I am a huge fan of buckshot for deer hunting. I have probably killed 15 or 20 deer with shotguns, mostly an old single shot that shoots #4 buck perfectly. My other favorite load is 2 3/4" #1 buck. Out to 50 yards they almost always fold up with one shot. I like the smaller buck, none of my guns pattern 00 or larger buck well at all.
Some folks despise buckshot and i dont understand why, my best guess is they dont really pattern their guns or maybe have never really tried it. What say y'all?

Make that 26. See that fresh notch at the bottom? I'm picking buckshot killed meat out of my teeth while i type. Lol

wish it was legal here

Far as I know, It's not legal to shoot any game animal here with buckshot.

Patterning buckshot out of my primary shotgun was an eye opener. In my opinion it would be irresponsible to hunt with buckshot if it hasn’t been patterned out of that gun. Yes I did it, and didn’t lose a deer (fortunately), but since I did pattern it, there’s one I buy for hunting. My shotgun loves 000.


Buckshot is bad to the bone with the right pattern and appropriate range !

Very satisfied with 00 on sika deer in the marsh and thickets.

Times have really changed , all the people I grew up with hunted deer with buckshot. As you said, inside 50 yards a 12 GA is deadly if you do your part. What I like is moving deer can mess up a shot with rifle , buckshot not so much.

I read in Sports Afield years ago, Buckshot is good for wounding deer and killing your hunting buddy.
But if that is all that’s legal then that’s all you can do..

not legal here either. have killed coyotes no problem with 4 buck. when you got the whole bottom of that gun notched you going to hang it on the wall and buy you a new one?

Hate it. Rather throw rocks

Not legal here. Guys used to shoot #4 buck at geese back when lead was legal. I was never was very good with it at flying skyrats...

All we used 50 years ago when we hunted deer with hounds. My 3" 12 gauge shoots 00 and 000 very well. It has a 30" full choked barrel. I've used #1 before with success, but am pleased with the largest pellets.
Probably killed about 50 deer with a shotgun. Never fired a slug. Club rules forbid them.

As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to deer, anything that you can do with buckshot, you can do as well or better with a decent rifle or slug...

Nah, there is alot of wood left on that stock. I dont get to hunt the thickets like i used to so it will probably take along time to whittle it down.

I think it should be legal because it has its uses. I did, one year, take a friend deer hunting. We did a number of jump dog drives and stand hunts, specifically for him to kill a buck. He shot at 10 bucks, not recovering the first one. One instance he used my shot gun. The deer was 34 steps, using #1 buck. The deer was standing where his vitals were exposed. Each tree had hits. All we found was blood and hair. The deer went down and my friend told me he blew him away. I bought him a rifle the next year.

That was about 44 years ago. Loads are better now.

I did have a friend from Clarke county Alabama that had a buck shot lodged near his heart from a deer drive that one of the hunters shot in his direction at a little over 100 yds.

all they use back when I was kid ,my dad put lots of meat on table with buck shot for him season open july 5 it was all about feed the family

Not a fan of buckshot. But if it works for you.

We use buckshot here in Jersey. I don't like the smaller sizes, prefer OO or OOO. You have to find what size and what brand your shotgun likes. You may go through a few choke tubes to find one that is a great buckshot tube, and then do not shoot anything but buckshot through it. My 870 with a modified tube will put 9 OO pellets in a pizza box at 70 yards, Winchester 2 3/4 inch 12 pellet plated shot (shoots 2 3/4 better even though it is a 3 inch gun). My son's 870 with a modified tube will put 12 OO pellets in a pizza box at 70 yards with 3 inch Remington shells. Like I said good tubes or fixed barrels for buckshot should not be shot with anything else but buckshot. Years ago my father had a Model 12 that was a devastating buckshot gun. He killed a lot of bucks with it, some at long range for a shotgun. Slugs became legal here and he shot a few through this full choke barrel and completely ruined it as a buckshot gun. Now it does not pattern enough to hit a deer at 40 yards.
Here in New Jersey many times we need to floor a deer right where it is and buckshot will do that. The pattern will break legs and backbone. Often we are hunting small woods patches near houses. Shooting a deer thru the ribs with a slug and having it run 100+ yards to die on somebodies lawn is not good optics.

I never used buckshot for killing deer. I can see where it might have it's uses. A camp member who belongs to a hunting club in one of the southern states explained that it was really the only option for shooting at deer chased by dogs in the thick stuff.

It seems to me that a major drawback would be all the wasted meat from multiple wounds.

I'm not entirely sure why folks despise it either. It certainly has its uses and is effective in situations where others wouldn't be when patterned.