The southern third of Michigan was always shotgun only until this year. Now we can use rifles chambered for straight walled cartridges 35 cal and over and a case length of 1.16” - 1.8”, that includes 44 mag rifles.
I picked up a Ruger 77/44 bolt-action and love it, got one for my son too.
More accurate than shotgun slugs with far less than half the recoil. Much cheaper to shoot and you can reload your own. They have about the same effective range as shotgun slugs. 4 deer so far this year and all one shot kills.
Ohio, Indiana, and southern Michigan were former shotgun only, but now allow those types of rifles. You should prod your state into allowing them too.
http://ruger.com/products/rotaryMagazine7744/models.html
I don't see MD changing in the parts which are shotgun only because of the type of cover and the population density.
In the range envelope most common there, the 12 gauge rifled slug is plenty adequate. I bagged my first whitetail there at the ripe old age of 11 with a .410. The shot my Dad pulled off was a rare one. He was after that buck, specifically, and that critter just wasn't coming in close. Most deer harvested there are at 100 yards or less, unless you are in the western part of the state, but rifle hunting was allowed there then, and likely still is.