Does anyone use a 12ga or 10ga with a slug to deal with wounded animals?

[Schüler Jumbo]

George Hoffman used an 18” Remington 12ga 870 Pump Shotgun for leopard follow-up. I can’t remember if it was loaded with buckshot or slugs.

 

[ruffcountry]

what about 10gfh or 12gfh ? just curious .

 

[coreydb]

I don't use any shotgun on a wounded animal. Either a final shot with my rifle or the tracker comes from behind and slits the artery.

 

[Pokoki]

The British thought this question through over a hundred years ago when they developed the Paradox designs. They were created as an all purpose firearm for British officers and colonial administrators on their way to Africa or the Raj. My William Evans is 2.5" chambered gun shoots 740 gr (1.7 ounce) lead bullets into 2.5 - 3-inch 4-shot groups at 100 yards, and lovely modified patterns of No. 6 shot at 40. I took it to Namibia a number of years ago and rolled two warthog for leopard bait and built a small mountain of sandgrouse at the same waterhole one afternoon. It would be fine on a cat. I would never dream of starting or trying to finish an engagement with a buffalo using it.

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Beautiful shotgun!

 

[Red Leg]

Beautiful shotgun!

Thanks, but it really is not a shotgun. You could just as easily call it a rifle because the last six inches of the barrels are rifled. Of course those early gunmakers were geniuses and the guns not only shot a lead bullet with remarkable accuracy, but also those shot gun loads with near perfect pattern density. Best to call it what the British did - a Paradox.

In the Raj, a British officer could take it out for jungle fowl in the morning, bag an axis after lunch, and stop a tiger's charge at dusk.

 

[Gomer]

I shot a blacktail deer that was maybe 150lbs with a 12ga Brenneke slug. Perfectly broadside at about 25 yards. The slug didn’t exit. I would NOT use one on anything bent on stomping or chomping me to death.

 

[RedTag]

I shot a blacktail deer that was maybe 150lbs with a 12ga Brenneke slug. Perfectly broadside at about 25 yards. The slug didn’t exit. I would NOT use one on anything bent on stomping or chomping me to death.

Good example.
Of course not all slugs are created equal. A 1-1/8 ounce slug just isn’t going to give the penetration of a 1-3/8 ounce slug, both around the same velocity. The Brenneke black magic slugs are commonly carried here in Alaska for bear defense. But can’t say I have ever heard of them actually being put to the test. I think the shotgun with slugs is more a matter of economy than anything else. A shotgun is simply more affordable and easily accessible for most folks, especially folks going berry picking or salmon fishing, in other words not trying to start something with a bear. I have known many fishing guides who carry a 12 gauge with black magic slugs for bear protection, myself included, simply because it’s an easy and affordable option available at the time that will probably work in the unlikely event that you need it. But I never met or heard of a bear hunting guide who deliberately makes that choice however. They go out planning to shoot a big angry animal (not a what if scenario) and accordingly they use a medium to large bore magnum rifle, which says something.

 

[archer36]

I shot a blacktail deer that was maybe 150lbs with a 12ga Brenneke slug. Perfectly broadside at about 25 yards. The slug didn’t exit. I would NOT use one on anything bent on stomping or chomping me to death.

Exit holes are not all they are cracked up to be. If the bullet doesn't exit, it used up all its energy inside the animal.

 

[analog_peninsula]

I recall reading an article a number of years ago in which the gun writer had the same question and talked his PH into letting him shoot a broadside buffalo with a Brenneke slug. The story ended well, in that the slug penetrated the buff's heart and killed it, but there was no extra penetration, and the slug came apart. The conclusion of our hero was that it could be done under ideal conditions, but wasn't a very sure thing, and you'd better have backup.

That's only one data point, but the story felt authentic, and I recall the writer being one of the more popular ones of that era.

 

[archer36]

I recall reading an article a number of years ago in which the gun writer had the same question and talked his PH into letting him shoot a broadside buffalo with a Brenneke slug. The story ended well, in that the slug penetrated the buff's heart and killed it, but there was no extra penetration, and the slug came apart. The conclusion of our hero was that it could be done under ideal conditions, but wasn't a very sure thing, and you'd better have backup.

That's only one data point, but the story felt authentic, and I recall the writer being one of the more popular ones of that era.

I wouldn't do that.