What Is The Best Whitetail Deer gun – 20 Gauge Shotgun

Whether you’re a new hunter or hunting in an area that is shotgun only the 12 or 20 gauge are the most popular choice for deer hunting. Shotguns are easy to handle and operate and have good accuracy out to 200 yards. The advantage of a shotgun is their versatility as you can hunt a wide variety of game if you purchase the combo; (two interchangeable barrels) a smooth bore (turkey, waterfowl, upland birds, and small game) and the rifled barrel (Deer). A simple comparison of retained energy is that of a 12-gauge one-ounce sabot slug at 100 yards (1,364 ft/lbs) to a 170-grain soft-nose .30-30 round (1,373 ft/lbs), not too bad for a shotgun.

What Is The Best Shotgun For Deer Hunting

I recommend the Remington 20 gauge 870 pump, 3 1/2″ shell, with a full-length-rifled barrel, a mounted 3-9x scope (use a weaver scope mount), and sabot slugs. Why the pump, because it enforces patience, accuracy, and focus on making the first shot count. The 3 1/2″ chamber will offer you the widest flexibility because you can shoot any of the three size shells available. The Pump is also the most accurate of the shotguns with the newer Bolt Actions as a second choice. I would personally stay away from semi-automatic shotguns as you do not want to give up accuracy just for the option to throw lead faster.

Whitetail Deer Taken With a 20ga Shotgun

Midwestern slug hunters in the past few years have become some of the most productive trophy whitetail hunters in the US. Here are three smaller bucks taken by my family with a Remington 20 gauge pump; one by my bother (Buffalo County WI), one by my youngest son (first buck, Southern Minnesota), and one from Southern Michigan by my sister-in-law (Outdoor Life, Deer of the Year, May 1999).