I brought my first deer to bag with an old Coast to Coast ( mossberg 500) 12ga with a short slug barrel and rifle sights shooting 2.75” winchester slugs. The deer were driven past me and I picked out the fattest doe and let fly. I saw the big hole in her side just behind her shoulder appear and to my surprise she just kept going. The shot was perhaps 40 yards and she only went a short distance after the shot. I’m sure that combo would work equally well yet today. The last time I went slinking through the woods looking for a deer I had a straight stocked marlin 30-30 with a 2-7 redfield set on 4x loaded with 170 Sierra reloads. I never found a deer but I’m guessing it woulda worked just fine. 12ga slugs and 30-30’s have both proven quite capable for me many times over.
