Like others said, you will have pattern your particular gun. FWIW, back in the day, my old High Standard
Iiked 000 best but I really don’t think the difference between that and any other buckshot mattered when it came to me missing or not.

#1 is what you need. More pellets and they tend to pattern better out of whatever gun you use. Ive shot tons of buckshot.
Now chokes are a funny thing with buckshot, I’ve had some guns shoot better with imp and some shoot better with mod. I usually found mod choke with #1 to be pretty deadly out to 50 yards with 3” and 60 with 3.5”. Imo

00 or 000 for me

Don’t look for the stand with the most wide open view, find some thick stuff with a trail through it.

#4 buck. Most folks that have never shot 3"
4 buck, for some reason, mainly because never using
them, turn their nose up at 4's. 41 shots per shell.
Only thing I would shoot running dogs. And I did
for 10 years.
You don't shoot 416 Rigby if you rifle hunt?

Sorry ,,, imo 4 are for dogs and people .

1 is for 20 gauge

00 and 000 for 12 and 10 ga

If you use buckshot the way it was meant , bigger the better.

Also noticed that long barrels with fixed full chokes do better that short barrels with chock tubed. Copper plated buckshot is better than plane lead

#1 buck has always worked for me.

I've never hunted (or maybe even shot?) buck shot. Do you guys use it exclusively for hunting with dogs? Wondering if it would be worthwhile to carry my 12ga in the woods this year. I'm hunting public and will be doing a lot of in-season scouting/hunting since it's my first year hunting here. My only other option currently is my muzzleloader (54cal caplock).

Don't you already load TSS turkey loads? Load up some 5mm shells and get that same effectiveness deer hunting.

I was thinking about that Mr Steve, I need to contact Hal and see if he’s gotta a load for that

I’ve seen some patterns and pictures posted on other forums of some really nice tss “buckshot” loads. If you go this route it looks like you can potentially get some 100 yard loads.

I use Hal’s 3in, 1.5 oz buckshot load. I’ve used BB and 1. Pretty incredible stuff on deer and hogs.

Dsayer check the regs for the public land you are hunting. Most of the WMAs and Forever Wild land prohibit buckshot except during dog hunts when it is buckshot only.

Ah thanks! You're correct... No buckshot.

Have you tried rifled slugs in your gun? I’ve killed a heap of deer with them, a few was 100ish yards. Most was 40-60 yards.

I shoot buckshot when I run dogs. I hunt with a rifle when I still hunt. A lot of times, a deer shot with buckshot doesn't bleed a lot. Not really a problem when there is a pack of hounds on them. While still hunting, if he doesn't fall right there, he could be hard to find.

Sorry to derail the thread a bit, but thanks for the replies.
I hadn't even really considered shooting deer at with my shotgun until reading this thread so no slugs. I think I'll probably just stick with my old trusty smoke pole this season.
Really good point about the blood trail issue with no dogs Fldoghunter. Hadn't thought of that...

I’m shooting the 5mm TSS out of my sbe2 with a sumtoy Buckshot choke. It’s nasty for a long ways

Winchester super x 00 with a full choke for me. I've patterned them all. and whatever the gun/choke combo, the old grey box Winchesters are always at the top of the list for patterns. Nothing smaller than #1. I hunt with several that use the #4's. I really wish they would quit. They do kill some with it, but more wounded than killed. It is fine real close range but lacks the power needed when further out. If you are wanting the tightest possible pattern, don't overlook your turkey choke. I have gotten some amazing patterns with my comp-n-choke xxxfull. I mostly use full choke though. Sometimes a more open pattern is a good thing.

Looks like you’re not going to go for buckshot after all, but for anyone else interested I wanted to mention that the federal buckshot that uses the flitecontrol wad will blow your mind if you’re used to patterning standard buckshot. MUCH tighter patterns than any other offering I’ve tried. It tends to be hard to find on shelves though, it usually sells out quickly so I’ve always had to order online and it costs almost double but well worth it IMO