Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Hevi-shot or Black Cloud?

In your opinion - What is the best non-toxic brand for ducks and geese at 40 yards?

If I thought it would drop birds better, I could cough up the money for a box to try.

Anybody here tried hevi-shot? How does it compare to federal black cloud?

thnx

I have not tried Black Cloud (I do have a box but have not tried it yet). I have shot Hevi Shot and it does wack duck HARD!
Having said that I think you can use something like Kent Faststeel and choke down a little and do a very good job for a lot less money.
I do have a case of Hevi (got a great deal on it) but unless i could get it cheaper than $2 or $3 per shot, I would go with Faststeel.
JMHO....

Thanks. I haven't had a chance to try the Kent's.

I�m fairly new to waterfowling and really expected to down more birds than I have this season. It might be my shooting. But I�m blaming the ammo

I�ll be hunting primarily geese but maybe a few ducks as well. I�ve tried 2 � inch Remington steel loads (seemed fine at 30 yards, but about useless beyond that), 3 inch Federal Black Cloud BB (is 40 yards too far to expect downed birds?), and lately bought a box of 3 � inch Remington �non-toxic� BB. The only shot I tried with the new Remington was at ducks going away at 50 yards and no surprise � they kept going.

I am considering coughing up the cash for Hevi-shot. I wouldn�t mind paying for it IF it works better than anything else. How does it compare to the other brands of non-toxic shot? What size would you recommend for geese? #2, BB, T-shot?

What works for you?

I guess I am not overly impressed with any steel as I hunted too many years with lead.
Having said that I try real hard to keep shots under 40 yrds no matter what I am shooting (that also applied to the old day and lead). Your shot/kill ratio will go way up if you follow that rule of thumb.
Yes you can kill further than 40 yrds but your percentage drops off fast...

Two rules of thumb that I have found with steel are:

1) I like a little larger shot size (i.e. BB,#1,#2) for ducks and BBB for geese.

2) when it comes to steel shot, all else being equal,speed kills.
Go with the faster FPS shells.

+1 on what pullit said. Hevi-shot kills incredibly well, even in a twenty gauge using number 7 1/2 like I did last year. Found some on sale. Otherwise too high priced for me. Brimfish

Pullits advice is right on. Faster payload, let em get close if you can. I hunt over decoys on small water. All my shots are under 40 yds or I pass on the shot, never did with lead!!!! Ive killed ducks with all sorts of loads, my feeling is "its the shooter." Opening day this year i missed my 1st three ducks, 2 Teal and a Woodie. Same game, next day 2 shots, 2 dead birds. 2 days later, 3 pheasants with 3 shots. Friend of mine drops everything with any gun.?? My buddies motto; Back - Belly - Beak - BANG!
GOGETEM.

We just got home from our youth duck hunt with my 10yr old son. He was able to harvest one Malard,one Pintail, a Gadwall and two greenwing teel. He is shooting a 20ga. I bought him a box of the Black Cloud #4 and it was a winner. He had been shooting Heavi shot, it does indeed wack-m Hard. He made some shots with the B-Cloud that were impressive for a 20.ga The Black Cloud was $20 box of 25 and the Heavi shot is $13. per 10. I'm going to pick up a couple more box's of Black Cloud and keep him shooting.

Thanks for the updates guys

What choke were you using, and what gun.
I am thinking of playing with a 20 ga on a hunt or two this year and was thinking of using the BC shells.

thanks

forgot to say congrats on some good shooting

Remington 3 1/2 inch BB dropped 2 geese for me at 40 yards last night, but both were still flopping in teh water so I hit them again at +/- 45 yards. One died, the other FLEW AWAY!

Black Cloud 3 inch BB load - 3 shots at geese going up at +/- 45 yards. Didn't look like a single pellet hit. I am very disappointed in this stuff so far. Seems to me that a good BB load out to fold geese at 50 yards easily. I guess I'll have to try the Hevi shot next.

I have been very pleased with the results from Remington Wingmaster HD and Hevi-shot GOOSE.

The Hevi-Shot "duck" loads are not what you would expect. Their "goose" loads can be found in all the sizes you want for ducks, but the shot is a lot heavier per pellet than the "duck" loadings.

With these non-tox, non-steel loads I shoot 2's for geese and 4's for ducks and have been more than pleased with the results.

Sounds like Kilowatt has 10 yr old MEGAWATT. My guess is hes a natural. My eldest son started busting clays at 10, makes me look foolish, proud, but foolish. Good work. When i got married i never thought any future children would become favorite huntin/fishin buddies...Lifes good.

Stick with premium quality steel loads which offer true to size and very round pellets as well as components that will produce dense killing patterns. At the end of the day, to ensure a clean kill, you need pellets penetrating those vital organs. In terms of steel shot, a pellet that is less than round will shallow up quickly and will most likely not be able to achieve the necessary penetration.

Remington 'Nitro Steel', Federal 'Ultra-Shok Steel' or Winchester 'Super-X, Drylok Steel' are excellent cartridges and will kill ducks and geese just as cleanly as the alternative and more expensive non-toxic shot ammunition when chokes and loads have been matched up properly to specific species sizes and shooting distances.

I shoot the 3 1/2 inch Black Cloud 2's late season on the big water, ducks and geese. No problems putting ducks down a bit past 40 yards and geese out to about 30.

Where can I find Hevi shot for sale? Do I haev to amil order it (Cabela's), my local shops don't seem to have it.

unfortunately, that's just not true....the superior ballistic qualities of heavi-shot (and lead) mean that they will always be superior to any steel load....matching correct shot sizes and chokes is a way of minimizing the disadvantage of steel, but you will never close the gap. that's just a fact of life.


I'm just packing my shell bucket tonigh because I'm driving to SW La. for the opener Saturday....hunting below Geuydan Saturday, fishing Big Lake Calcescieu in the afternoon, and then duck and goose hunting above Cameron Sunday morning...busy weekend. Anyway, I'm packing five boxes of Hevi Shot classic doubles load, and using my old LC Smith. Bringing an A5 for backup, and five boxes of regular 2 /3/4 hevi shot for that. Are they expensive? Hell, yeah. But not as much more than steel as you'd think, because you shoot a hell of a lot less to get your limit. And you don't waste a bunch of 80 cent premium steel loads shooting cripples repeatedly on the water so they don't escape. And you don't lose cripples sailing away to die in the marsh.

for all the time and money we spend duck hunting, the difference in price between hevi-shot and steel pales into insignificance. I mean, the limit is six ducks....how many shots do you fire to get your limit? how pissed are you when you lose cripples? It's an easy choice to me. YMMV, of course.

I'm beginning to see things your way Steve. I can't find Kent or Heavy shot locally. I have posted a WTB in this sites classified's section but am considering mail order.....

you can order it from Cabelas or Midway.....I bought a bunch at the Cabelas in Gonzales, LA back in September when it first came in, but the still had plenty a week ago.

If I'm going to go to the trouble to drive, get up long before the crack of dawn, get grazed on by mosquitoes, probably rained on, and paddle back into the tall uncut for a chance to whack some quackers, it seems crazy to me not to invest the money to maximize the odds that....if and when the ducks show up....when I pull the trigger the result is an instantly dead duck. But that's just me.