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You're welcome, JD. I took my first deer at the ripe old age of 16 with a stock Springfield 03, in 30-06 of course. Back then, to hunt deer in MD, we had to drive to the mountains or the Eastern Shore.
In the 50s, the govt livetrapped deer at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and dumped,er, released them all over the farming areas of the state to supplement the nigh extinct native deer. Supposedly, the Aberdeen transplants were descended from Michigan deer trapped and transported to Aberdeen by the Army.
By the early 70s, the deer population had boomed, and it still is. A shotgun season kicked off around 73, and by 76 lots of MD hunters were foregoing the trip past Hancock to hunt closer to home. This took a shotgun, and TUSIHC was an early attempt at a shotgun strictly for deer.
Practically everyone in that group had a slug gun by the following season. Ithaca 37s and slug bbls for 870s were common, tho Billy got a Mossberg like mine and his brother used a funny little Ithaca single shot in 20 gauge.
Right now, I can hunt thousands of acres closer to home that are teeming with deer if I use a shotgun, or I can hunt farther away in areas not so heavily populated with a rifle. Much as I like my rifles, the choice isn't hard to make.
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