REVIEWS
The DeerSlayer III
With this modern rendition of a classic old slug gun, Ithaca aims for the future.
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Unless you grew up hunting west of the Rockies, when you think of "slug guns" for deer you likely think "Ithaca Model 37." It's a venerable pump-gun design (originating from John M. Browning's Remington Model 1917, his last of such creations) that could be found in the hands of thousands of hardwoods deer hunters. Like many of us Westerners, who grew up shooting Dad's Western Field and similar pumps, back East it was a right of passage when a young boy was handed down his father's seasoned Ithaca bottom-ejector. In future generations, that right of passage for some young hunters will likely include the gift of one of most serious slug guns ever produced, the Ithaca Model 37 Deerslayer III.
It's understandable that a gunmaker based in New York would build a shotgun that would proliferate the Eastern woods come fall, but offering deer hunters shotguns that fit their changing needs is what really made the Model 37 Deerslayer the go-to slug gun it is today. While hunters were shooting slug loads through their favorite grouse and goose guns for years prior, the Deerslayer's introduction (1959) and technological advancements closely followed trends in shotgun slug development and in-the-field necessities.
With it's original 12-gauge Deerslayer, which featured rifle sights, cylinder choke and a slightly underbored barrel that held slugs tightly and squarely as they passed along its length, Ithaca was the first gunmaker to offer such a dedicated production slug gun (16-gauge and 20-gauge versions would eventually follow). Tighter bore tolerances allowed for improved accuracy with slugs of the day.
Then, with another first, the Deerslayer's accuracy was further improved in 1988 with Ithaca's commercial offering of a rifled barrel. In 1996, not long after the use of slugs really began to catch on and the availability of saboted bullets was becoming more common, Ithaca introduced the Deerslayer II, essentially the first dedicated production slug gun to feature a free-floated barrel. While its first incarnation featured interchangeable barrels, the Deerslayer II's bore was threaded to the receiver as a permanent fixture, which improved its shot-to-shot repeatability because the barrel and receiver were essentially one unit.
Today, with the heavy-barreled 12-gauge Deerslayer III, Ithaca has taken slug guns to the next level.
According to Robin L. Sharpless, Ithaca's director of marketing and business development, the Deerslayer III, like those models before it, is a reflection of the current trends in hunting. "Let's face it," he says, "it's a reality that modifications to game laws in many states are requiring us to use slug guns."
In many cases, for some hunters they are essentially replacing classic carbines afield. Traditional .30-30s and the like just aren't always an option any more.
"Obviously, the technology [accuracy enhancements and slug design] is such that we are offering hunters the ability to take deer reliably, safely and accurately at longer distances," he says.
Modern slug loads offer enough energy to allow deer to be cleanly taken at distances of 100 yards or more, "and we're offering a product that will let them do it with a reliable level of accuracy. This is a 'beanfield slug gun,' for lack of a better term."
Within limits, "beanfield slug gun" is an accurate description. The Deerslayer III is on the heavy side, weighing about 111/2 pounds with scope, and features a 25-inch barrel--attributes you'd expect in an extended-range rifle. It's not what you would consider a walk-about, but it's perfectly at home in a ground blind or tree stand. And like a beanfield rifle, the Deerslayer III is built for accuracy from the receiver forward.
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