Thanks very much for posting this personal experience. All of us who have spent lives in the field have similar snafu's to think back on though many don't have the guts to post them.

Now that you've broken the ice, I'll go one better {i.e., worse...} in the hope that others may not make the same mistake I did. In my forlorn and ballistically uninformed youth, I heard the bit about the effectiveness of #4 Buckshot on geese at extended range. With no input of wisdom from anyone who possessed it, I found my gun loaded with same while facing a small flock of geese at a distance that must have been somewhere between 80 and 100 steps. With no one looking, I commenced firing at one loner, yes, whilst it paddled about on the water. Pellet strikes were obvious. That I came nowhere near the bird was obvious, too. After a couple shots were fired, the bird had enough and flew off. Every observation indicated it was unscathed, though I cannot be certain of that.

That embarrassing endeavor had one good result. It made me skeptical of assertions of "Gun Power" put forth by anyone until I'd tried something similar on something not living.

Your experience is instructive to those who might feel comfortable having a go at a deer with buckshot at extended ranges. Thanks very much for posting!

And also, like Tatume, I have heard the bit about "Reliable 100-yard Buckshot" and know it to be untrue.