Slug vs Buck shot

[kwackkillncrew]

I have zero experience in grizzly country, but my experience with TSS “buckshot” loads using BB size shot has convinced me that they are one of the best options for stopping an animal at close range.

I can get 49 pellets in a 20 gauge hull. Any one of those will pass all the way through both femurs and the pelvis, or through both shoulder blades and spine, on a full grown pig. The pattern is tight enough that I doubt a bear skull would slip through a shot unscathed at 50 yards. At 25 yards nearly the whole pattern is inside a 2’x2’ square.

A semi auto 12 gauge loaded with BB, T, or #4 buck size TSS in a 3” shell would absolutely blanket a charging bear in pellets

you're comparing a maybe 100 pound pig to a 700 pound grizzly. slugs over buckshot every day. There was a group of duck hunters up here who killed a bear that attacked them while hunting. think they shot it 7 or 8 times at point blank range before it was done moving

 

[JDBAK]

On very rare occasions, I carry a defender style shotgun when solo bowhunting elk when Ive seen fresh griz sign. For me, it's slugs. And if I ever have to shoot I wouldnt stop until the gun is empty.

By the time I'd be shooting, any gains offered by a shot pattern would be negated.

The only other time I have the gun handy is at basecamp and again, its slugs.

That's assuming the gain from shot is the wide pattern. That's not my interest. I want the biggest possible, most destructive wound for the first 16", given that the shot will probably be within 15 yds. Don't know for sure, but suspect some kind of heavy buckshot would cause more destruction where it counts than any slug.

I don't choose a shotgun because it somehow makes aiming less important, but because its maximally destructive and fast. Its a close range power weapon.

Anyway, still undetermined on whether I'll keep carrying slugs or not. Until recently, thought I wanted slugs to penetrate as much as possible from any angle, regardless of what presents itself. Now I'm thinking I'd rather have maximum devastation 12"-18" deep (and likely only 1-3" entry pattern) since my only use case is probably a head on bear charging me at close range.

 

[VernAK]

For those advocating a head shot, especially with buckshot, take a look at a bear skull and the angles involved. I've had a bad experience with a rifle on a facing head shot so no buckshot for me.