Nah, 00 for the win. Shot the very first Whidbey BT with a slug, right in noggin, but all the rest have been with buckshot.

Buckshot has better range and knock down...but since this is more like grouse hunting than deer hunting, being able to snap one off at the chest and feel good about a hit works better with the 00.

I've passed on a couple of shots at unsuspecting bucks that were a bit too far to throw shot at, when I may have taken a poke with a slug, but I know I've hit a couple on the hop that would have been far less likely kills with a slug, including the biggest island BT that I've seen in person, the one I shot last year.

Fish on...

Todd

Good deal.

I thought you wore a cowboy's hat??

Driftin sure fanicies himself a Shakespeare. Jesus. Talk about Big Stick leaving impressions.

I speak softly....

Haiku's and the need for a thesaurus takes me out of the running to be a blacktail hunter it appears. Plus, I don't even own a cowboy hat...but that's because the horses went away when the first wife did too!

I will say though Mr. Todd, that the size of the horns are relative to the species (as you know) and I definitely respect the coastal blacktail. Having spent 1 late rifle season a few years ago chasing them with a "local buddy" who has a wall filled with large ones, yet we never saw a buck in 4 days. I can honestly say they surely earned my respect! We had snow and wind, just nasty weather overall. And every morning we jumped the same big buck (so we think, by the track) in this gnarly thick timbered draw, that is choked with vine maple, and each day we hunted him a different way and he gave us the slip over and over. Never even getting a glimpse of him! RESPECT!

Same as the Couse Whitetail the boy and I hunted in New Mexico for the tag he won last month. The N.M. seasons are only 5 days, and by day 3 I felt we had a legitimate chance to waylay a buck. We were seeing does/fawns, and in an area with lots of sign as well. Those grey-ghosts would glide through the junipers and pin oaks, and then just disappear. Super steep terrain in canyons, so it was alot of spotting from the canyon rims. As a side note, we'd met 2 other hunters who'd scored on "trophy-sized" Coues the day before. I'm telling ya, I'm glad I got to actually put my hands on a couple of keeper Coues, otherwise, if I had seen those bucks on the hoof I would have advised my son to let them go. Not much bone on a 95" Couse, but everything is relative. As it turns out, the first buck we encountered was a mule deer that made the kids mind up for him, and we then loaded up and made the 25hr trip home (driving straight through, just like the way down..was a kick in the pants!).

Cue ABU..."Too Long"

I saw the pics of your your son's NM mule deer...hard one to pass up!

Contrasting eastern Washington whitetails with our island blacktails...in one whitetail afternoon, in one area not bigger than 30 acres, we had more deer in our sights than we see in five years of island blacktail hunting.

I'll admit that we generally harvest a good mature blacktail a time or three each season now...but it took us three years to get our first one, and that was three years of many hunting days from dawn til dusk...the learning curve out there was long, and flat, for a long time.

Every mature buck we shoot is a satisfying critter, to say the least.

When I was a kid I did the traditional western Washington blacktail hunt...sit on a clearcut and wait for one to walk out. It worked, but it sure didn't feel much like hunting to me...after taking 20 years off and starting anew with hand to hand combat in the bushes with a shotgun, it sure feels a lot like hunting again!

Just seeing one feels like a win, and if you aren't ready to shoot, that's all the win you might get.

Fish on...

Todd

The ol' "Chit Buck" will git ya' every time.

Been running the 00 Buck as well in area's the long gun can't come out of the case. Did step up to the HEVI-Shot Dead Coyote load 5-6 years ago. It's hard to come by in the 3.5" but I have a few of those Roman Candles left. It literally hit's like a ton of bricks. Last one I shot did a triple axle ending in a cartwheel. I'd have scored it a 9.8/10 had I had a score sheet on me at the time... Only reason I didn't score it 10/10 was it landed on it's belly, had it landed on it's back ready to be gutted it would have got the 10 mark...

Keith

I have always wanted to shoot a deer with a shotgun! Being raised a wing shooter, it just seemed like a natural fit...it would be a hoot to watch one just flat-out come undone when a cloud of 00's do their job!

I can tell you this, Snit...at close range, a bang in the head with buckshot makes for a deer that is literally dead before it hits the ground. Best way ever to put zero holes in your food.

Nick shot a spike a few years ago and we couldn't even find one of its antlers

Usually a good shot to the lungs that hits well results in the now familiar and expected back flop...they tip up on their hind legs, and go over backwards...they may kick a bit, but they are dead dead dead.

The knock down power of 00 buckshot from 15 to 30 yards is crazy heavy...nine .32 caliber BBs traveling at high speed can do some damage...and if you shoot Nick's gun, that shoots 3 1/2 inch magnums, you get 12 of those BBs.

Keith, I'ma go look up that shell right now!

Fish on...

Todd

They look lethal!

My gun(s) only shoot 2 3/4" shells, and it looks like those loads only come in 3 and 3 1/2s, unfortunately.

Fish on...

Todd

I ordered a couple boxes this year of the 3" HEVI shot 00 Buck from Optics Planet or something like that. They ain't cheap, but I'm telling you that nothing I mean nothing hit's harder than these things... That one that did the triple axle for me was about 40 yards and I put the bead right at the base of her neck as she was 45 degree angle walking from me, caught her with 4 or 5 of the pellets neck to head...

It isn't cheap but worth every penny in entertainment when you pull the trigger...

HEVI shot 00 Buck

Keith

Yeah I think you're right. They're near impossible to find in stock. I ordered mine in July and got them in September. Now I have 2 boxes on the shelf again. Might be digging a couple sticks out this weekend and go fill my multi-season tag on a big fat doe!...

Keith

Good luck!

Fish on...

Todd

Thifteenfiddy is smokin' along for 1-3/8oz payload. I've neve shot Hevi anything before.

So...what "chokes" do you run for these marbles that you're tossing at the unsuspecting deere's ?

Sounds so fun to play "Tonya Harding" to the Nancy Kerrigan's of the deere's woods! (Well...I guess you're all really being Gilooly's LOL)

I shoot two...a full choke, and a modified, and the patterns on the two are not all that different at 30 yards with buckshot.

Broadside at 30 yards, aiming at the chest, you should be able to put five or so of the nine pellets in the kill zone...and that's a lot of .32 caliber bullets Unlike rifle bullets, of course, they do not blow out the backside, many end up stopping in the hide on the backside, and rarely do they make it all the way thru.

On headshots I find a few rattling around in the brain box if I euro mount them.

Fish on...

Todd

Ah, the Chit buck story!

Nicest deer I saw all season was the good ol Chit buck. I was poopin away in the woods mid morning, and hadnt seen a mature buck all season until I had my pants around my ankles and my gun 6 feet away.

As I finished, It was like we both looked at my shotgun at the same time, and as soon as I made a move (not movement) on it, he took 2 steps and was 30 yards away in the bushes.

Never poop without your shotgun!

Snit, I use a Kicks Industries Buck Kicker choke and like the pattern it shoots.

No special choke for me, just the factory Mod and it seems to hold 4-5 pellets on a deer at 40. No point it checking the pattern at $8 a stick shipped to your doorstep.. Just point and send it, turns into a flop show!

Keith

Good work, Toff !

28" barrel, factory full choke, Winny 3.0" Double X @ 1450 fps for 12 hard coated copper / lead pellets.

Link to shells

Spreads about 10" at 40 yards and about fist at 15 yards. The hard coated copper pellets helps the lead retain weight. We usually find a couple in every deer and they are pretty mashed up, but nothing compared to regular lead. I save them all in an old shot glass.

I bought an extended Carlson buckshot optimizer choke that works amazingly well with standard 2 3/4" shells, but not as good with the 3.0" shells for some reason. So I just run my factory full and 3 inchers. If someone wants it, they can have it. It works GREAT with 2 3/4" shells.

I shot this year's doe twice in the head from 15 yards. First shot dropped her, but didn't finish her. Second shot while she was on the ground blew a 2 foot wide circle out of the dirt like a mini mortar round. Her head actually bounced up off the turf a bit. Suffice to say, there wasn't much left of her noggin'.

I still got muzzy and archery for my buck. I could've ended the season long ago, but then I wouldn't get to hunt. That'll probably come back to bite me...but whatever.