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scotjute · November 25, 2002, 02:57 PM

Snakelover,
I've always hunted with 12 gage 2 3/4" shells til about 3 yrs ago. Prefer #0 or #1. Never # 4Buck (too small) nor # 00 or 000 (not enough pellets). My shotgun has 28" full choke barrell and have another with polychoke. Basic range is about 60 yds. tho you might go out a tad further. This has been a very effective weapon for deer. My longest kill was at 50 yds.
I've tried slugs but felt like they only extended range another 10-20 yards and they kicked like a mule. Uusally there are only 3-5 pellets actually in the deer, and they're close to the size of a .22 slug. That hasn't been a problem. For longer range type shooting I now use 6.5x55 rifle.
Recommend you try your picked shell on cardboard to determine your maximum range/pattern. For deer on drives, the shooting if one comes your way, will be very fast. The greater spread of a # 1 or # 0 would be beneficial.

November 25, 2002, 02:57 PM	#20
scotjute Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2001 Location: texas Posts: 260	Snakelover, I've always hunted with 12 gage 2 3/4" shells til about 3 yrs ago. Prefer #0 or #1. Never # 4Buck (too small) nor # 00 or 000 (not enough pellets). My shotgun has 28" full choke barrell and have another with polychoke. Basic range is about 60 yds. tho you might go out a tad further. This has been a very effective weapon for deer. My longest kill was at 50 yds. I've tried slugs but felt like they only extended range another 10-20 yards and they kicked like a mule. Uusally there are only 3-5 pellets actually in the deer, and they're close to the size of a .22 slug. That hasn't been a problem. For longer range type shooting I now use 6.5x55 rifle. Recommend you try your picked shell on cardboard to determine your maximum range/pattern. For deer on drives, the shooting if one comes your way, will be very fast. The greater spread of a # 1 or # 0 would be beneficial.