Today, in certain parts of the country and under special conditions, shotguns are the only guns authorized for deer hunting. Because of the amount of powder and the size of the projectile, shotguns do not have the extended range of rifles. Modern slugs have built in rifling which causes the minnie ball to spin out of the smooth-bore shotguns. This spin increases accuracy. Today, the shotgun, or fowling piece, is primarily used for upland bird and waterfowl hunting.
Shot sizes range from No.
9 to 000 Buckshot. There are nine .32 caliber minnie balls in a standard load of 00 Buckshot. This shell is ideal for shooting deer at close range in heavy brush. There are well over a 100 pellets in a shell loaded with No. 8 or No. 9 shot. This shell is ideal for flushing quail or for sporting clays.