I will have to say that I was never a big Buckshot fan, how ever
this past hunt seasona first time hunter was with us we put him on a watch with a 12 gauge pump 30" barrel and loaded with double 0 buck
3" mag.when a nice 8 point came out to him at aprox. 30 yrds he fired and acording to him the buck did a front knee skid and expired in seconds
after dressing the deer out we found 6 holes in the front shoulder area.
Moral of the story is given the right chance and shot placement inside 40 yrds the animal will go down to Buckshot I am sure.