All of my hunting, until I was 24 was done with a shotgun. We still hunted and ran dogs for deer and I got my share. I never kept count, but 4-6 deer/yr for 10 years averages out to about 50 deer. Add another 30 or so killed since then with a shotgun and now it's about 80. Learn your guns limit (how well it will pattern different shot) and have at it.
My guns do not shoot slugs very well and I never killed a deer with one.
Like stated before, pattern your gun to see what it likes. One of mine likes #1 buckshot and the other #4. Draw a 12" square on newspaper and back off 40 yds. Shoot the box with different ammo and see which one puts the most in the square. 2 3/4" #1 buckshot- one gun consistently puts at least 9 out of 16 in the square. 3" #4 buckshot- gun consistently put 21 out of 42 in the square. These are at 40 yds.
At 35 yds, you should kill any deer in the US, with buckshot, if it patterns good.
