What shells do you shoot?

[Anatidae]

12 ga Winchester X-pert 2-3/4" 4's with a skeet choke.........



........'didn't have but 3 ducks look at us that day

[novacaine]

12 ga Winchester X-pert 2-3/4" 4's with a skeet choke.........



........'didn't have but 3 ducks look at us that day

And you ground checked em and put em in the stack!

Nice pile of geese.

[Anatidae]

Actually, this photo is from the hunt where we started using #4's and skeet chokes......



Ducks usually show-up first........geese come later. So you sit there at first light with 4's for ducks. When you hear geese coming, you switch to BB's. Then switch back to 4's in case ducks show-up. Makes for some frantic activity in the ground blinds trying to get ready for whut's coming.

When the geese showed-up that day, they didn't have a clue we were there and were 'bout landing 'on' us. So, we decided to keep 4's in the guns and shoot everything with 4's (el cheapo federals we bought for teal back home). We switched to skeet chokes to keep from tearing the birds up too bad.

I got a triple in 2 shots on honkers that morning. 2 on the first shot and 1 on the second. I had a 3rd shell in the chamber and was swinging on another bird (that would've made a rare 'quad'), but let-up and didn't take the shot - I was afraid I would just cripple the bird and possibly ruin the whole hunt. Anne got 2 doubles on honkers and a triple on ducks that morning.

Lot of it had to do with set-up (SE sun and SE wind to back), setting blinds on the upwind side of that 'dome' in the photo, and birds eager to gorge themselves on the chick peas all over that field. The shell/choke combination just kinda made sense under those circumstances. 'Could done just as well with 2's for both, but the 4's don't tear-'em up as bad.

(BTW - that's a one man / one woman double limit of 8 honkies and 8 mallards apiece - Sprig was mad when the hunt was over......all retrieves except for one sailer was inside of 25 yds).

Sorry for hig-jacking the thread......but, I guess my answer to the original question is......"depends on the circumstances." I tend to go to extremes to make a point, somethimes.

[GearOut]

I shoot 3' Fiocci steel BB. trust me.

[Plainsman04]

I shot a mish mash of shells last year, whatever I could get my hands on cheaply. I shot some Xperts, Kents, Federals (blue & red), Black Clouds, and something else I can't remember. I shot a remington 887 last year and the black clouds were horrible out of that gun. This year I will be going with either Kents or Federal blue boxes from Roger's. I just got a Browning Maxus in April and I'm going to pattern it before I buy, just haven't had the time to do so yet.

[Duck$$$]

I like hevi the most but mucho $$$. Winchester supreme in steel.

[Dux Be Us]

Whatever is on sale...I like cheapo Wincher3.5"#3's

[cwink]

12 ga Winchester X-pert 2-3/4" 4's with a skeet choke.........



........'didn't have but 3 ducks look at us that day

Ant is proof, it aint what you shoot, its how you shoot it..

[torch]

I shoot #4's in the timber and #2's field hunting. Benelli Nova 12ga and Browning BPS 10 ga. The 10 ga I load my own #2's and #4's.

[woody]

Balckcloud 3.5" #4s work like a charm but thinking about going to those new Remington Hypersonic 3" 1 1/4 oz 1700fps #4s or if im really pissed maybe the Hypersonic 3.5" #BB...
I love overkill...
Dove - Remingotn 2.75" 3 3/4 dram #8 or #9
Duck - Blackcloud 3.5" #4s
Deer - 7mm Rem Mag or the .308 Warbird if I'm feeling good that morning....

[brandonvet]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I'll tell you what shells I don't shoot....Estate. Saw one come apart from the brass after firing last year, blew the plastic half-way down the barrell , the guy had to break the gun down and shove a stick through the barrell to get the plastic out. Damdest thing I've seen, short of a busted barrell. Maybe it was a wet shell, maybe it was the gun, I dunno, but I've never used Estate and sure won't be any time soon after seeing that.

[southernr]

I like cheap. either winchester or remington. i've never blamed a miss on a shell unless it misfired, and thats usually due to getting wet. other than that its usually my fault... or the bird's fault.

[BR549]

Not interested in the Dr/lawyer/ceo... shells, dont want to spend more than a dollar per shell.

Watch'u talkin' bout Willis??? $1.00 per shell IS Dr/lawyer/ceo shells. That's rich man shooting there. I shoot the $99.00 per case blue box Federals from Roger's.

And yall wonder why you can't kill ducks beyond 30-35 yds!
Good shells are gonna cost about a buck apiece. Drylocs and Supremes are about as good as they get Remi's true H-Nitro's are in the same class. Black Clouds need an extended choke but just won't work with certian types of ported chokes. The 1 1/2 oz Estates were in this league too till they quit makin em. They had to or they would have never sold the Black Cloud. Expect to pay 210 to 240 for good quality steel ammo. This cheap stuff is just that. Cheap stuff! Sometimes it works out in some guns but day in day out it don't. You don't see any outfitters using it now do you????

[Lodi Rebel]

Dryloc 3" 1 3/8 oz... #3's

[Anatidae]

Hard times call for drastic measures - seems like the fewer the ducks folks are killin' the mo money they spend an anything they think will help'em kill a duck........@ 70 yds.

When conditions warrant, I keep a few Supremes in the bag. I only use Hevi-shot for cripples on the water. No sense in extending the effective killing range beyond the particular shooters' capabilities. I don't know about most folks, but it seems my effective killing range varies from day-to-day. Some days I shoot well-enough to try 50 yd shots (IM/F w/3dr 1-1/8oz lead shot on doves)......others, I better keep it within 25 and open-up a bit (IC/LM w/1550 1-1/8oz steel).

Obviously shells, chokes, loads, range, barrel length, target acquisition and shooting style vary widely among shooters. Case in point, I'm not likely to take 50yd shots at a crossing honker going left to right while sitting on my butt in a ground blind - straight-up, maybe - but it'd have to be a straight-on incomer or slightly quartering incoming to the left side.

As most folks know - If you can't put the shot on the target - shell selection is moot. Shoot some 50yd sporting clays targets before the season with steel shot to get an idea what your realistic capabilities are. I think the assumption a lot of folks make is that the problem in 'missing' lies with equipment. It could be the lack of one's ability to adapt to the equipment selected for a particular game. That's only determined after shooting skills are honed to the point where you consistently hit 96% of what you shoot at. Otherwise, you're wasting powder - skybusting.

Just last year, I was invited on a dove hunt and took my duck gun - couldn't hit squat because I was banking on shots inside 30 yds. That gun is too light to swing smoothly in those circumstances. The next weekend we went to the same field. I took the 30" IM/F 8-1/2lb trap gun and 'Wowed' myself......talk about picking-up your confidence level from the previous outing.

Shoot a round of trap from the 16 yd line using Mod. choke and 1-1/8oz loads - Get to where you can hit about 20 out of 25. Then step-back, go to Full choke and shoot rounds from 20, 24, and 27. If your technique is not good on the 16 yd line, it won't be any better on the 24. You'll be completely clueless of where you're shooting (other than 'down-range'), by the time you get to the 27.