Shotgunning from the deer stand

Quick sight-acquistion is one advantage

Anyone who has ever been on a dog-drive or a man-drive for deer knows the advantages of using a shotgun for this type of hunting. But shotgunning for deer isn’t just for those on the ground. Some hunters prefer shotguns even when perched in a tree stand.

Ernest McLeod of Sumter is one of those hunters. He has killed his share of deer with rifles. But about ten years ago, he decided that for him, a shotgun was the way to go.

“The main reason I decided to use a shotgun is that of all the deer I’ve killed in my life, very few were more than 40-yards away when I shot them. I locate most of my stands in pretty thick woods overlooking small clearings. I can’t tell you how many times I raised my rifle on a deer, and couldn’t see anything but a big patch of brown through my scope. And that’s even with the magnification turned all the way down. The deer were just too close. I couldn’t even tell what part of the deer I was looking at,” said McLeod. “That’s not a problem with a shotgun.”

Shotguns are great when walking up on deer

Another reason McLeod started hunting deer with a shotgun came from him spooking deer on the way to his stand. Shotguns allow quick, humane shots at close, moving targets.

“I park about a hundred yards from all my stands. And while walking to them, I sometimes surprise deer. They bolt as soon as they notice me. And as soon as I notice them, I know they are too close for me to get off any kind of responsible shot with a rifle. You can mount and shoot a shotgun loaded with buckshot and have a reasonable chance of killing that deer,” he said.

A hunter’s eyes can focus on placing the bead of the shotgun on the deer more easily than it is for your eye to focus and pick up the crosshairs in a scope while trying to aim at the kill zone on a moving deer. Especially one that is very close to you.

McLeod also doesn’t mind getting out of one of his stands and walking to another during the day. This leads to more chances of spooking a buck in close quarters.

“I use to think, ‘well, that’s too bad I didn’t have a shotgun, but I’ll be happy with the rifle once I’m in the stand.’ But the more I thought about it, the less sense that made. I was giving up the chance to shoot deer on the ground with a shotgun, just for the chance to shoot deer in a stand with a rifle, even though a shotgun would work just fine in my stands,” he said.

McLeod also likes not having to worry about sighting in a scope. And he no longer fears he’ll knock it off zero between hunts.