My opinion and my opinion only I personally have no use for a shotgun for deer, assuming your are talking buck shot. Works great for home defense, but I don't care for it for deer hunting.

After owning both slug guns and muzzle loaders my preference is for the modern inline muzzle loader. The ease of use is much better for the slug gun and the newer loads are very good, very close to some large bore centerfires or magnum muzzle loaders. On the down side the shells are EXPENSIVE.

In my experience the muzzle loader once you get everything you need is cheaper to shoot and can be easier to get accurate at longer distances. It's much easier to tailor a load since you are basically hand loading every shot.

Slug guns can be fairly easier to get accurate at 100 yards if you experiment enough with different ammo, but that gets expensive fast if you don't find what works right away. We are talking 10-15 dollars or more per 5 rounds. If you have one that shoots well out to 150 yards consider yourself lucky. If you have one that shoots well out to 200 you would have to prove it to me.

However it's not uncommon with little work to get a muzzle loader to shoot fairly well out to 200 yards. Just remember that just because it can hold a butt load of powder you don't have to use that much. Most magnum muzzle loaders are actually more accurate with less than 150 grns of powder.

And in most places the muzzle loader is going to extend your hunting season.

And if you live in a state where you can use rifles the Savage that lets you shoot smokeless powder is awesome.

Paul