doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Combination gun for pheasants/deer?

Where I pheasant hunt in eastern Washington, it is not uncommon for a nice fat buck to jump up out of a draw while chasing pheasants during deer season. I would love to put some venison in the freezer this way, but I'm not sure the best way to go about it. Carry a side arm with sticks? Get a 16ga combination gun? Suggestions?

Just me, Mark, I used to think your way but decided to always take my best gun for the mission. I like to know that I'm as good as can be with shotgun or rifle; trying to strike a balance to fill my bag doesn't work for me.

Hey Mark: When I was younger, I shot a couple bucks while quail hunting with buckshot. It is very easy to open the action, remove bird shot, and drop the 00 Buckshot in and away you go. Now for the bad news....shooting deer in front of bird dogs encourages them to chase deer which to say the least, is undesirable. Plus, once you pull the trigger the work begins. I don't care for the taste of Venison that much...but if it tasted like Prime Black Angus I would probably be a serious deer hunter.

In the Old Country we do it all the time. I would use my light drilling in 16/16 over 6.5x57R.

With kind regards,
Jani

Years ago in Iowa, I hunted with a guy who was ready for both. We were bird hunting, but it was deer season and the third member of our party hadn't yet filled his tag. He's shooting a pump, with a load of 6's in the chamber, followed by slugs in the magazine. Figures he can jack out the bird shot if he sees a buck.

So we're coming up a grassy, woody draw--which he's blocking at the far end--and my dog's getting birdy. I yell to alert him to be ready. Two roosters flush and fly right over him. He smacks the first one. Then, forgetting he has slugs in the magazine, chambers another round--and just about cuts the second one in half, in the air.

The Savage 24s were made as meat guns or survival guns or in extremis guns or combination guns or maybe "zweilings". Whether you could roll a pheasant with the darn thing I wouldn't know. Where there's no rifle season, a combo gun wouldn't mean much anyway. I'd think that any choke you could get double ought to go thru would also throw a slug so you need a double barrel shotgun in something like cylinder/full.

jack

Mark:
The only person who needs a solution to this is YOU. And the perfect solution is the combination/Cape gun. The only down side is that they are a weight/balance compromise and ... you only get ONE chance either way. But I still love these guns if done right. Make yourself happy.

Spring for a drilling. You know you want one. A 16x16x 7x57R, or just about any of the rifle calibers offered if 6.5 mm or above, would work fine.

I'm still keeping an eye out for a reasonably priced 16x16x 9.3x72R, that rifle being roughly equal to a .38-55.

I have your solution if you are looking American. A Three Barrel Gun Co 12 X12 over a .32-40 rifle. Modified and full chokes with 26 inch barrels. It weighs about 7 lb. A lever in front of the triggers actives the first trigger to fire the rifle. Pop up rear sight provides rifle sight. Its probably only good for 150 yards or so.
These are rare but can be found.

Just take a double like those old hillbillies down in West Virginia did with theirs. Slug one barrel, shot in the other. No need for anything else. That's probably why there are so many old doubles down there, beat up and pounded into the ground lookin things, but they made them work on everything with fur or feathers.