Waterfoul Ammo... What works best for you?

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JayH

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New Brunswick
Hello all,

I will be doing some testing of my own once the mountains of snow are gone here in lovely NB, but until then, what ammo do you guys use for waterfowl. Info that I'm looking for is...

Manufacture of the shell, shell size, shot size, chokes used, average range you shoot the bird at, shotgun used, knockdown power.......that kind of stuff.

I am SLOWLY building up different types of shells to test out but baised on info I get here, I will test a wide variaty of shells and may ranges using several choke tubes. I will make a vid and post results.


Cheers
 
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What kind of waterfowl? Makes a difference. No seasons open until Fall anyway(don't think any bird seasons run until then. Certainly not here.), but 4, 5 or 6 was duck shot(and other small game.) when I was starting to hunt. 2's or BB's for geese. Must be steel or other non-lead shot for migratory birds now. NB may have decided steel is required for everything too. I don't know if they have or not. Read your hunting regs.
A 12 gauge with the right choke(use changeable chokes) will give you the least grief.
 
we had a great late season gooses hunt in feb in Ontario it was minus 26 degrees freezing cold and the birds were very well featherd ,very thick ,I used a rem 870 mod choke and tried some 3 inch black cloud in BBB and I had some rem steel sports men bb both worked well as we had the bird coming in to are decoys at 25 to 30 yards in front of the gun so it was easy shooting ,most magnum steel will work today of you can get the birds inside of 40 yards ,Dutch
 
When the "non-tox" shot first came into effect there was quite a learning curve as to what would work - the steel shot nothing like lead and there was many, many crippled birds.

Not to be (under gunned) myself and the few guy I duck hunt with went with Remington 3" BB Steel (which is now sold as Remington Sportsman Hi-Speed steel).

I still shoot the BB 3" loads for ducks. Don't shoot much past about 25 yards and almost always over decoys. Use a Rem 870 Express pump with a modified choke.

I don't experiment with loads and don't lose birds.
 
3" federal speed shock 2's work well for me for ducks and geese, but burn a little dirty for my liking. Ultra shock 2's were my favourite when you could still get them easily. Anything over decoys I use improved cylinder. I used to use a factory mod for anything further but ended up damaging that tube so I replaced it with a pattern master code black tube that I've had in for a couple seasons now, seems to do the trick but throws steel incredibly tight under 30 yards and turns anything under that range into swiss cheese. I honestly think guys need to spend more time shooting clays than testing ammo. You'll be surprised what you'll knock down with the cheap steel loads.
 
Hi JayH, After decades of waterfowl hunting with every kind of shotgun including insanely long barrels and full chokes and all sorts of ammunition I now use almost exclusively 2.75 inch 12 gauge Winchester Drylock 1 oz loads of steel shot for ducks (#4) and snow geese (#2 or 4) over field decoys or for ducks over water. If bigger game (Canadas) is coming into the decoys I use 3" BB Winchester or Federal shells (1.25 to 13/8 oz BB) and never bother with long shots over 40 yards as there are usually lots of birds and because long range shots are just a waste of birds and money. The longer shells with even heavier loads are more for one's ego I believe than for any appreciable improvement in hunting success......and much more costly! And, unlike so many artillery hunters, I use a Stoeger 2000 semi auto with 24 inch barrel and a modified choke. I have never had a need to go to a longer barreled gun or a tighter choke than modified and find the steel shot superior over decoys. My only back up now is a 20 gauge pump that is used more for upland birds, which I have never needed as the Stoeger has been flawless. The steel shot is much faster and provides a tight pattern with the factory wads and drops the birds very well......as you ask...great knock down power. I have found that the newer shells with piston type wads really provide a tighter group at the ranges I shoot and provide great shot strings to bring down anything that gets over the decoys. Try as many ammunitions and guns, chokes to get comfortable and confident but save some cash and use the shorter less expensive rounds, and practice in the field.....experience is the best teacher! As a learning tool I always picked up all my spent shells at the end of each hunt and would count them at the end of the season to get a tally of how many shots I fired per bird harvested........that number continued to decline with age and experience, and dropped very sharply after the start of using steel shot and wider chokes!!!!!! Good luck!
 
I have found that open chokes help a lot with steel. Last fall a buddy kept opening his Poly Choke each hunt and connected with a higher percentage of birds with each degree of choke opening. Towards the end of the season he was pounding birds with the Poly set at "slug" which is wide open. I like the idea of smaller shot and open chokes. This year it will be #4's and IMP CYL choking. I will be using 2 3/4" Imperial #4 steel and some #6 steel also. I have a few cases of Winchester #4 3" as they have a full 1 1/4 oz. of shot to fill out the patterns. I think it will work fine based on last years results. Fixed open chokes are fine as are Poly Chokes. Don't get caught up in the 100.00 screw in gimmick chokes. They do one thing well, take your money. Oh yeah, 1450 fps is plenty fast.

Darryl
 
like the last couple have said.. open choke with #4 for ducks (most of my shots are 5-30 yards). I use #2 or BB for geese. Later in the season with longer shots, I'll use modified choke... and occasionally for really long range stuff, I will use full choke (and still use #4).

I haven't noticed much difference between brands, except for one case: my Baikal SxS is deadly with Federal 1 oz #4. I've tried several other brands & loads and they don't pattern as well.. in that gun
 
Not unless you have an old/special gun that you really want to use. Modern guns can handle steel.

I have an old English SxS that I like to take duck hunting once in a while, and I'd use the expensive stuff then.

You can use a lot of shells when duck/goose hunting. It's ok to buy the less expensive ammo!
 
I use kent fast steel. 20g, 3 inch #2 out of a mod choke.
It's cheap, kills ducks dead so long as I do my part.

Far too many waterfowlers think buying expensive gear makes up for a lack of skill.
Spend your money on lots of trap loads and clays in the off season.
 
With my model 12 and polychoke2 set at Improved Cyl with 2 3/4 #3Mags I don't have too much trouble dropping ducks or geese that are coming into decoys or flybys as long as they are taking a look, not out at 100y.
C
 
pattern at your shooting ranges 35yards etc, mine ive got my mod choke in, 12ga is #2 early on for small like teal, then up to #1 and BB for mallards and geese etc. Even saying that dont bother with 3.5" unless your into 10ga that it ends up being one shot, one kill at longer distances. 12 ga, even a direct hit can take a few shots sometimes within 30 yards just depends where a pellet hits it, its all a chance on % pellets hitting vitals. As for brand, Ive used everything under the sun for steel shot, Kent Faststeel works well in my 12ga, as does the federal speed shok, the winchester Square shot works well, Black cloud sucks as the pattern has tons of holes and flyers due to the ring on it, remington hasnt worked for me in anything yet.
10 ga remington sucks, Black cloud kinda performs due to the mass amount of shot (2oz), winchester works and federal stuff works. Kent doesnt make 10Ga. steel. hope it helps and get out and start the patterning!
 
Obviously I am new here but you guys gave a lot of good info I am looking at doing waterfowl in Ontario
 
JayH said:
anything you guys would like to see in the testing......range's...bb counts in shells and that kinda stuff.
Click to expand...

Test for speed. I ran a couple different loads over the chrony last year and WOW! was I surprised. I'll just say that what I found with the Winchesters had me looking for a different brand for this fall. Rather than 1550 fps as stated on the box they were going less than 1300 fps. The Remington loads I had faired a lot better.
 
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