Purchasing my very first shotgun... What should it be?

[roach4047]

Well here's what we're looking at. I'm in the market for a shotgun that's primary purpose will be deer hunting in my home state of Ohio which consists of mostly open fields and plenty of densely wooded areas with small scattered clearings through out them. As I understand here in Ohio, when hunting deer, we're limited in our choice of fire arms weapons (No rifles); only shotguns and muzzle loaders. I've decided to go with a shotgun. I'm not much into primitive weapons just yet.

I'd like to hear from some of the more experienced hunters as to what shotgun would you purchase for hunting deer if you were limited to any new shotgun on the market today? I say new simply because I don't know enough about them to trust my judgement on purchasing a used one so I've decided to simply purchase new. You must pick something practical and ready to go right out of the box in order for it to best suit my purposes.

It can be pump, semi-auto, overunder...any make or model... what ever.


I'm looking forward to checking back on this thread to see what you've all recommended.

Roach

[lon371]

I prefer a Mossberg 500. Actually we have 3. Mine is a 12 gage and my boy has a 20 and my daughter has a 410. That said Remington 870 is a nice gun. With either brand, there are loads of barrel choices out there. This is the time to buy as well, so don't take long deciding. Seen a Mossberg combo(2 barrels 1 rifled and 1 smooth bore) on sale for $299.

Saying that this year I broke in a H&R Ultra Slug Hunter 20. Excellent gun great accuracy. Only thing is like the muzzle loader you have one shot, so know your gun.

By all means if you are possibly shooting over 100 yards, look at the muzzle loaders. They have came a long ways since the day of Flintlocks. They are now days as accurate as a rifle and not expensive or hard to shoot. There are days when I leave the shotguns at home and carry a Knight Disc rifle. Have put several deer in the freezer. Plus they are cheaper to shoot than a shotgun.

You may check into the prices of ammo, before you start your search. Shotgun slugs have went thru the roof.

Also check with your friends and neighbors. See if you can shoot theirs. Some guns just fit better, this is important.

Good luck and be safe.

Lonny

[roach4047]

Any thoughts on an Ithica 20 guage pump? I hear they're highly accurate @125+ yrds with their rifled barrels and Sabot slugs, and even pie pan accurate with certain .45 and .50 cal sabot rounds out to 200 yrds.... That's amazing.
I've been hearing lots of good things about the modern day muzzle loaders as well.

Roach

[zippy13]

You must pick something practical and ready to go right out of the box in order for it to best suit my purposes.

Buying a new shotgun can be like buying a new Sunday suit of clothes. You can try on every one on the rack; but, none fits perfectly without a little tailoring. There's no way you can buy a perfectly fitting suit for someone else. You'll have to chose your own shotgun, too. And, with an out-of-the-box shotgun, be prepared to have some alterations made for a proper fit.

Since Ohio doesn't permit the use of buck shot, you'll be using slugs. The present trend in slug guns is toward rifled barrels with sabot slugs. This is a costlier than a smooth bore with conventional slugs, but many argue the increased performance is well worth the extra cost.

Rifled barrel slug guns tend to be pumps and auto-loaders with interchangeable barrels. I'm not familiar with any standard production doubles with rifled barrels. For three quick shots, sabot shooting auto-loaders are available from the major gun makers. Prices range from the Mossberg 930 Slugster at around $600 to the Beretta at $1,500.

[Waterengineer]

You do not say where you are in Ohio but I suggest driving straight to Ithaca Gun Company in Upper Sandusky and purchasing a Deer Slayer II or a Deer Slayer III. Actually, these guns are available everywhere.

The Ithaca I use for deer hunting when at the family farm, outside of Findlay, predated me but a couple of generations and still works great.

http://www.ithacagun.com/contact.html

http://www.ithacagun.com/deerslayer2.html

http://www.ithacagun.com/deerslayer3.html

[Scattergun Bob]

I am happy to hear that you are looking at buying a slug gun. I agree with Waterengineer, a Deer Slayer II or a Deer Slayer III would be a great deer gun. I want to make you aware of some very good bolt action slug guns made by Savage, Marlin and Browning. I have owned a Savage m-210 and have shot a browning A-bolt both shot very well. Being left handed I chose not to keep the Savage and went on to pump guns.

I presently have an 870 smooth bore slug gun setup with rifle sights and shoot Brenneke KO hunting slugs, they do just fine.

Good Luck & Be Safe

[BigJimP]

Not that you didn't get good advice - and those guys probably have more experience than I do hunting deer with shotguns ( I was primarily a rifle guy ).

But Browning makes a variety of guns that will meet your needs as well - and personally, I just like the Browning BPS's actions a lot better than most other shotguns. I have a couple of the BPS Hunter models ... but that's a field gun for birds ....

But they have a BPS rifled deer hunter for around $ 600 with a 22" barrel and its about 7 3/4 lbs ( and personally, I would not fool with a 20ga ) I would stay with a 12ga. I've fired the Deer Hunter model - and I thought it was a good slug gun.

[eaglesnester]

Up here in Canada we use mostly rifles for hunting big game. Only allowed shotguns for deer, Bear, upland birds, and water foul. You can not go wrong with a Browning BPS 12 bore or a Remington 870 in 12. Both are superb firearms and will serve you well and they do not cost an arm and a leg. You may find the Browning BPS fit and finish slightly nicer than the Remington 870. It is a matter of which one you personaly like. They are both dead on dependable and I would feel very confident with either in the thick devils club and alders going after a wounded grizz.

[ddeyo1]

i hunt in northeastern hardwoods and scrubrush where i seldomly get a shot over 50 yards, but i hunt with an old ithaca model 37 deerslayer and its one of the most reliable shotguns i own. i have 3 of them actually all 12 gauges two with plaine iron sights and one with a red dot on top of it which is whatmy dad hunts with. hes made many shots at 100 plus with that gun. So personally i would go with a new ithaca. ive actually been looking at getting one myself. The deerslayer II is more of my style, i like to hunt with open sights for quick snapshots and followups, but in your case mounting a scope may be beneficial so the deerslayer III may be more your style. Another good slug gun to look at is the browning BPS rifled deer hunter. as you can tell im a bottom ejection pump gun guy, theyre reliable acurate and they never jam. good luck

[USA123456789]

Hey Roach
Dont buy the shotgun just yet Ohio may change the weapons that may be used for deer season
They may introduce pistol calibers like the .44 and .357 into the book for next year

[rem870hunter]

if you are right handed,870 or 500 series pumps. get a smoothbore or a fully rifled barrel on the shotgun. you can new or used with either model, and buy the other barrel loose.

if you are a lefty shooter and only want new,an ithaca 87 deerslayer or browning bps with the same barrel setup.
you can get any of these four used at good prices almost anywhere.
try on all 4 ,to see whichs fits you best.

if you are primarily hunting the open fields the fully rifled barrel imo would be the best. the wooded pieces you may only have a max shot of 50 yards,or be jumping them closer. and if you can use buckshot there, (check with f&w/dnr) the smoothbore will work fine. if not then go with the fully rifled barrel.

with the 870 series you can get a fully rifled barrel with a cantilever scope mount barrel, open sighted fully rifled, cantilevered smoothbore,open sighted smoothbore. i'm not familiar with 500 series,bps. so i'm not sure what the barrel options are on those models. i'm pretty sure the 87 series is fully rifled barrels only.