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Hansam · August 5, 2012, 08:04 AM

I live in a state that requires shotgun/pistol/muzzle loader only in some counties for deer hunting during gun season. I also happen to live in one of those counties.

When it comes to hunting deer with a long gun though I'll go for my .308 any day over my shotgun. I do have a rifled barrel for my 12ga. and when I do hunt with the shotgun I use that and saboted brenneke style slugs. With a cantilever mounted scope I am confident of reliably hitting vitals out to 75 yards - that's about a 3" group at 75 yards. Some people will say they can shoot an inch at 100+ yards with their slug gun (my neighbor) but I've yet to see it actually done.

With my .308 (DPMS LR308) I can easily shoot under an inch at 100 yards and even out to 200 yards I can shoot 1" with good ammo. With your average off the shelf commercial BTSP ammo I get about 2" at 200 yards off a bench. Offhand I get about 3" at 200 yards. With MY rifle there's a guy at the range that shoots often who can pick off soda cans at 300 yards. Ok so he can do so with his rifle too but see I can't consistently do that with my rifle while he can. I guess that means I just have to practice and shoot more

Anyway I wouldn't even consider taking a shot at a soda can with a shotgun out past 75 yards.

In regards to hunting medium to large game with a shotgun I'd only do it if I HAD to. Not because it lacks sufficient killing power but because it lacks the range I'd like to have in order to make it a truly versatile gun for hunting. If I have a close shot I'd gladly take it. I want to be able to know though that if I had to take a longer shot I'd be able to take it too.

As to which is most lethal - umm well that'd be hard to decide. Up close the velocity of the .308 in a heavy SP (like a 180 grain) will cause an amazing amount of damage in soft tissue and will also penetrate the skulls of most animals too. It actually causes MORE damage than a 12ga. foster slug because of the sheer velocity and capacity to expand and penetrate at close ranges (out to 100 yards). While the 12ga. slug will penetrate and a foster slug has more of a tendency to expand the slug typically does not actually do more damage than a .308 out to 75 yards... in fact from what I've seen they both do about the same amount of damage at those distances. A brenneke style saboted slug (what I would shoot) doesn't deform very much at all at 75 yards. In fact the last time I shot a deer with my shotgun (about a 50 yard shot) it made a pretty nice clean hole all the way through the deer. It did tumble a bit - it went in with a clean circular hole and came out with a more rectangular exit hole but the exit hole itself was not much larger than the entry hole. The deer ran for about 75 yards and died. I rarely hunt deer with a shotgun but that was only two years ago during the antlerless deer season.

I've also shot more than a few deer at 75 or less yards with a .308. At 50 or so yards I shoot through with a .308 however the exit hole is considerably larger than the entry hole. The bullet had also tumbled and yawed - the entry hole was just above the heart and at a downward angle. The exit wound was just below the shoulder blade on the other side and was about the size of my hand - the bullet had hit a rib and taken a chunk of the rib out with it. This was with a 180 grain soft point. The deer fell where it stood. I shot a deer at 75 yards in the neck and the entry wound was .30 cal but the exit wound was huge - I'd say a couple of inches across. It had hit and in the short distance it traveled managed to take out with it arteries and wind pipe. That deer fell and died where it stood, sending up arterial blood spray for a few seconds after it fell.

August 5, 2012, 08:04 AM	#17
Hansam Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2012 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 763	I live in a state that requires shotgun/pistol/muzzle loader only in some counties for deer hunting during gun season. I also happen to live in one of those counties. When it comes to hunting deer with a long gun though I'll go for my .308 any day over my shotgun. I do have a rifled barrel for my 12ga. and when I do hunt with the shotgun I use that and saboted brenneke style slugs. With a cantilever mounted scope I am confident of reliably hitting vitals out to 75 yards - that's about a 3" group at 75 yards. Some people will say they can shoot an inch at 100+ yards with their slug gun (my neighbor) but I've yet to see it actually done. With my .308 (DPMS LR308) I can easily shoot under an inch at 100 yards and even out to 200 yards I can shoot 1" with good ammo. With your average off the shelf commercial BTSP ammo I get about 2" at 200 yards off a bench. Offhand I get about 3" at 200 yards. With MY rifle there's a guy at the range that shoots often who can pick off soda cans at 300 yards. Ok so he can do so with his rifle too but see I can't consistently do that with my rifle while he can. I guess that means I just have to practice and shoot more Anyway I wouldn't even consider taking a shot at a soda can with a shotgun out past 75 yards. In regards to hunting medium to large game with a shotgun I'd only do it if I HAD to. Not because it lacks sufficient killing power but because it lacks the range I'd like to have in order to make it a truly versatile gun for hunting. If I have a close shot I'd gladly take it. I want to be able to know though that if I had to take a longer shot I'd be able to take it too. As to which is most lethal - umm well that'd be hard to decide. Up close the velocity of the .308 in a heavy SP (like a 180 grain) will cause an amazing amount of damage in soft tissue and will also penetrate the skulls of most animals too. It actually causes MORE damage than a 12ga. foster slug because of the sheer velocity and capacity to expand and penetrate at close ranges (out to 100 yards). While the 12ga. slug will penetrate and a foster slug has more of a tendency to expand the slug typically does not actually do more damage than a .308 out to 75 yards... in fact from what I've seen they both do about the same amount of damage at those distances. A brenneke style saboted slug (what I would shoot) doesn't deform very much at all at 75 yards. In fact the last time I shot a deer with my shotgun (about a 50 yard shot) it made a pretty nice clean hole all the way through the deer. It did tumble a bit - it went in with a clean circular hole and came out with a more rectangular exit hole but the exit hole itself was not much larger than the entry hole. The deer ran for about 75 yards and died. I rarely hunt deer with a shotgun but that was only two years ago during the antlerless deer season. I've also shot more than a few deer at 75 or less yards with a .308. At 50 or so yards I shoot through with a .308 however the exit hole is considerably larger than the entry hole. The bullet had also tumbled and yawed - the entry hole was just above the heart and at a downward angle. The exit wound was just below the shoulder blade on the other side and was about the size of my hand - the bullet had hit a rib and taken a chunk of the rib out with it. This was with a 180 grain soft point. The deer fell where it stood. I shot a deer at 75 yards in the neck and the entry wound was .30 cal but the exit wound was huge - I'd say a couple of inches across. It had hit and in the short distance it traveled managed to take out with it arteries and wind pipe. That deer fell and died where it stood, sending up arterial blood spray for a few seconds after it fell. __________________ This is who we are, what we do. Last edited by Hansam; August 5, 2012 at 08:18 AM.