Of the few times I've carried my smoothbore Wingmaster in the deer woods, I most always seemed to see a deer out there a tad over 100yds...and have missed a few to boot.
My point:
Get a rifled barrel and buy some good ammo if you are going the shotgun route. There may be some smoothbore slug guns that shoot OK out to 75yds, but even that is stretching it, in my experience. Don't even bother with a scope...you'll only realize just how poorly a smoothbore shoots @ 100yds with an optic.
I hunt ALOT in shotgun areas and almost exclusively use my .50 cal muzzleloader with a quality 3-9 scope. It is far & away more accurate & effective on deer out to 150 yards reliably and a little farther with practice. I just got a CVA Kodiak Magnum for my uncle for his 60th b-day and that thing flat out SHOOTS!!! Cost $230 on sale...a bit more than a Remington rifled slug barrel, for reference.
Just trying to offer up some options for you. Bottom line is, having confidence in capable gear means meat in the freezer!
Lobbing cheapo slugs through a smoothbore will more often thatn not result in a frustrating experience...
