It all comes down to using whatever works well for you and is legal to use where you are hunting.
When I was stationed at Fort Riley, KS, some of the best deer hunting areas on post were between old Camp Forsyth, where the ROTC Summer Camp cadets were housed, and the Republican River. It was shotgun only because of the close proximity to the old wooden barracks buildings at Camp Forsyth and the civilians who lived across the river in Junction City. My Camp Forsyth deer gun was an old 16 gauge bolt action Mossberg that someone had modified by cutting the barrel back to 20", bending the bolt handle to reduce the rise height, and installing an old Weaver K2.5 in a Redfield mount. Being a smooth bore is wasn't the most accurate slug slinger, but it would keep 5 Foster type slugs within 8" at 75 yards and Brennekes within 5" at the same distance. There have always been some big whitetails on Fort Riley, but I never saw one close to the size of the 218" buck that Devyn Messenger shot with a crossbow last fall.
