How many shells per year hunting?

[Sharptail]

How many shells do you put through your shotgun(s) while HUNTING each year? Shots at inanimate targets do not count, nor do military / police actions.

I do not care what type of hunting you do; slug hunting for deer, geese, grouse, you can use buckshot for gophers for all I care. The number of shells is all I care about, for purposes of this post.

Perhaps you are a competent big game hunter, and only put as many slugs through your gun as you have tags to fill. Perhaps you hunt snipe, and shoot 50 shells to come home with 4 birds. You might hunt doves in Argentina, and require freight cars to deliver the shells.

There is no underlying political purpose for my question, and it has nothing to do with regulations or laws. My query has more to do with why shotguns are designed the way they are. I need raw data. Any additional feedback is welcome.

Sharptail

 

[adog]

Last year I shot over 600$ in 3.5 inch BBB winchester's in my "goose" gun. I had 2 other guys hunt with me for geese all season and I bet they put just as many or more shells through their guns. I buy my shells in the "case lot" .

 

[mdbuckle]

Shot about 3-4 hundred dollars in Hevishot. Lots and lots of steel shot untill I threw it all in the garbage (I didn't really). I hate steel, 2-3 shots per bird was getting to me. Hevishot is worth every penny.

 

[adog]

I don't really have a prob with steel. I pattern my gun and I have shot geese and ducks over 50 yds with it.

 

[BigUglyMan]

I usually buy a case each fall. Sometimes I have some left over, sometimes I have to buy more.

 

[slicknick]

Good thing you mentioned gophers. Between those furry bugggers and the occaisonal magpie, crow, hornets nest (only once) I'd say about 100 rounds. Trap on the other hand I think I've gone through about 2 cases since May

 

[Claybuster]

I'd say around 300. Most of them are on preserve pheasants with maybe a box for ruffed grouse and a few boxes chasing ducks.

 

[Tozman]

A bit hard to keep track because I have a bad habit : I start with a fresh box before depleting my old stocks.

Probably around 200-300 shells for the last few years. I used to shoot more in the past.

 

[Trigun]

I cannot make a poll becasue I used less than one box every hunt.

Trigun

 

[viper7]

Couple hundred.

Some on pheasant and loads on bunnies.

Can't wait for bunny season.

 

[LeePeterson]

Id have to say atleast 400 rounds on geese, about 20 on rabbits and 30 or so on ducks. I also use 2 on my Turkeys.

 

[gth]

4 boxes give or take

1 or 2 boxes of steel chasing ducks

1 box or less shooting grouse (usually use the .22lr)

and a box or less of a heavy lead shells hunting fox and jacks



I havent done it for a while but the odd year I get out to blast some crows I could shoot 4 or 5 boxes in a day.

 

[TReX300]

We do ALOT of crow hunting during the winter. Our best night last year we shot 108 in 3 hours. We hunt them about 2-3 nights a week from early Nov. till early March. That will give you some kind of idea how many shells we use just for crow hunting. Now add in the shells used on waterfowl and small game and that's why I voted in the "really lots" catagory.

Tim

 

[aiwa]

About 6. One for actual hunting and five for practice/fooling around.

 

[tracker]

150-200 rds 243 for coyotes, some of these are noise makers dogging coyotes in thick bush.
10-15 boxes 12 ga for crows.
1-20 rds 7mm for moose.
15-25 410 shells for grouse.
4-6 boxes 10 gauge for geese.
4-5 boxes 12 ga for ducks.
10-15 shells 12 ga buck for coyotes.
1-15 shots 50 cal. muzzleloader for deer.
2- 10 gauge for turkey, this year 4 for 2 turkey.
Many many more plinking, punching paper and trimming tree tops at camp.

 

[Ahsan Ahmed]

About a 100 shells last year.........first year of hunting in Canada.

 

[samdunc]

Actually I shoot about a case of shotgun shells a year at game. Ptarmigan,rabbits, ducks and geese. I take Sept thru November off each year. After November I hunt rabbits,turrs and seaducks every weekend. In the poll I hit about 100 shells thats just for ptarmigan. I live to hunt
regards
Dan

 

[bluelynx]

a lot of shells

Let me say there are lot of magpies, crows, coyotes, and feral vermin around the family prize chicken operation

 

[Fassteel]

Sharpie I shoot auto loaders in the fall and now 99% is 20 gauge, so for huns and sharps I used 6 boxes, pheasants 1 box, geese 1 flat and ducks 1 flat.FS

 

[rosek]

Ducks Unlimited a few years back done a survey on the same topic and they said that the average duck hunter shoots 10 shells for every duck bagged!