly and with minimal suffering. Not because I love chickens, but because I respect living things. Killing should be done swiftly and efficiently. Same with game animals, mice in traps and flies on the picnic table. I care a great deal about a swift kill administered as painlessly as possible.

And that minimizes the chance of loss and waste as well. Even with a bow that kills by hemmorage a deer collapses in 10 seconds with a proper shot. Go for that proper shot or pass and try again when conditions improve. Don't take low yield shots unless you're starving.

Meat from an animal killed fast and stress free is better than meat from an animal that takes awhile to die or that knew it was coming.

I have been raising chickens for years (and I used to raise rabits) and the differance is very obvious when you compare them.

My son and I used a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of note book paper as a gauge with buck shot. We backed off until we could no longer get 5 shot into the paper. Out od a modified barrel it was 30 yards. He got his 5 point at 25 and it was a very humain kill.

One thing though. I would rather test your rifle with a round ball load and get a feel for it's and your accuracy. You may suprise yourself. I see the use of buck shot for hunting but like light recoil rifles it is used as a short cut sometimes.

I did not word that right...What I shoulda said is that at close range (20 to 30 yrds) Buckshot is as effective (according to my Grandpa) as the roundball. The suffering will be nearly the same by using both means of dispatching a deer, as long as the bullet is placed correctly as well as the buckshot is patterned well.