I too am shocked by the amount of folks first deer that were killed with a shotgun. I really had no idea. .
Where I'm from kids back then usually only had two guns to learn to hunt with, a .22 and a shotgun. Unless you were rich Deer Rifles were for grown ups so you learned to hunt deer with shotgun slugs. My first was on Thanksgiving Day 1978, with a beat-to-hell-and-back 12 gauge Wards-Western pump, and a Remington green hull pumpkin ball slug. A doe that somebody else had gut shot and didn't follow up. Was headed back to the house for Thanksgiving dinner when Dad and I jumped it up. Started tracking it in the snow and found it laying down again. Mom was mad we were late for dinner messing with getting that deer out.
When I was 8 years old my dad did start me hunting with a 20 gauge H&R Topper with slugs. I just can’t imagine hitting much with those things much beyond 25 or 30 yards. I was 13 when I killed my first deer with his 243. We were far from rich.
