I think the buckshot rules here in Virginia go back to the colonial period. Here in the eastern counties, deer hunting was largely done as sport by plantation owners who would use smooth bores loaded with large shot to shoot deer being chased by dog packs. In the western counties, the frontier of the day, mountain men would hunt for food, alone, with rifles. These differences have carried over two centuries, although the social class distinctions are largely gone and very few would still use a muzzle loading flintlocks. I can't document this, but this is the general impression I get from my interest in Virginia history.

Soon I'll be going out into my own little bit of wooded land with buckshot. Not my first choice, but I also would like to avoid the 500USD fine for violating the buckshot rule. Muzzle loading rifles are legal also, but require one to do his shooting from an elevated platform. We can own and target shoot just about anything we want here; I'm strictly talking about hunting.

Just for a little perspective on what we call "deer" here. They aren't much bigger than my German shepherd.