CHOKES and buckshot

[Franco]

I know this is off the wall question, but do any of you hunt around cougars or mt lions or any animals or situations you are concerned about?
 
Do any of you carry anything for self defense?
 
Can you shoot buckshot through a turkey choke? (not for turkeys).
 
My choke said lead or hevi but the only thing it said not to was steel.

[mark hay]

I will carry two shells of #4 buck ,,,just in case I get a chance to drop a song dog .

[kenturkey89]

Hey Mark, how far will that #4 Buck carry to knock down some of those coyotes?

[MAKEemQUIVER]

Just try different loads Brian, some guys are killing yotes out to sixty yards with the shotgun. I shot one a couple of weeks ago at about thirty five yards with goose load.

[mark hay]

I really don't know what the effective range is with the #4 Buck . I've only killed one coyote with my shotgun . I can say this , #6 ain't good beyond 20 steps . I'm sure the #4 would make a clean kill at that distance , probably more . Most of my turkey hunting time is spent inside the woods so if I see a dog and can call it over to me I know I can probably drop it with the 4's.

[shaman]

In KY and OH, where I've hunted the most, it is illegal to carry something outside of a legal turkey load.  Having said that, I can say with authority that 3" Federal #4 will kill a coyote with room to spare.  I shoot my turkeys through a Carlson's Dead Coyote choke tube.  It does a great job on both game.

The dog control officer told me 2X6 Remington Duplex turkey loads were his favorite for rottweilers and pit bulls.   The #2 shot would not make them legal turkey fodder in KY, but they would be in OH.

[Franco]

My gun will have a Primos Tight Wad. But I am thinking a little bigger than what has been mentioned.

I am thinking in the range of somewhere between 00 and 2s, buchshot, not birdshot. Or possibly a slug.  

Just a couple of these in my vest as insurance. Our area has been boasting of Mt Lion activity.

So I am wondering if these will work and I don't want to go out and try if it will tear up my gun or choke.

Sometimes I may want to take my 6 or 11 year old. I have seen where kids are the most fatal attacks by cougars. I have taken my kids to several  zoos and twice a Mt Lion has stalked my kids from inside their cage. It was creepy, no mistaking what they were diong, just like a house cat on a mouse.

So if I decide to pull down for self defense, regardless of what the law states, if I pull the trigger I expect it to stay down and not just scare it off or injure.

[Treerooster]

I hunt a lot of places with Mountain Lions and one area with wolves. Never been attacked, I have been stalked by 1 bobcat (at least that I know of) and have had several coyotes respond to my calls.

I do not carry any other shells than my turkey loads. At self defense ranges they will be plenty adequate. If attacked I really doubt I would have time to unload my gun. fumble for a different shell, and reload. Its possible but if a Mountain Lion is staring at me I just don't think I am going to empty my gun.


Last year in Wis I had a neat encounter. It was a Tuesday and you only hunt Wednesday thru Sunday in Wis so I was scouting and didn't even have my gun with me. I was walking down a road and had heard a distant gobble. I got off the road and stood in the barrow pit and was waiting to hear him gobble again so I could see where he was headed. For some reason I looked behind me down the road and saw something coming. Figured it was a deer at first but the gate was wrong. Yote I thought and put my binos on it. It was a wolf! I sat down in the barrow pit and then remembered I had a camera in my vest. It came within 20 feet of me when it heard the camera clicking. Stood there for a minute and then headed into the brush.

[kygobbler]

Nice pic of the wolf, treerooster. I will have to agree with treerooster about having enough time to unloading your gun and fumbling around to get a different one in there. To me, if Im going to unload the gun its going to be on what ever critter is coming towards me. Turkey loads within 20 yds or less is going to do enough damage to any animal in the woods to stop it and make it think twice, except for a bear. While I was turkey hunting this past December I was set up in a double fence row over looking two fields. I let out a couple of yelps trying to locate the flock and out of nowhere 2 yotes came running in. The yotes circled around me to come up from behind and in front of me. Just as soon as they got 30 yds from I shot the first one with winchester supreme #5 and rolled him and by the time I could trn on the 2nd one he was high tailing it to the next county. So unless you have nerves of steel I would stick with what you already have in your gun.

[dawei]

20ga 3"Mag 1 5/16oz #4Pb is the largest shotshell I have while turkey hunting. Where I spring turkey hunt there are a lot of bear, cougar, and rattlesnakes. Because of this I carry a 4" S&W® 686 357 Magnum loaded with [color=#FF0000]THIS. I further carry a snubnose in my pocket loaded w/CCI® snake shot.[/color]