I know this is an old thread but have had a lot of experience with buckshot and thought I would share some info.

1. buckshot is underestimated on its capability.
2 pattering a shotgun is a must to make sure you are getting the peak performance from the buckshot/choke/gun of choice.
3 the most versatile choke for buckshot is mod. usually you can find 1 brand of buckshot to perform good enough to kill deer effectively out to 40 yards without question if the shooter patterns the gun and does their part.
4 there are buckshot chokes that will make a big difference. (kicks, pattern master, compnchoke, carlsons) to name a few.
5 now odds of same choke tube working the same in 2 different guns is usually very slim.
6 I am more partial to compnchoke or carlsons as I have been shooting buckshot through them for prob 8 years.

you hear people tell you to NOT use buckshot on deer.

1 main reason is you wont get a blood trail to follow if it runs off.
2 2nd reason is you cant shoot a deer past 30 yards and expect to kill it.

elaborating on blood trail a little bit.
there are a lot of deer lost every year with a rifle and bow that did or didn't produce a blood trail.
was it poor shot placement? is it using a bullet that doesn't expand or do what the company says it will do? did shooter jerk when they squeezed the trigger? and the list goes on.

buckshot will also create a blood trail. maybe not as good as a rifle most of the time but if you spend time looking the start off with to find first drop then you can follow it like you are pouring it out of a bucket. just takes deer little longer to start bleeding heavy with buckshot vs. rifle bullet but not always.

Buckshot killing distance
if you spend time shooting your gun and finding the right buckshot/choke combination it is extremely common to kill a deer in his tracks at 70 yards.

I fill my freezer up every single year with deer that I kill with buckshot. in the last 8_10 years I have probably only had to track a deer a couple times.

I shoot a comp n choke in my first gun of choice and use either # 1 buck 2 3/4, win 00b 3in, or 3in # 4 buckshot. all depends on the terrain and what the situation is.

now up close with this gun it is like shooting a rifle bullet at a deer because my pattern is so tight out to 20 yards. at 20 yards I have a 4 1/2 inch pattern. at 50 yards I have a 15 inch pattern.

so the ones that bash buckshot or any small caliber rifle for taking a deer are usually the ones that do nothing more than buy a gun get some ammo and get it close to zero and take off hunting.