I have never shot a deer with buckshot but my wife dropped a buck in its tracks with one round of No.1 buckshot from my old Browning A-5 with IC. Those 30 cal balls got the job done at least once.

We shoot 00 and 000 in my area of VA, hunting with dogs. No. 4 seems tiny to me. But like others have said you need to pattern different sizes and different brands in your gun. I shoot Remington 00 with a custom made choke for a Browning Silver Hunter. When you can put all 15 00's in a paper plate at 50 yards deer can't take much of that.

NO. 4 but try number 2's they have the best of both

I have seen a deers rear end blowed all to pieces with 00 buck. I have heard of deer shot with all sorts of cals though. Just pattern the gun at different ranges and see witch shoots and patterns best.

00

First of all, let it be known that buckshot is a short range load. By short, I mean 40 yards or less. I once shot a deer at about 25 yards with a load of 00 buck, and it was dead before it hit the ground. I was using a 2 3/4" non-magnum Federal 9 pellet load with the premium copper-plated pellets out of an 870 Remington with a modified choke tube. 5 of the 9 pellets hit right behind the shoulder in a pattern about the size of my hand. Of those 5, 3 went completely through the deer, and the other two penetrated both lungs and lodged against the hide on the far side. I attribute this performance to copper plating and 1325 fps velocity. The range helped too. I believe buckshot,in the larger sizes,is very effective, but use hard shot and avoid the bloated 3 inch mags that lack the velocity for good penetration, except at the closest ranges.

#4