Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Duck hunting, need advice.

12 ga 870 supermag. I use 3 inch 3's for duck thru a terror choke .675. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> You will hear every size and choke and this shell is better than that. What I told you shoots great out of my gun the way I shoot in the area I hunt in. Find what works best for you.. Shoot what you shoot best and find a good load for it and you will be just fine. Good luck .. But most important is be safe and have fun!

You killed birds on your hunt. . .and you call it a BUST?! You're crazy! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I hunt ducks about forty days out of the year. About a third of those are total skunk-fests. Just remember. . .you're going to get skunked X-number of days and you're going to shoot your limit Y-number of days. The more X days you get out of the way. . .the more Y days you have left!

...and remember ALWAYS miss in front!

There's a whole lot more difference between no ducks and one duck than there is between one duck and a limit of ducks.

Well, made it back with some ammo left for next year. Three of us hunted in Port Mansfield (Tex), limited out Friday but hit a rut Saturday. Weather was great (for ducks) at about 50 degrees, 20 MPH north northwest winds with drizzle and fog on Saturday. We got our one pintail drake each day and the first day managed our two redheads as well along with assorted teal, spooners to limit out. Not many ducks seen overall as all the tanks in S. Texas are full to overflowing and ducks on all that we saw. Mercy did we ever see the active bucks and bulls (nilgai). Overall a great trip and the $2 hevyshot and bismuth seemed to work pretty well. At least I saved my belgium barrels for now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Glad you had a good time!!!

On the subject of shells, you may want to look into Winchester Supreme 3" BB's sometime. They run about .65/shell, and we find they bring ducks down very well. (Actually, they are on sale at cabelas.com right now for 130.00/case, around .52/shell.) (***I have no idea how this compares to other places' price on this, so definitely shop Mack's Prairie Wings etc before buying anything.) My dad likes to have a 3.5" BB for his 3rd shot just in case. (I haven't tried this myself- my gun only goes to 3" & I'm too small for 3.5" anyway.) We had looked at the non-tox shells and felt like they did well, but for as much duck hunting as we do it got too expensive. (My husband & I aren't duck hunting these days since we have little ones, but my dad goes nearly every weekend.)

Everybody has their own preference & strategy for duck shells- for whatever it's worth, this is ours.

Good luck next year!

Thanks for the BB info. My two "duck" guns are Browning Belgium made and will not take to the steel shot very well.

Hope you are having fun with the little ones - BTDT and loads of fun as well. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

No problem- sorry the BB info doesn't help you.
... unless you relegate your Brownings to pheasants and get a Super Black Eagle for ducks! They sound too fancy for duck hunting anyway! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> (I use a Beretta myself- the pistol grip on the SBE was too big for me.) For ducks you have to have a gun you can use as a paddle if need be & not cry! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I like BB for geese, but the pellet density is so low compared to Non-Tox shooting 4,5, or 6, that it makes hits a little more iffy once range increases.

Shooting a 3.5" 12 gauge or 10 gauge mitigates that, but I don't like to get hit that hard, especially when it is not required for ducks.

muy,

I certainly hope that you didn't shoot that Hevi Shot in your Belgium barrel. Hevi Shot is harder than lead, by a long shot. It will score those older barrels in nothing flat.

Bismuth is OK, as is Tungsten Matrix, but don't use Hevi in those old guns.