MD deer hunting rifle regulations

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  • lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Thanks for your information on shotguns.

    I assume deer hunting with a bolt action shotgun is legal in Maryland. Any thoughts on bolt action shotguns?

    Would it be a good idea to mount my rifle scope (say leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x40mm) on shotguns?

    Yes on mounting the scope to the shotgun unless where you are planning the hunt is very thick woods where shots will be extremely short range/jump shooting them. You’ll want to generally keep it at 3.5x

    A shotgun is a shotgun under Maryland hunting regulations. A savage 220 is hard to go bad by for deer hunting if you do want a bolt action shotgun.

    If you want to do more than hunt with it don’t get a bolt action shotgun though. Get one where you can easily swap barrels and is faster to cycle the action. Go with a pump action or semiauto. A bolt action shooting isn’t really suitable for any shotgun sports except trap. Also replacement barrels are not cheap. So if you get one with a rifled barrel for sabots you are likely to be out $200-300 for a smooth bird barrel for turkey hunting, birds, small game, etc.

    IMHO they are kind of one trick ponies. I like shotguns for “do everything” ability. My 870 handles things just fine for about anything within 100yds I’d ever want to do with it (of course means I’ve got tons of other guns too :-) )
     

    Huuman

    Active Member
    Jul 20, 2019
    151
    Yes on mounting the scope to the shotgun unless where you are planning the hunt is very thick woods where shots will be extremely short range/jump shooting them. You’ll want to generally keep it at 3.5x

    A shotgun is a shotgun under Maryland hunting regulations. A savage 220 is hard to go bad by for deer hunting if you do want a bolt action shotgun.

    If you want to do more than hunt with it don’t get a bolt action shotgun though. Get one where you can easily swap barrels and is faster to cycle the action. Go with a pump action or semiauto. A bolt action shooting isn’t really suitable for any shotgun sports except trap. Also replacement barrels are not cheap. So if you get one with a rifled barrel for sabots you are likely to be out $200-300 for a smooth bird barrel for turkey hunting, birds, small game, etc.

    IMHO they are kind of one trick ponies. I like shotguns for “do everything” ability. My 870 handles things just fine for about anything within 100yds I’d ever want to do with it (of course means I’ve got tons of other guns too :-) )

    Bolt Action Shotgun is the unwanted red hair liberal stepchild that live in your basement using up all your Wi-Fi. I literally see a barrel at the corner of most pawns shop where dozens of them sit for $50. The idea of a bolt action shotgun was just as good as those old black and white clips of plane designers thinking planes fly better the more wings you add to them.
     

    dink

    Member
    Mar 30, 2014
    63
    If you want one gun to hunt Maryland as much as possible, get a muzzleloader. Can load it up or down (power) to your heart's content. If you don't want to fool with that, and want one gun to hunt most of Maryland, get a shotgun. The last gun you should get to hunt Maryland is a rifle, unless you plan to stay exclusively in your rifle county. If you get a shotgun, you then have to decide if you again want one gun to do it all vs a dedicated deer gun. If you want a do-it-all, then yeah, get a pump or semi that you swap barrels on. Prepare to spend money on a decent rifled slug barrel, and spend money and time finding a load it likes. Preferably a cantilever barrel, so at least your scope sticks with the barrel to reduce your error. Anyone who knows anything and is honest about shotgun slug hunting will tell you that accuracy suffers from the ability to swap barrels. That's why people pinned their barrels. Thats why tar hunt used to sell a $1500 or whatever the heck it was fixed barrel slug gun. Doesn't mean you can't kill deer with it, doesn't mean someone doesn't have one that they'll claim shoots 1/2MOA...whatever....you'll need to invest the time to hopefully find the formula. If you want a dedicated deer shotgun, get a Savage 220 and feed it Remington accutips. Can't be beat for the price, guaranteed accuracy out of the box. If you need to make a 150yds shot, you can. About a dozen guys I know that grew up on and swore by their 870/1187/1100/500 etc.... now use one. Or....get an Ithaca deerslayer if you can find one (fixed barrel), or an H&R single shot slug. If you want accuracy beyond 100yds that's the smart move. If you're not shooting past 75yds then it doesn't matter, just use a smoothbore.
     

    dink

    Member
    Mar 30, 2014
    63
    And actually....maybe even smarter thing to do is get a rifle in a straight-walled cartridge caliber. Looks like that's going through (able to use in shotgun only counties), and then we can all debate the merits of 357 vs 41mag vs 44mag vs 454 casull vs 460sw vs 500sw vs 38-55win vs 450 bm vs 444 marlin vs 45-70 vs 50 beowulf vs 350 legend!
     

    damifinowfish

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 14, 2009
    2,241
    Remulak
    Yes on mounting the scope to the shotgun unless where you are planning the hunt is very thick woods where shots will be extremely short range/jump shooting them. You’ll want to generally keep it at 3.5x

    A shotgun is a shotgun under Maryland hunting regulations. A savage 220 is hard to go bad by for deer hunting if you do want a bolt action shotgun.

    If you want to do more than hunt with it don’t get a bolt action shotgun though. Get one where you can easily swap barrels and is faster to cycle the action. Go with a pump action or semiauto. A bolt action shooting isn’t really suitable for any shotgun sports except trap. Also replacement barrels are not cheap. So if you get one with a rifled barrel for sabots you are likely to be out $200-300 for a smooth bird barrel for turkey hunting, birds, small game, etc.

    IMHO they are kind of one trick ponies. I like shotguns for “do everything” ability. My 870 handles things just fine for about anything within 100yds I’d ever want to do with it (of course means I’ve got tons of other guns too :-) )

    Great advice.

    I suggested a bolt shotgun because the opening thread asked about center fire big game rifles. If the question was what gun should I get to start hunting then without skipping a beat a combo shotgun. One barrel for small game and a slug barrel for big game.

    Bolt Action Shotgun is the unwanted red hair liberal stepchild that live in your basement using up all your Wi-Fi. I literally see a barrel at the corner of most pawns shop where dozens of them sit for $50. The idea of a bolt action shotgun was just as good as those old black and white clips of plane designers thinking planes fly better the more wings you add to them.

    My Red Haired Step Child, the New Current Production Savage 220 at 150 yards is shooting a three shot group that touches each other. This is not your Grandad's old bolt action shotgun.

    If you want a Pawn Shop El Cheapo look at a Break Action Heavy Riffled Barred H&R. I wish I would of been able to keep mine but life happens
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    If you want one gun to hunt Maryland as much as possible, get a muzzleloader. Can load it up or down (power) to your heart's content. If you don't want to fool with that, and want one gun to hunt most of Maryland, get a shotgun. The last gun you should get to hunt Maryland is a rifle, unless you plan to stay exclusively in your rifle county. If you get a shotgun, you then have to decide if you again want one gun to do it all vs a dedicated deer gun. If you want a do-it-all, then yeah, get a pump or semi that you swap barrels on. Prepare to spend money on a decent rifled slug barrel, and spend money and time finding a load it likes. Preferably a cantilever barrel, so at least your scope sticks with the barrel to reduce your error. Anyone who knows anything and is honest about shotgun slug hunting will tell you that accuracy suffers from the ability to swap barrels. That's why people pinned their barrels. Thats why tar hunt used to sell a $1500 or whatever the heck it was fixed barrel slug gun. Doesn't mean you can't kill deer with it, doesn't mean someone doesn't have one that they'll claim shoots 1/2MOA...whatever....you'll need to invest the time to hopefully find the formula. If you want a dedicated deer shotgun, get a Savage 220 and feed it Remington accutips. Can't be beat for the price, guaranteed accuracy out of the box. If you need to make a 150yds shot, you can. About a dozen guys I know that grew up on and swore by their 870/1187/1100/500 etc.... now use one. Or....get an Ithaca deerslayer if you can find one (fixed barrel), or an H&R single shot slug. If you want accuracy beyond 100yds that's the smart move. If you're not shooting past 75yds then it doesn't matter, just use a smoothbore.

    Most public lands in Maryland aren’t going to be more than 75yds and pumpkin balls (slugs) are just fine. My 870 is plenty accurate with ghost ring fiber sights to 100yds and I’d probably stretch it to 125. That said, slugs bleed energy fast and expand fast. I’ve seen a few deer run when hit with a slug on a good hit. Though even odds you don’t end up blowing a leg off on a double lung hit.

    Anyway, my point is for most of Maryland you don’t need a rifled barrel as most deer you’ll be shooting at maybe 30-80yds. 5 seasons of hunting now and my furthest shot has been about 90yds over I think a dozen deer now (granted about half have been with a crossbow).

    A few places you might get a >100yd shot unless you own a farm or a big piece of land with a lot of it cleared.

    PS in fairness I rarely hunt deer with a shotgun. I usually prefer to use a muzzleloader in shotgun only counties during gun season. I find it kills better, is more accurate and longer ranged if I ever needed to worry about that (which I haven’t). A rifled shotgun using sabots would be broadly similar levels of performance to a modern inline muzzleloader.
     

    BenSpelledABC

    Member
    Jun 11, 2020
    27
    Hi everyone,

    First time to post here. I am considering buying a bolt-action Tikkia T3x for deer hunting in Maryland. Regulations say rifles need to be "loaded from the breech of the barrel and use cartridges". I am new to firearm terminology and wonder if a bolt-action rifle like Tikkia T3x is a breech loading rifle.

    BTW, what caliber would be good for deer hunting? Would .308 be sufficient?

    308, 243, 22-250, some 223 would be legal but there are far better choices. if you have a 308, go with that. good luck.
     

    Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,232
    Millersville
    Muzzle loader use to be great advice for hunting everywhere, but Md just approved the use of straight walled cartridges for previous shot gun counties. So now it's statewide. I got some shoppin to do. :D
     

    DDShooter

    Member
    May 13, 2020
    19
    Muzzle loader use to be great advice for hunting everywhere, but Md just approved the use of straight walled cartridges for previous shot gun counties. So now it's statewide. I got some shoppin to do. :D

    Where can I find more information the new straight walled cartridge regulation? Any suggestions on caliber and guns?
     

    hobiecat590

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2016
    2,434
    Where can I find more information the new straight walled cartridge regulation? Any suggestions on caliber and guns?

    Dink nailed it. I'd add the SA Benelli SBII or III w/ a rifled barrel to the 1 MOA mix using Rem Accutip 3" Sabots. Barrel changes don't seem to impact POI IME.

    The only thing that would retire my SBII in SG zones would be the old Ruger 44 Mag Semi. Great bush gun under 100 yards. Plan B would be a LA 45/70 if permitted. Plan C 357 Mag LA. I hope the straight cartridge change is approved.
     

    gwchem

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 18, 2014
    3,434
    SoMD
    Muzzle loader use to be great advice for hunting everywhere, but Md just approved the use of straight walled cartridges for previous shot gun counties. So now it's statewide. I got some shoppin to do. :D

    They haven't approved that yet. Read the responses above.
     

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