with all the hype on riffeled slug barrels, does anyone still use smoothe bore on shotgun for deer hunting?:frown

Yep, I still do, and I shoot buck and bird shot out of it too. Why buy a shotgun with a rifled barrel when you can buy a rifle?
 
-Rohann

Some states or certain counties in states don't let you use high powered rifles, so you have to use a slug gun. In my county and the county the camp I go to are in you can use a rifle, but the one next to mine and many others you have to use slugs. I'm starting to worry they are going to switch over to slugs completely...:frown   Hopefully they don't though.

Wow that sucks! Luckily they haven't introduced anything like that here, though I'm sure they will soon...
 
-Rohann

I took my first deer with 00 buck when I was 10.....took her at 42 steps with a full choke...the shot pattern when I skinned her was about a foot and a half in width all over the vitals....she didn't have a chance......I still consider large buckshot out of a smooth-bore to be one of the best if not "the" best choice for close range driving or thick brush shooting for whitetail there is....

The number of game animals taken by large caliber smooth bore muzzle loaders is unknown.  The number has to be in the hundreds of thousands at the very least and more probably is in the millions if you count bison.  If you include the African continent then the number must jump dramatically.  4 bore, 8 bore and 10 bore seemed to have been very well used over in Africa prior to the cartridge firearm.

Unless you somehow solve the population problem, I believe that smooth bores will become more and more a vialble option.  Not everyone will have access to 'the wide open spaces'.

FP I just moved from Ohio to Arkansas this year. In Ohio rifles are not allowed for deer hunting. I used a Remington 870 with a smooth slug barrel for 20 years and it would group the slugs in about 5" groups at 100 yds. the 870 has a Burris 1 3/4 X 5 scope on it.

I going to take the Burris off the 870 and put it on my 375 Wby. rifle. The old 870 will also get the barrel changed back to the 24" improved that came on it.

Hi All,
 
     Well I simply cannot understand as how it's possible to safely shoot Deer with a rifle here in the UK when our population is far more highly concentrated yet in the US where there is much more room it's considered unsafe. Perhaps better consideration to backstop and safety thinking appears to be in Order. We do not have compulsory training here............ YET!!!!! but there are certain organisations who wish to introduce so they can make money out of it and precious little other consideration.