Don't knock the NID 3.5 'til you've tried it. :)

Mine is used mostly for fall turkeys, and it makes my arm longer by the end of the season...and leaves my middle finger swollen unless I shoot the back trigger. When I shoot it at turkeys they die, and at ranges I would not attempt with anything else. I only shoot it sparingly, and can't imagine shooting 3.5 inch shells at anything other than turkeys. I have used the Ithaca for ducks loaded with my own light, short loads, and it will reach out an touch a duck...when I luck into leading them correctly (not all that often).

I guess the Ithaca ten 3.5 would be called an niche gun, yes? :rotf:

I’ve killed a fair amount of deer over the last 7 or 8 years using handloaded 2 7/8” Buckshot and slugs . And I had a couple old Ithaca MAG-10 semis and the BPS although I never killed a deer with the BPS or the Ithaca’s . I already have an NID Super 10 that does very well , but I got the idea I needed to be able to shoot 3 1/2” from a double also , hopefully I’m past that but I often have flashbacks . 😂😂😂

OK, seriously...you're hooked. I can tell. Yes, you DO need another gun! and you do need to shoot 3.5" shells through a double. :)

P.S. I sure wish we could shoot buckshot at deer here in Missouri. One of the many things I miss from growing up in Virginia.:crying:

Wouldn't matter what state I were in :whistle:

Funny thing I'm 56 and have hunted VA for 50 seasons but I NEVER used buckshot until I started loading for my 10 gauge accumulation .

But the way I do it isn't exactly the text book way .

I go up my tree and when settled in I'll have a rifle of some type hanging on the side the tree and a double of some sort across my climber . The shotgun be it with buck or slugs is used more like archery IE: I don't shoot if the deer isn't inside 25 yards .

I recently acquired an Parker EH with factory original 28" barrels . I suspect before I ever get an NID MAG 10 I'll defer to a factory original EH in 26" or 24" .

Funny you should write this. I hope the statute of limitations is out...my first Missouri buck was on public land in an area with a shotgun only rule (slugs are the only legal ammo for shotguns, but I did not know this at the time). I took my old H&R 36" single shot out on the last morning of our 9-day season. I had the place to myself. I climbed up in someone's wooden stand (illegal now since it used nails). At daylight a nice buck came in and I shot him with buckshot -- left handed (I'm a righty, but he came in from the right). He dropped with multiple holes in his side. I took him to the check station and the agent checked him over (noting the multiple wounds in the deer's side). For some reason I did not say anything about shooting the deer with buckshot, even though I thought it was quite the accomplishment at the time. It was after checking the deer that I discovered I was illegal.

We bird hunt during the deer season sometimes. I have had the dogs point deer with some frequency (and turkeys). Every time I walk in to flush and a deer gets up, I wish I could have the left barrel loaded with buckshot. I would have taken some really large deer that way.

I like your two gun deer method, though. Especially getting to shoot one with a nice, old double.

I feel ya on that point. Have a BPS 12 gauge setup for a turkey gun with built in sights on the barrel that can shoot 3.5 inch shells. It is lightweight with a 26 inch barrel for a 12 gauge gun. I am not certain if felt recoil on same setup on 10 gauge is more than the 12. Weight of 10 gauge gun might offset the extra charge and load that 12 may offer, but betting that 10 probably does kick like an angrier whipped mule than equivalent 12. Either way remember vividly patterning my gun one afternoon to figure out which shot size would give me best patterns at 50+ yards with choke I was using, and that was 10 years ago.

I know these 10 gauge SXS guns generally are pretty heavy guns to offset recoil shooting a 3.5 inch shell but still there is no comfort of recoil reduction.

Was reading last night about Jerry's use of of 9 shot tungsten and lighter loads effectiveness at 50+ yards, may need to rethink this whole 3.5 inch heavy load big charge notion to get those longer shots.

i shoot rst bismuth in my short 10 all the time, as long as the birds are over the decoys it kills just fine i’ve even taken cranes swans and big geese with bismuth B shot

The 10 bore handles 1 ¼ oz. of shot better than the 12 bore. The 10 bore makes a great waterfowl gun and it patterns larger shot better than most 12 bores. I don’t shoot larger than #4 in a 12 except when I could get #3’ back in the day for geese. I never owned a 12 that patterned 2’s worth a damn. The 10 might do ok with them, but since I don’t use 2’s for waterfowl there is no need to pattern one of my 10’s with them. I would suggest that if one wants to use larger than #4 shot in a 12 bore that they take some shots at paper and see what the patterns look like. You might be unpleasantly surprised. I used to do a lot of pattern work with my guns and know the shot size limitations, for optimum performance, for the different gauges.

Back in the day, I used to kill deer in a thick swamp with buckshot. Patterns were awful with 00 buck but I found that I could get decent 40 yard patterns with #1 buck, but only if I melted wax around the shot. That worked pretty well. I wish I had a 10 bore back in those days for buckshot.