As a kid, most of my hunting was done in central Minnesota where slugs were the only legal way to shoot deer. Many other states still continue this rule including Illinois, Iowa, among others. I didn’t start off at 12 years old with a rifle, I had a 20-gauge slug gun. I quickly grew very fond of shooting slugs. Although many people can look at them as a hindrance because they can’t shoot as far as a rifle, there are tons of benefits as well.
I recently did a hunt in Montana where I chose to bring a slug gun when a rifle was an option. I had hunted on the Powder River in the past and knew what type of setup we’d be looking at. It’s a lot of time spent on the river bottoms rattling in the thick brush. Most of the shots will be inside of 50-yards. However, many times you have some brush obstructing your shot or you may have a frontal shot.
The reason for a frontal shots is because when rattling, bucks sometimes come out looking to see where the fight is. They’re searching so you want to be still and also have a ton of knockdown power to take that shot as soon as possible. If you let them walk around and try to get broadside many times this will walk toward you until they see something or catch you wind. Then, they bolt and the shot is typically missed.
The reason I enjoy hunting with slugs is because of the unbelievable knock down power, the ability to shoot through brush if needed, and to help you with those frontal shots when you’ve rattled deer in. The technology of slugs and shotguns have truly come a long way. If you haven’t shot slugs for years, it may be time to give it a try! The embedded video is a highlight reel from an episode of Winchester Deadly Passion where I decided to use a slug gun in Montana and had an incredible trip.