Editing Shotgun (section)

===Hunting===
{{see|Garden gun}}
[[File:Usko Rautasuo (JOKAMT2Me06-2).tif|thumb|A Finnish hunter with shotgun in 1956]]
The shotgun is popular for bird [[hunting]] (called "game-shooting" in the United Kingdom, where "hunting" refers to hunting mammals with a pack of hounds), it is also used for more general forms of hunting especially in semi-populated areas where the range of rifle bullets may pose a hazard. Use of a [[smoothbore]] shotgun with a rifled slug or, alternatively, a rifled barrel shotgun with a [[sabot (firearms)|sabot]] slug, improves accuracy to {{convert|100|m|yd|abbr=on}} or more. This is well within the range of the majority of kill shots by experienced hunters using shotguns.

However, given the relatively low muzzle velocity of slug ammunition, typically around 500&nbsp;m/s (about 1600 feet per second), and the blunt, poorly streamlined shape of typical slugs (which cause them to lose velocity very rapidly, compared to rifle bullets), a hunter must pay close attention to the [[ballistics]] of the particular ammunition used to ensure an effective and humane kill shot.

At any reasonable range, shotgun slugs make effective lethal wounds due to their tremendous mass, reducing the length of time that an animal might suffer. For example, a typical 12-gauge shotgun slug is a blunt piece of metal that could be described as an 18&nbsp;mm (.729&nbsp;inch) caliber that weighs 28&nbsp;grams (432 grains). For comparison, a common deer-hunting rifle round is a 7.62&nbsp;mm (.308&nbsp;inch) slug weighing 9.7&nbsp;grams (150 grains), but the dynamics of the rifle cartridge allow for a different type of wound, and a much further reach.

Shotguns are often used with rifled barrels in locations where it is not lawful to hunt with a rifle. Typically, a sabot slug is used in these barrels for maximum accuracy and performance. Shotguns are often used to hunt whitetail deer in the thick brush and briers of the Southeastern and upper Midwestern United States, where, due to the dense cover, ranges tend to be close – 25m or less.

Sabot slugs are essentially very large hollow point bullets, and are streamlined for maximum spin and accuracy when shot through a rifled barrel. They have greater ranges than older Foster and Brenneke-type slugs.

People often use semiautomatic or pump-action shotguns for hunting waterfowl to small game.