SHOTGUN Hunting

[BGL]

I am waiting for licensing for a Baretta Silver Pigeon for wingshooting but I was wondering how much other shotgun hunting takes place. I know shotguns are used for bushpig and feral pigs but what about other game e.g. impala.
I am aware there are limitations to a shotgun e.g. lack of a decent site and one would need to get a lot closer than when hunting with a rifle but if bowhunters can W&S why not with a shotgun.

[Springer]

Personally I wouldn't be shooting pigs with an OU. Call me old fashioned.

[pre 64]

No reason to not hunt with a shotgun.

There are however a lot more limitations to the use of a shotgun than the lack of sights. The major limitation is the lack of killing power [for lack of a better word] with buckshot.I grew up in the eastern cape and have shot and witnessed many bush buck shot with shotguns on the traditional type hunts over a period of more than 40 years.I have also shot in excess of 50 bush pig with a shotgun.

NO SHOT OVER 15M using AAA,SG,Special SG or LG can be relied apon to cleanly kill a bush buck/impala/blesbuck sized animal.While it is easy to hit a running ram at 30-50m you will not put him down and you will have a wounded animal on your hands.

AAA has good pattern density but lacks individual pellet penetration.LG has good pellet penetration but lacks pattern density.The pick of the litter is SSG but again at even 20m you are more than likely to lose a wounded animal that has only 1 or 2 pellets in the lungs.

I have had LG pellets flatten on a bush pig skull on a frontal shot at 15m.I have skinned a bushbuck and recovered several SSG pellets just under the skin of his shoulder which proberbly happened the previous season.judging by the number of pellets recovered,the shot was from about 20m or the ram was hit twice in the same place from slightly further.

Having said that,we did kill literally hundreds of rams and pigs over the years but i am ashamed to think back [a bygone era] on how many were wounded or slightly hurt.In those days we hunted with hounds and we proberbly recovered and dispatched of most of the wounded animals.

Looking back today,i consider the use of shotguns in that type of hunting to be unethical.

The best way to utilise a shotgun for the type of hunting you want to do is to use slugs.The silver pigeon you have is however not the best platform for the use of slugs.Taking deer with slugs is big in the States [not sure now how many states allow the use of slugs] but there,they use dedicated slug guns.

With your gun you would have to check to what distance you can accurately shoot a slug with both barrels...and use open chokes.

Springer is however correct,the traditionalist in me makes me reach for the old Mossberg pump if i feel the urge to shoot a pig over bait [shooting distance ...5m ]

[neilw]

In the deep dark depths of my memory, I seem to recall and article that Gregor Woods did in the Magnum Magazine about using a shotgun for hunting. If I remember correctly the hunting was done using slugs in a pump action shotgun and the results were good. Not sure of the ranges that he shot at were certainly less than 100 metres

[SBB]

Im with Pre64 here. Ive seen the variations of buckshot to weird things on soft skin game. The unpredictabilty in my mind is not worth it. At those ranges use an open sighted rifle you are used to. Slugs ive had good success with but mainly used them in maize rows where i wanted that instant second shot, not owning a semi or a double rifle.

[Patocazador]

Over here I use a full-choke 3" 12 ga. shotgun with magnum 00 buckshot for bayed hogs. I aim for the head and they go down immediately. A 3" magnum 00 shell holds 15 buckshot and the shots are usually 25-30 yards. I have to call my spaniel off so I don't risk hitting her and then shoot quickly before the hog can escape or charge the dog.

I don't know how our 00 buckshot compares to AAA, SG etc.

I have killed several white-tailed deer in front of hounds with the same load and aim for the nose of the running animal. I never shoot at more than 35-40 yards. If the charge winds up in the head or neck, whitetail drop within a few yards. If you shoot the deer as if you are shooting a rifle, the charge of the slower buckshot may wound the animal with a gut shot due to the velocity difference between bullets and buckshot or one ounce slugs.

[BGL]

Good info, thanks.

[pre 64]

Patocazador...00 buckshot is,i think .33 caliber. This is quite a bit larger than our AAA but smaller than LG.

This would put 00 Buck in the same class range as our SG and pretty close to our SSG.

I am surprised with the effective range you have with 00 Buckshot. Maybe the 3 inch magnum shells increases the number of pellets hitting vitals.

It could also be that your White-tails have more respect for a shotgun than the African creatures.

[Patocazador]

Pre-64
What you say about white-tails may be true. They are not hard to kill and neither are wild hogs. In fact, people who do most of their hunting of deer and hogs with shotguns around here say as little as 3 buckshots hitting the head, neck or chest area can be fatal. These people have dogs to follow up wounded animals and they don't lose many due to the dogs finding them. This probably encourages some to take less than ideal shots.

I hunted in Namibia and Natal a long time ago (1982) and read and heard all the tales about African plains game being almost bullet proof. I hunted with a 7x57 with Nosler partition 140 gr. bullets and found that kudu, bushbuck, impala, nyala, and the smaller antelope were far from bullet proof. However, I was also astonished to see a red hartebeest take 3 well-placed shots between dropping and rising again only to get another round. The gemsbok took a heart-lung shot and didn't go far but a zebra was almost bullet-proof. In fact, I wondered if the zebras were issued flack vests before leaving the barracks in the morning.

[obasch]

Rather look for diversity in the type of feathered game you can hunt than to use a completely unsuitable firearm on the species you mentioned.