Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Was quite inspired by your post Cheesy, so tell me..

What are you folks running for shotguns and ammo when chasing ducks and geese..?

When I was a teen I had the opportunity to trap a particular beaver flat in part of northern New York's flyway. I usually carried my Ithaca 37 which had a 2 3/4" chamber and a 20" slug barrel. That flat had a "finger" of flooded alders about 100yds long and about 40 yards wide. The water both at the dam and in the midded of the flooded alders was the same depth, about 4'. There was pockets of open water there of about 20'x20' where the ducks would use as a landing zone. The trick was to wedge yourself in a cluster of alders and wait. The only ones I could not reach when hunting that area were either out of sight, or just way to high above me due to that slug barrel.

I don't have a suitable "mud and blood" shotgun and would like to get one...not a safe queen, just a good robust piece of equipment.

Thank you

get an older 12 ga Wingmaster, 3 inch if you want, and never look back! either new enough to have a steel compatible barrel, or add a Carlson barrel.

Yes, ...on the Used 870, 12Gauge 3"Chamber/ Steel approved, removable Choke (Mod) .

Do like the Cheap $ Steel, ...am partial to the KentFasteel, 2's or 4's

Price wise, yes the good ole 870
I started with an 870, decided I wanted a semiautomatic so I got a Remington sportsman 12 (1100 not as fancy), eventually got sick of not having a 3” chamber (didn’t realize in my younger days I could shoot 3” steel), got a 11/87 supermagnum, eventually got sick of the weight and short 23” barrel (though I love short barrels) and now have a benelli sbe3 that I will be using for the first time this year for waterfowl
We’re gonna get crazy into waterfowl here right after Christmas.

You guys are in agreement about the Remingtons.

What maked the "older Wingmaster" preferable over todays 870, like, what qualities do I look for in the older ones that is lacking in the new stuff.



Please keep 'em coming, I'm trying to learn something here about waterfowl guns.

Thanks All.!

Beretta Xtrema 2, HEVI-Shot, and a Labrador Retriever.

All mine are with a Beretta 391. I’ve always been of the belief that walnut didn’t scare me to hunt with in inclement weather. I feel bad now and am in the market for a synthetic stocked shotgun. Not sure what I’ll end up with yet.

Are you guys running the same load for both ducks and geese..?

And when you "paper pattern" your shot string what distances should I be getting a good pattern when experimenting with chokes..?

Do you guys shoot clays for practice, and if so, do you practice with a trap load, or do you run your waterfowl load.?

And what about the 20ga... say with a dose of heavy shot or the like..does it carry enough of a payload to be as effective as the 12ga.?

currently drive a M2/ BB for Teal to Geese.

20 can be a Sleeper, 35 YRDS is just that.....

The 20 being a "sleeper" means its effective..?

A couple of things, for me. An older gun that is a little roughed up is one you will grab more often for a rigorous hunt. Older guns usually have better fit and finish, more hands-on craftsmanship. I don't want to ruffle any feathers here, but I would not have a newer 870 Express given to me, vs a couple of older 870 Wingmasters that I now have. Problem with a new Wingmaster, they cost too much for me.

Well that escalated quickly.

Wife bought me a Beretta A300 for Christmas. Problem resolved.

I started out with a Remington Model 10 with #4 shot for ducks but that was back in the days of lead shot and geese were so uncommon that shooting one got your picture hung on the wall of the local sporting goods store at least and often in the local paper.

When steel shot came around, I picked up a Remington 870 and used that for a few years. Next came a S&W Super 12, Mossberg 5500 MK II, Ithaca Mag-10, Rem 11-87, Browning Citori, Berreta 390/391, Winchester SX-2, and Browning Gold, or at least those are the ones I've used at least one season, there are other guns I used a time or two and moved on. Except for the Ithaca all listed are 12 ga though I have also used everything from 28 ga on up at one time or another. I currently shoot the Gold or 391 when hunting fields and the Citori over water.

A couple of the guns were chambered for 3.5" shells but I have not had a need for them. I've shot probably 3 boxes of the longer shells in the 30 years they have been around and I could have done just as well with 3" shells. I don't care for the added recoil and especially expense of the longer shells.

I use steel pretty much exclusively in the 12 ga and 10 ga. I have found it will kill birds as far as I am willing to shoot and I don't consider 50 yards or a bit more to be too far in places. The standard loads at 1375-1450 fps work as well as the hyper velocity stuff and have none of the negatives. I have used the other nontoxic so but feel they are best used in more specialized areas such as smaller bores or older guns not rated for steel shot. Learning to shoot well will put more birds in the bag than the type of shot. If you can't hit the bird, can't consistently center the bird in the pattern and only hit it with the fringe, or can't regularly hit the bird in the front half of the body and not the butt, you won't kill many no matter what is used.

As for shot size, steel 2 is my go to for ducks as I shoot mainly mallards with an occasional diver. If hunting fields I may start with #3 as the ducks can be very, very close and a wing tipped duck has a hard time escaping the dog by diving into the dirt. For geese I use mainly BB and BBB as I see mostly the larger Canada geese but when chasing snows I'll drop down to #1 and BB as my main loads.

At one time I was pretty serious about ducks but their numbers dropped around here and my interest fell off. I had 7 dozen+ puddler dekes and 20+ dozen divers but am down to half that now and it's been a decade since I used my own water set up. Geese grew in numbers at the same time ducks declined and I switched to them. I got serious into hunting them and expanded to chasing snows too. A few years later I took up guiding to boot. I have several hundred Canada decoys now though I seldom use more than 10 dozen as this is sufficient for local flocks. I can set out a spread of a couple thousand snows though many of those are rags and windsocks. It's been 3-4 years since I seriously chased snows but that will change next year as a couple buddies and I are heading back to Quill Lake for a reunion.

Unless you plan on becoming an avid shotgun hunter. Go down to big box store. Buy whatever brand named Pump 12ga with 28" barrel they sell. Remington -Winchester-Mossberg-Browning. Then buy a box of 3" BB and a Box of 3" #2. Pattern them out of whatever choke/chokes the gun comes with. When you see a combo that looks pretty good. Buy more shells then go hunting.

Thank you for seeing, and answering that question for me.

Congrats Cheesy.! Thats pretty nice of her. Enjoy.!

Woodmaster,

Thank you for that great write up and for posting, excellent information.

Guys, when looking at the Wingmaster, what serial# should be the high in determining that is of early quality.?

I have done a bit of shotgunning, I run an old Win 97 for most game, but 2 3/4" is all she'll handle.
For Turkey, I have a light weight H&R Topper Deluxe.

We lost our entire belongs 2 years ago making a move, our moving trailer was stolen one night as we slept in a hotel, so most of my firearms were lost.
Trying to start over again, thus all the questions.

Not sure on the S/Ns, but an 870 made in the 70s will not have a steel - friendly barrel. Fortunately, the 870 barrels interchange well. I personally like guns from the 50s and 60s, even back to the 1940s.

Kid,
Thank you very much.

Saw one on Gunbroker built in the 60's...