Hunting deer with a shotgun is not the "hit or miss" thing it was a few years ago.

There have been a lot of advancements in the technology of slug manufacturing which has resulted in increased accuracy and downrange performance. Yes, your old bird gun just could be a fine deer weapon if a few criteria are met.

There's a kind of mystery surrounding deer slugs and that's probably because there is so little written about hunting deer with a shotgun. You just don't see much coverage in the national outdoor magazines. The many technological advancements made in recent years have gone largely unreported in the outdoor press. So, let's try to take some of the mystery out of this subject.

First, let's consider the gun itself. Shotguns are smoothbores, designed to shoot a number of pellets down a barrel with a slight constriction (called a choke) at the end which will keep the pellets together in a tighter group and extend, somewhat, the range of the load. They are not really designed to shoot a single, lead projectile. Use slugs in single barrel guns only. Doubles or over-unders will not be accurate.

The first slugs were simply round, lead balls loaded into a shell. Accuracy was terrible. A bullet needs to be spinning to stay on track. The first advancement in slugs was the Foster "rifled" slug. It is a short, lead bullet which is solid in the front and hollow in the rear with external "rifling" molded into the rear of the bullet. When fired, the hollow base expands to fill the barrel and the "rifling" contacts air to make the bullet spin and to stabilize the slug for better accuracy.

Here's what you should keep in mind about Foster type slugs. They are made to a variety of specifications and dimensions by the different manufacturers. That's why one brand may perform much better in your shotgun than another and why you should test fire many brands before settling on your hunting choice.

These slugs are available in 12, 16, 20, and .410 bore. For deer hunting, stick with the 12 gauge. These slugs generally weigh in at one ounce in 12 gauge. They are available in both 2 3/4- and 3-inch sizes. My advice is to stick to the 2 3/4-inch slugs because you don't get much improvement in performance with the magnums and they kick a lot harder. And, by the way, shotgun slugs kick like the proverbial mule.

Any way you look at it, slugs are short range tools. Most guns will be accurate enough at 50 yards for deer hunting, but beyond that you will have to test fire your own gun to determine it's maximum effective range.

In the best guns, 75 yards is a long shot. Bear in mind that these slugs are dangerous far beyond 75 yards. It is lack of accuracy which make them short range weapons.

Probably the best choke to use with rifled slugs is a cylinder or improved cylinder. While there is no problem in firing a slug through a modified choke, I would avoid shooting them through a full-choke barrel. The slug could gradually expand the end of the barrel and reduce the choke.

To get the best accuracy out of your slugs, you will need sights on the shotgun barrel. Snap on sights are available to be placed the the barrel's rib, or special shotgun slug barrels with sights can be purchased. With sights and the proper load, groups of three inches at 50 yards are possible with the Foster type slugs.

A variation of the Foster design is the Brenneke slug. In this slug, the wad remains attached to the bullet. There are a number of manufacturers offering this type of slug and accuracy may be better in your gun.

Full bore slugs of Foster or Brenneke designs can be used in rifled barrels; however, it's not recommended because the lead slugs will load the rifling and cleaning the barrel will be difficult.

While it's probably that the majority of Iowa's shotgun deer hunters will be entering the woods with a smoothbore shooting Foster type slugs, the popularity of rifled shotgun barrels and sabots are growing quickly. And, for good reason.

Performance of sabots in a scoped, rifled barrel shotgun approach that of rifles. A two-inch group at 50 yards is a given and three slugs through one hole at 50 yards is definitely possible. Although there is much talk of sabots being effective out to 200 yards, or even more, the average hunter shouldn't expect more than about 125 yard performance out of them.

Wind drift is considerable. A 10 mph crosswind will cause a slug to drift about 10 inches while a 150 grain 30-06 bullet will drift about 1/8-inch. Most slugs will have a trajectory of 4 or 5 inches at 100 yards.

Sabot slugs were originally simply pistol bullets nestled in a plastic cup similar to the cup holding the lead pellets of a shotguns shell. Generally a 12-gauge sabot will be 50 caliber, although there will be variations among manufacturers. The sabot slug is much more accurate because the fall-away plastic sleeve engages the rifling and causes the bullet to spin. That makes it much more aerodynamic than the Foster style slugs. The sabot slug will retain its energy far beyond the 100 yards which is the point at which full bore slugs fall off.

Sabots should be used only in rifled barrels.

You'll need to do a lot of shooting at the range with sabot slugs to find the one that performs best in your gun. Slight differences in barrel diameters can cause some brands of bullets to shoot much better in your gun than others.

Iowans harvested 150,552 deer last year and a good share of them were taken with shotguns. A little preparation and practice now will insure that when that monster buck walks in front of you and your shotgun he will drop at the first shot. Missing at 50 yards with a shotgun slug is no longer acceptable.

Larry Myhre is outdoor editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 276-5965 or email at: lfentfish@msn.com