#4 buckshot and deer

[fabsroman]

I agree with Dom on this.

I just opened up some really old 16 gauge #1 buckshot the other night to destroy the shells and there weren't many pellets inside.

Buckshot is illegal here in Maryland for deer hunting, but even if it was legal I still think I would be using slugs in lieu of buckshot. My shotgun has a slug setup that is pretty darn good out to 150 yards. In shotgun only areas, the human population is so tight that you don't see many shots longer than 150, and most are a lot less than 150. The slugs/sabots have done the job just fine and I almost never need to worry about the outcome (i.e., will a pellet hit the right place or not, will they make it out that far).

If I HAD to use buckshot, I would buy a 10 ga. and use #00 or #000.