My Dad used a 30-30 for deer, but only in Vermont. Here in Massachusetts, it’s deer slugs only, but the few hunters that I know go for the black powder season. It’s really a joke. The black powder weapons that they use, are well made, and very accurate in the hands of a good marksman, not the “flintlocks” that the public thinks that they use. We need to do a better job with our deer in Massachusetts, but there is so much “input”. IMO (and here I go with MY “input”), we need a longer season, more doe permits, and more hunters. If later in the season, a hunter can take some extra deer, good for him/her. I know that we want to be “fair”, so that more folks can get “one” (and most folks get “none”), but at this point, I think that it is a primary concern to manage the herd. 

The primary concern with game managers is always — at least in my professional experience — to manage the herd so that it is healthy, doesn’t become over populated, and causes the least damage possible to crops. In order to do that they have to balance herd size with societal needs, making certain there is access and acreage for hunters, who are necessary if deer herds are to remain healthy, considering that without those hunters there’d be little or no money for wildlife conservation.