I' ve been fortunate enough to go in past, but only once. Had a blast though.

My question is...Will a scoped, semi-auto rifle work well, or should stick with a shotgun?

I' m getting ready to join a club this year that runs lots of dogs. Last time I went, I shot a buck at about 20 yds. with my 12 guage and OO Buck. Made a mess of him. My ruger deerfield (44 mag) has a 4X scope on it and recoils very little.

Do you think this would be a GREAT choice for deer hunting with dogs, or should I stick to the shotgun?