waterfowl ammo

winruger

winruger

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Hamilton, Ontario
wondering if anybody recommended #2 steel for decoying geese in a layout blind situation. If so what brand works best for you? or is BB best for that situation.
I have used hevi-metal but it is difficult to come by around here...mostly federal/win/kent/challenger stuff but no tungsenMatrix too expensive

also might be doing lake erie diving ducks ... any suggestions guys?
thanks in advance
 
Mixed bag with ducks being the priority and majority I'd be ok with 2's. I slightly prefer 1's or BB's for geese.

For divers I have great luck with 4's and 3's but my conditions may differ from yours. If I had to pick a single load for all my waterfowling 1 1/8-1 1/4 oz of 2's. Of course I shoot my birds close to very close.
 
Bb or 2 is fine. I generally prefer bb and the guy in the other blind shoots 2. I shot a nice double this year with 1.25 ounce of 3 shot at 1450 fps cause a few geese came by early. Shots were longer but made sure I was in the head and neck area. Thay dropped stone dead. Pattern is more important than speed. Pattern the ammo at 40 yards. 30 inch circle. Score and challenger both make some well patterning 2.75 inch shells at 1400 to 1550 fps they do very well. The American made 2.75 inch shells seem to have less speed and payload. I generally shoot 3 inch 1.25 ounce of bb st 1400 fps. Dead goose if the nut behind the gun does his job. This particular load patterns very well as it does in bbb which I'm really beginning to like.
 
Early season teal and woodies = 2 3/4" #4 (sometime 3" #4 20 gauge)
Decoying mallards/blacks = 3" #3
Late season divers = 3" #2
Early field/decoy (dumb) geese = 3" #2
Bigger/Smarter/Farther geese = 3" BB

Take your pick Win/Rem/Fed
 
hoytcanon said:
Early season teal and woodies = 2 3/4" #4 (sometime 3" #4 20 gauge)
Decoying mallards/blacks = 3" #3
Late season divers = 3" #2
Early field/decoy (dumb) geese = 3" #2
Bigger/Smarter/Farther geese = 3" BB

Take your pick Win/Rem/Fed
Click to expand...

^^what he said^^ i will add score shotshells work great as well.
 
winruger said:
wondering if anybody recommended #2 steel for decoying geese in a layout blind situation. If so what brand works best for you? or is BB best for that situation.
I have used hevi-metal but it is difficult to come by around here...mostly federal/win/kent/challenger stuff but no tungsenMatrix too expensive

also might be doing lake erie diving ducks ... any suggestions guys?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...

I tried Challenger, 3" BB and was most impressed. They are just as good as Blind Side and Black Cloud. I'll will only be purchasing Challenger from now on, they were folding the big 11 and 12 pound Canada's very consistently.
 
track said:
I tried Challenger, 3" BB and was most impressed. They are just as good as Blind Side and Black Cloud. I'll will only be purchasing Challenger from now on, they were folding the big 11 and 12 pound Canada's very consistently.
Click to expand...

Im amazed blind side is still on the market. Black cloud is slightly better. Some barrels will pattern it just fine and some hate it. I have one of each. I've spent hours at the pattern board and really dont see the so called advantage of those loads. Besides to make more money for the manufacturer.

Essentially they have long range wads that stay with the shot for 15 yards and then they fill them with spreader shot or partially spreader shot. The 2 work against each other. Browning uses a wad like that for the bdx ammo, and wisely sticks to all round shot. It patterns pretty well but I haven't seen where a good conventional load and a couple good chokes couldn't beat it and those styles of wads for half the money.
 
prairie lover said:
Im amazed blind side is still on the market. Black cloud is slightly better. Some barrels will pattern it just fine and some hate it. I have one of each. I've spent hours at the pattern board and really dont see the so called advantage of those loads. Besides to make more money for the manufacturer.

Essentially they have long range wads that stay with the shot for 15 yards and then they fill them with spreader shot or partially spreader shot. The 2 work against each other. Browning uses a wad like that for the bdx ammo, and wisely sticks to all round shot. It patterns pretty well but I haven't seen where a good conventional load and a couple good chokes couldn't beat it and those styles of wads for half the money.
Click to expand...

I seriously had no issues with Blind Side or Black Cloud. Both patterned very well and hammered the geese with authority; the only downside was the price. This year I purchased a cheap box of Challenger, well cheap in price, but really knocked the sheet out of the big Canada's! I highly recommend Challenger.
https://imgur.com/a/CRewLcC
 
track said:
I tried Challenger, 3" BB and was most impressed. They are just as good as Blind Side and Black Cloud. I'll will only be purchasing Challenger from now on, they were folding the big 11 and 12 pound Canada's very consistently.
Click to expand...

thanks...when Challenger made Tungsten BB and 2's i have taken triples using them. they were awesome. right up there with 1s TMs. They don't make them any longer. Nobody seems to sell Kent TMs because they are so expensive to begin with. Sad.
 
Im a bit of a shell slut and like using different types throughout the season. I’ll buy what ever ammo is cheap, usually Winchester Xpert. I sometimes use Federal steel and Challenger if I find good sale prices. This year, I stocked up on 3.5” Challengers as Cabelas had a great deal on them for $17/box. They all work well. I dont feel the need to buy the expensive ammo as I seem to kill birds well enough with the cheaper stuff. My shot preferences are as follows

Early season duck = 3” 4 shot
Late season duck/ cold temps = 3” 2 shot
Early goose = 3” and 3.5” BB
Late season goose = 3” and 3.5” BBB and T
Late season bufflehead = 2.75” 4 shot

I like using the bigger BBB and T for goose because I usually process the meat to make sausages and burgers and the larger shot is much easier to find which saves me aggravation in getting pellets caught in the grinder. In fact, I find that the T shot often passes through the geese which I find even more convenient.
 
I switched to federal 1oz #4 steel as it patterns thru some of my fixed choked sxs guns. When using pumps or semis i generally shoot #2 steel. Remington sportsman. Kent fast steel. Rio if usin choked barrels. For cyl chokes i use BB
For my nicer sxs guns i shoot bismuth
My 10sxs i shoot BBsteel for everything.
 
I've previously would shoot 3' BB's at mallards and geese.

This year I've kind of settled in with 3.5' - BBB's for geese, 3" - 2's or 3's for ducks.
 
I was out last Saturday with some other fellas and I limited on geese using 1 1/4 #4 Bismuth and 100 grains of FFG in my brass cases and killed three with the muzzle loader using 90 grains of FFG and 1 1/4 Oz of #4 Bismuth , got a double with that one .
My friend’s were using 3.5” BB Kent’s and some Heavy shot ammo out of their semis
thruthfully though , we had them decoying in perfectly and I could have used my 20 gauge !
Cat
 
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