Meh, perfectly legal here, and lots of bucks fall to them every year. They're particularly effective in the palmetto swamps where the ranges are short and the shots are fast. It works for us.Illegal here, just like they should be everywhere for hunting
To avoid the arguments on traditional buckshot pellet sizes, I asked what is the minimum weight of buckshot striking in the central 10" of the pattern required for a clean kill. This would determine the maximum effective range of the particular gun/load/choke.
That is strange, the nine or so deer I shot (I posted eight before, but now that I have been thinking about it, there were more), with #4 buckshot and two I shot with #1 buckshot did not display anymore intense "will to survive" than the pheasants, ducks, and geese I have shot over the years. The deer seemed to respond about the same to "scaled-up" bird shot (buckshot). I will have to talk to some Doctors and Biologists, about how "the will to live", keeps some animals from bleeding to death.2lb-3 lb birds are easier to drop than a 100lb-300lb deer - call it a more intense will to survive.
The area behind a deer's shoulder is very thin. After striking the ribs or passing through the small amount of muscle between them the lungs, heart, and liver are soft and easily penetrated. Once those vitals are penetrated, there is no pressing need for the buckshot to exit. I have carefully examined the vitals and the damage done to the deer on each one I have shot. I can attest, that even #4 buckshot has the mass to do a good/fast job of killing deer so shot. At about forty yards, I have found the #4 buckshot under the hide on the off-side. In short, it works well...observed from actual practice. In short, buckshot does not have the velocity and energy of a bullet, but then again, it does not need them.Because round projectiles shed speed and energy so quickly, basing maximum range simply on how many pellets hit near the vitals is probably not enough. There may be a gun/choke/shell combination that will put a bunch of pellets in a 10" circle at 75 yards, and maybe they'll hit with a combined 800 f.p., but nothings says any one of them will penetrate deep enough to be effective. On the other hand, at 10 yards, just two on-target pellets may tear up heart and lungs.