My son bought a benelli super nova shotgun from my oldest boy for turkey hunting. He would also like to use it for deer hunting it has a choke i believe also. Any suggestions on ammo thanks. I use to dove hunt when i was a kid but now only use crossbow or 270 for hunting Im no shotgun expert thats for sure. So for you shotgun guys n gals any info I can pass along to him. Hes an experienced hunter but has always used a crossbow to this point.
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Deer hunting with a 12 gauge shotgun
- Thread starter reflexman
- Start date
RamblinWreck88
Useles Billy ain’t got nothing on ME !
Those SuperNovas come standard with Improved Cylinder, Modified, and Full chokes, which will be marked accordingly. I'd start with some Federal and Remington rifled slugs and see how they group out of the Improved Cylinder choke. If that choke is missing, a factory flush Cylinder or Improved Cylinder choke is pretty easy to come by.
For reference, my brother put a rifled choke on his SuperNova and gets cue-ball sized groups @50 yards w/ Remington slugger rifled slugs. Not sure how much the rifled choke helps or if at all, and he could probably tighten those groups up with a better rest.
For reference, my brother put a rifled choke on his SuperNova and gets cue-ball sized groups @50 yards w/ Remington slugger rifled slugs. Not sure how much the rifled choke helps or if at all, and he could probably tighten those groups up with a better rest.
What RR88 said^^, or some #1 buckshot.
Dutch
AMERICAN WARRIOR
Buckkicker XFull choke and 00 buck.
With a factory modified choke try #1 buck
Biggest thing is pattern the loads to see what the shotgun patterns best
With a factory modified choke try #1 buck
Biggest thing is pattern the loads to see what the shotgun patterns best
Deerhead
Senior Member
Grew up hunting deer with a 12 ga and 00 buck. I did not buy a rifle until I was an adult. The effective range for 0 or 00 buck shot is 40 yards. If you want more range than a rifled choke and slugs will extend your effective range to 100 yds.
killerv
Senior Member
You can rattle deer in with those nova forends.
Grew up in a bow/shotgun only county. Federal 00 3 1/2in got the job done many many times. Modified choke.
Grew up in a bow/shotgun only county. Federal 00 3 1/2in got the job done many many times. Modified choke.
Hillbilly stalker
Senior Member
Just remember” RIFLED” slugs in a smooth bore….sabots are a wast of money in it. A rifled choke would change that, you could shoot either.
furtaker
Senior Member
It's very important to pattern your shotgun if you shoot buckshot. One reason it gets a bad reputation is because of rednecks who buy whatever Biggie Mart has in stock and end up wounding deer because their gun sprays a four foot pattern at 20 yards because they're too lazy to pattern it.
RamblinWreck88
Useles Billy ain’t got nothing on ME !
Tightening those forearm screws helps a lot with the rattle. But then again, the first pump I hunted with was a Mossberg 500, so my standards for acceptable forearm rattle might be a little low.
I ain’t never seen a 4’ spray at 20 yds.
furtaker
Senior Member
I've seen plenty of patterns that I wouldn't hunt with and you probably have too.
I’ve killed plenty. I used my old 870. It has a 30” barrel and is built in full choke. It shot 1 buck the best because of more pellets. But pretty much shot 000 ,00 , & 0 also. The bigger buckshot I used in thicker areas the 1 buck more open woods.
40ty yards is a good max to stay in for any buckshot. Body lung area shots.
40ty yards is a good max to stay in for any buckshot. Body lung area shots.
Most every thing shot well out of my 870. We dog hunted. We would shoot something to see a pattern. Mostly at 30. All seemed to knock the tar out of something.
Triple 000 shot further but not many pellets to a shot. 1 buck has more pellets so it looks the best even if the pattern is the same size. Copper plated was tighter but lead seemed to flatten out bigger as it hit.
I’ve used it still hunting in the woods also.
Number 1 buck with a modified choke would be my choice today’s world.
To be honest I would recommend any rifle to still hunt would be better than a shotgun. A shotgun has its place and we used it dog hunting.
My Theory on still hunting. What if he’s at 60 yds or even 80. I would want even my old 30 30.
But shotguns are fun.
furtaker
Senior Member
I've shot a couple of patterns with Winchester 3 inch #1 buck in my Mossberg 88 and either 6 or 8 out of 24 pellets hit a 3 foot piece of cardboard at 40 yards using the factory modified choke. The Carlson's full choke was better but not to my satisfaction.
A hunting shotgun needs to be patterned because every gun, load, and choke makes a huge difference.
killerv
Senior Member
True story, I was 9 and dad got me a cut down single 20 ga. Shooting 3in 00. My first two deer was a doe and knothead feeding about 25 yards from us under a crab apple tree. Both fell over dead when I shot at the doe, must have been one big pattern.
Dutch
AMERICAN WARRIOR
