[Jeff Higgins]

My experience with slugs is very limited, being comprised of just a couple deer taken in shotgun only areas. I was warned to take only broadside shots, so I did. My favorite broadside shot is the break the near shoulder and angle into the vitals, or to go through the vitals and angle to the far shoulder, with my choice depending upon the angle presented.

My very first shot was a near side shoulder shot. The animal hunched up, but never went down. The second was through the lungs, and he went down. The first slug broke the shoulder alright, but pretty much stopped right there. The second one, through the lungs, failed to exit. I was less than impressed.

Years later, I found myself toting a shotgun once again, and I kept that experience in mind the whole time. I waited for a dead-on, 90 degree broadside shot and put it in the heart/lung area. He dropped like a sack of spuds. Once again, though, the slug failed to exit.

To me, that is a "lack of penetration". Yes, the slugs did their job. I just don't like being limited with regards to the angle I'm shooting from. I want full penetration, from any angle, even if breaking heavy bone on the way in. I've had much better luck with that. And, while I have taken (and hope to never take) one, I believe it would be extremely important on a frontal shot on an approaching bear.