Crippled birds, trying hevi shot, any opinions on 40 yrd shots?

L

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I was out last weekend, had a ton of ducks come in and even some geese, shot, made a bunch of noise as they landed into my decoys, missed and had a couple i looked to hit and then proceeded to fly away the best they could, looked crippled, was kinda pissed cause after 80-100 yrds was mist rain and couldn't see very well, one flew out a good km into the lake and all i had was waders, so that goose was lost, was pissed, eventually got a duck, swatted it on the water 3 times from about 30 feet away and still wasn't dead, ended up cutting its head off after the feathers were all removed on the neck by shot after shot. was like wtf, i thought heck ill pay some $ and try hevi shot, wasn't sure how well it worked, any of you used it? opinions on effective distance on a 3" shell at 1500fps?
 
I tried hevi-shot this year. I was using BBB's. I wasn't impressed. The crimps were very inconsistant and they didn't seem to hit any harded then #2 fasteels. In all fairness I never did pattern them but I wont be buying them again
 
What load and choke were you using? And have you patterned it?

40 yards is pushing it for steel - if I'm not pulling them into 30 yards, I start looking at changing the set up to get them closer.
 
You shooting them on the water? They are much harder to kill sitting on water than flying. On water the wings are tucked in over top of an already heavy layer of late season feathers and to top it off most of the vitals are below the waterline. The only vital above water is the head and neck and the are small. Large shot and small targets at 40 yards do not go well together.Or did you mean you had crippled an airborne bird then tried to dispatch it? Try locating some #6 or 7 steel shot.....it fills in the pattern well and is great for head shooting cripples!
 
I use #6 for raking cripples. #3 steel for ducks and BB's for geese.

Ps. Work on your leads and range estimation. You need pattern density on target to kill. Steel does suck though
 
did you pattern these loads before you went out i would

i dont like non toxic shot of any sort witch is why i dont hunt waterfowl when they wake up and let us use lead again i'll pop a few ducks
 
Brucecounty said:
Lead sucks , just a fyi more cripples with that stuff over steel
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The early steel loads were definitely sub-par compared with lead but todays steel loads KILL as good as lead or better IMO. I can remember seeing just as many wounded birds with lead as there is with steel. Has to do with being able to centre them in the pattern and shooting them at effective killing range!
 
the spank said:
The early steel loads were definitely sub-par compared with lead but todays steel loads KILL as good as lead or better IMO. I can remember seeing just as many wounded birds with lead as there is with steel. Has to do with being able to centre them in the pattern and shooting them at effective killing range!
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very true , I used a lot of hevi-metal this year and love the stuff . I urge you to pattern your gun and maybe play with your chokes . I have to admit that i use a wad-wizard also .
 
I haven't used hevi shot or any of the expensive non-tox options. Just steel. I agree that the ducks die faster shooting them on the wing. Once they're on the water it can take a lot of blazing before you get a lucky pellet in the head. My solution is just to let them get closer. My typical shots are 5-30 m with an open choke and I don't have much trouble with cripples
 
First, you don't say what size shot you were using... So, my first guess is that your pattern density is light, ie you large size pellets in the HeviShot shell with fewer pellets in the shell...

I use 3.5 inch Xpert or Sportmans Steel shells, #2 size shot, going 1550fps & it drops birds inside 30m easily... Plenty of pellets in that shell to MAKE hits on your target...

Second, you don't say what choke you were using... Third, how's your shooting? Fourth, try patterning your gun & ammo combo on a large piece of white paper. It will SHOW you how thin a pattern is if you use larger sized pellets...

For me, shell selection is a compromise between using a large enough pellet & still carrying enough pellets to have a decent pattern density to make hits & cleanly harvest birds...

Cheers
Jay
 
I wouldn't bother with expensive shells...As it was stated before, when they are on the water, all the vitals are protected. Try going to a smaller shot like #5's. Should make a denser pattern, and aim for the head.
 
Three inch Hevi- shot #3 for everything ..........geese and ducks.Folds up ducks out to 50+ yards just like lead used to.You couldn't give me a case of Kent for free.Black Cloud Snow Goose #3 or #2 are also killers............Modified choke.You don't need larger shot with steel.Harold
 
I think that you would be better served to shoot steel and get good at hitting them. Unless your shooting past 50 yards with steel its the fact that you aren't centering the ducks IMO. a 3 incher # 2 at 1550 has lots of balls to crunch them at 45-50 yards IMO
 
I shoot Kent Fasteel 1's and can smash birds to 60 yards with them, I have witnesses and a couple are members here. Pattern and speed are what kills birds, everyone who complains about steel not working is either shooting old slow ammo or can't shoot, I see hundreds of birds die a year and those are the facts.

That being said I believe the best waterfowl load ever devised is an ounce and a quater of #4 Hevi-shot.
 
Having the proper choke is as important as patterning your shells. Patterning means finding the right combo and not every choke likes every shell as , shells like some chokes and some they dont...
 
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