Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Bird hunting ammo.

No one has addressed this so I will , in the last 3 weeks I have been in Rapid City, Pierre , Mitchell, Sioux Falls, Watertown and places in between. Big box stores , combo convenience stores and LGS 's. None have any serious amount of lead hunting ammo for shotguns and upland bird hunting.. no field or sport loads, no Express, super x or Fed high power.loads in 12, 16, and 20 ga. You do see some steel 4's and 2's and a few boxes of upper end (expensive lead & non toxic loads) most will be gone by prairie grouse opener. Unless the supply situation increases before non resident and general pheasant opener there won't be any shells but odds and ends. Not sh*ting anyone here. If your coming as a nonresident bring your own ammo. Bad enough that bird numbers are way down from the drought but no ammo is a double whammy so forewarned is fore armed. None of the people who run these stores can explain why they have no ammo they just shrug and walk away. Personally I see another leftist greeny bastardo push against lead behind this. Magnum Bob

It’s not about the lead, this time anyway. All ammo is scarce, shotshells are among the worst except for target and waterfowl loads, which are available if expensive. .410 is out of sight.

My standard solution is to sign up for notifications, be ready to jump on them at once, and hope for the best. I managed to get some good 20s over time that way. Haven’t tried it for 12s as I have a lot from years past.

Some here have reported good supplies at individual stores, but it seems pretty spotty.

Good on you for warning folks.

Pappy the stores out here don't notify anyone, it rolls in on a pallet jack and flies out the door the same day. Time back when people bought a box or 2 when they bought their license. No more somebody is there when the store opens sees it gets what he can and cell phones 2 or 3 buddies who all call 2 or 3 buddies and by noon it's all gone because these days people who used to buy a couple boxes now buy the whole flat. Ass't gun manager at the local Scheel's told me they had 2 pallets of ultra pheasant loads show up last week one day 1 st pallet disappeared before they could get it on the shelves and the second one by 2 in the afternoon. Mb

Sorry, I meant online dealers. Midway, Sportsmans Guide, Midsouth, etc. Have had good success, but gotta be quick. Haven’t been in a Whatamart in over a year, except to walk in and take a quick scan of the Garden department. Was out in about two minutes as they had squat.

Not much near here for bird hunters, just an occasional woodcock. Thinking about going to PA for some of their planted pheasants. Have to see how deer season goes. They let you shoot any of them now, and the season runs well into Winter, so I’d get time afield anyway. Don’t know how many birds will still be around.

I just left Walmart here and they had four packs of Rem Nitro handicap 1 1/8 oz 71/2 for $28 for four boxes. They would work pretty good for prairie grouse and pheasants.

Erich, I guess anything is better than nothing but the local trapshooters keep the wallyworld shelves empty. The local gun club was finally able to get some target loads this summer in time for the league and competition season but are getting low again too. I've shot hundreds of young mallards and pheasants for hunt tests and retriever trials . The people at the trials who ran them allways insisted on light shot so I know it works but I also know that when you center a pheasant at 30 yds and under their shot to sh*t.
Pappy I was referring to outlets like Cabelas, Scheels, Runnings and Fleet& Farm here in Dakota. For the pheasant opener lot of non residents don't come equipped to be ready to go. Mb

Thanks for the heads up, MB. I won't be there this year, but my neighbor probably will. I'll make sure he knows about it.

Back in the Good Old Days of pheasant hunting in Adams County, PA, high brass 7 1/2s were my preferred load, but in a fixed IC gun. Worked very well, even at pretty fair ranges.

Still remember one I dumped, going full-tilt right to left at about 40 yards. He flipped like a rope was tied to his beak from behind. Great stuff. Pheasant hunting was as big a deal to us as deer hunting is now.

I occasionally use IC and it is allways found in my lower barrel of my o/u's in my pumps and semi autos I usually run modified but allways have some older 60's loads with no shot protection for when they are sitting tight , those nitro card and felt wads loads will open quicker for a looser pattern. I allways am prepared to change loads to match conditions as needed. Mb

What I find confusing is this crap has been going on for a while. If ammo is not available locally why would it be elsewhere. Found ,ordered and took delivery of what I needed this season months ago. Actually ordered next years dove loads this year. I was in a local sporting goods store and every phone call in a 30 minute time frame was someone looking for dove loads 1 week after the season opened.

Being from Kali where all hunting is non tox ammo I have an ample supply of lead ammo for trips outside this stupid state. And if [bleep] hits the fan it will feed me non tox laws be damned.

The Hunt Brothers are now into shotgun ammo...It is being trickled out little by little. Just enough to keep the price high. Some that I know in the game, say it will be next spring before they open it up. The price will come down a little, but many will be used to an elevated cost.

Forget the 5 million new gun owners story when it comes to shotgun shells....Most of them bought pistols and AR's....

I guess I think that most of the shops have guys working at them who are "taking care" of their friends. Some of them have employees who are reselling and taking cuts. I think Scheels in SF is relatively immune to this phenomena; I think that the Runnings stores are highly susceptible to it.

Maybe BK but our local Runnings is limiting to a 2 box limit and one of the guys at Scheels told me with no limit it was going out the door by the flat. So basically there at Scheels you got normal guys who buy a couple of boxes buying flats instead. Pretty hard to keep any in stock when that happens. Mb

Our Runnings never has anything on the shelf and its because its all going out the back door, in my opinion. The Sioux Falls Scheels seems to have way more than the Rapid City Scheels, all the time.

What's the difference? The people who work there.

Well that reminds me of a powder find at Runnings. I went In one day and they had a couple of pounds of some pistol powder the counter, is that all you have I asked? Counter guy says yeah and walks off. Well this blond gal says there is a bigger jug in the back room. I said same stuff ? she says no so I said scan it and get a price. She comes back said it was H4350 8lb jug 239.99 I said sold. So I walked up to the cashier paid for it laughing all the way back to my pu. BK you may damn well be right.

UPDATE: A good friend of mine has a couple of really good labs they do it all in the field. He moonlights his regular job to guide for commercial Pheasant hunting operation down by Chamberlain. He called me awhile a go and asked if I knew where he could get ammo 12, 16, and 20 ga for pheasant hunting use. The outfit he works for could not find any in eastern SD it's gone by the time he gets word of any. I'll say it again if you come to SD for pheasants bring your own ammo sufficient for your own needs. If you bring excess you will get held up or levered out of it before you leave. Magnum Bob yeah it's that god damned bad.

I just read your post on the powder, I mean lucky you but isn't that irritating as f u c k?

The lodges who joined the association and bought shells through that group seem to be satisfied with how it went. Getting birds is another story. People are beyond pissed at the women who run Gisi's operation and are looking to start growing their own birds. Talk about poor customer service and not treating people right...my god they are pissing a great business down their legs.

Last year we stopped at the True Value in Gregory SD. to get our licenses and they had a good supply of shells .

Better supplied and prepaired this year .

bird shells still scarce as hens teeth , local Runnings never has anything on the shelf

oddly , you run across a fair supply of 28 s here and there at times , with a few 16 s showing up , more so than any 12 or 20 stuff

if ya ever wanted to try out a 28 this would be the time


got to wonder if much hunting will get done at all this year


common deer loads like 30/06 , 270 , 243 are non existent

I have found a few ww 12 ga. in old time boxes at Murdock's.. Not all of them are supplied equally but I have been finding that ww load.. I guess I am fortunate, I have reloaders and supplies to go with.. Also, I like to try different kinds of ammo so when I saw a box of something I had not tried, I bought it.. So I have enough shells for the rest of my life.. But bird hunting here is only
for duck, geese, and sage grouse.. Also at 74 it is harder to get around the hills and cross the creeks..

They were pretty scarce here in Fairbanks for a while but they seem to be coming back. Lots of trap and target loads but there is some "heavy" bird loads to be found.

12 and 20 gauge mainly plus some 16 gauge.
No .410 that I can find though.

I just walked through the Sioux Falls Scheels this morning and they were flush with shot shells. But it looked like the aisles were full of buyers also.

Lots of the Dakota Country shells at the Bismarck Runnings. They used to be made by Fiocchi but are made by a federal now.

It's not only here.....

And, its not only shot shells, and, I’m afraid we are not near the end of it.

If they are going as they say they are....24/7....then the the overflow will start to be seen. The .22lr shortage of a few years ago was the same scenario...when it broke they were selling 500 round buckets are decent prices.

Curious, Rapid City is far from bird hunting central. I'll check our Scheels tommorrow . Mb

I wass prepared, have enough ammo for this years sharptail hunting. But, the severe drought in eastern Montana combined with a June hailstorm that pounded over half of the farm I hunt mean few birds, and no birds of the year. Hail wiped em out. And it's so dry I am nervous about driving and shooting. The older shells with felt and paper wads especially make me nervous about a fire hazard.

I stopped by the Cabelas in Mitchell on my way through last night and they had ZERO 12 or 20 gauge shells except for 3.5 inch steel 12s. They had shelves full of Prairie Storm 16s and 28s if you were willing to pay $38 a box. Out of the normal bird hunting area in Wyoming I found some reasonably priced 16 gauge Fiocchi with a limit of 1 box of ammo per day. I picked a box up just in case my 16 gauge hunting partners run low. I have plenty for myself but who knows how long this will last.

Cabela's....$380. a case...Nothing like the we want to be your outdoor outfitter ripping off their customers to the extreme....Will be awhile before I forget that......

I planned on picking up some items there on the way to SD....I don't need them, that is Cabela's, to get what I need....

It’s interesting that Scheels in Sioux Falls was loaded,..but that was 48 hrs ago. I imagine as a bird-hunting destination entry point, they have some pull in the ammo distribution business.

As to cabelas, I was on their online site looking for something yesterday, and to say they are a shell of their former self is not an exaggeration.

My club is getting odds and ends more or less suitable for clays; 7 1/2 or 8 shot, some of it pretty “sporty” for shooting 50 rounds. $7-$10 a box. Not sure where it's coming from. Sales have been slow, so it’s available to buy for off-range use too. I have lots, so only buy for use there.

I was in Bob Ward's in Bozeman yesterday and they have no limit on boxes of 50 .22 lr for $9.40/box and cartons of 500 for $94.00. That's far from decent prices.



My gun club just rose the price on 12 and 20 gauge to $7 a box and $10 a box for 28 and .410s. This is directly a result of increased shipping costs.

Overall, this is one reason that I handload EVERYTHING. And I try to keep a good supply of all of the components that I use.

At one time I bought a K5 Blaser for $5500 and a 5 year old Vette with 6,000 miles on it for $5000. Around the same time I made 10x less than today.

First house was 135K…and the payment was $235 a month.
Apartments down the road are now $1200 a month.

Has the cost of shooting old Duga boy there changed?

Been fortunate enough to get about 9-10 boxes of 16ga pheasant loads over the last year. Got 240 rounds of 16 ga target off a guy for $40. That made it nice for getting acquainted with my new Ithaca 37 on 2 rounds of clays.

We have had 5 years of stable inflation....and that is most likely to change. It always does sooner or later. And inflation, rising wages for young workers and the cost of purchases not staying the same as they was a decade ago could care less about those of us getting old...Never has and never will...


https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

I've seen alot of 12ga #5's on the shelves across the state this week. Brookings, Pierre, Sioux Falls. Ammo is starting to show up

As they say follow the money....Fall Bird hunting is big business in SD....
Of course some here think they should concentrate more on target ammo....even tho the competition target season winds down most places during winter.

Yeah even had some of those at Runnings in RC, SD yesterday BK. Went pretty fast at 13/box. Mb

I dusted off a 35 year old brick of Federal 209s (not 209A's) I inherited from my old man. Bought a Lee loader for $60. Did a lot of searching for powder.

I very unwisely gave up shotshell loading years ago and all my equipment and supplies went bye bye. For many, many years target ammo was so cheap it was a waste of time to load it. For a few boxes a year field ammo wasn't worth the time.

Lesson learned. Done relying on the whims of the market and manufacturers.

Pretty fortunate here I guess, started stocking up right before the pandemic. Currently have 2500+ factory shells with a good mix of target, heavy bird and waterfowl loads. In addition, bought 2000 primers,100 pounds of shot and plenty of powder. The MEC's are on standby. Not much by dedicated clay shooter standards but I'm mainly a hunter and this should keep me going for a while until hopefully the shortage comes to an end.

I blame Battue for all this, one time he posted a picture of his truck loaded down with flats of shells and thought that maybe I needed to catch up...............

Battue, coming your way in a couple of weeks to try grouse hunting. Never done this before. Sure hope this isn't as contagious as waterfowl............

Just saw this soooo....

Hope your trip here goes well...Grouse here are making a minor comeback, but hearing decent reports from the Northern tier above I80...Hint.....Please let me know how you do.

Ya it can be contagious....Waiting for a Bud to show to head for Michigan. Your guess why......

Final pile, except for the Dogs...2 for me, He has 6... Easy????....Glad I don't have to also haul all those deeks around...




(Have enough hunting ammo for awhile...Pretty much getting down to my target minimums, but have friends who feed the disease :D)

Good shooting in Michigan Battue!

I've been picking up a few boxes here and there when I see them from the likes of Walmart, Academy, Dunhams, and Bass Pro at ok-ish prices. 12's, 16's, and 20's, mostly lead, shot sizes of 8's, 6's, and 4's, plus steel 2's and 3's. Tempted to buy a 28 because they're always on the shelf. Local mom and pop gun shops seem to have a variety of shells, but at nearly gouger pricing. I don't know if it is fair to call it gouging, because I don't know what they had to pay to offer it for sale.

Just left Cabela’s in Dundee….

No as in none 12Gauge of any kind

Maybe 10 boxes of Browning 16 Gauge 6’s @ $13+ a box

Good bit of Federal Top Gun 20 and 28 gauges @ $85+ a case.

The Gun Library is closed and their total number of used guns was maybe 10.

Same at some other Runnings too. Federal Dakota Country 12 ga #3 steel, which will work just fine on pheasants. $14 a box, probably a hundred cases. The ship must have come in.

Return trip:

Around 15 boxes of 12 Gauge Top Gun with a 5 box limit...No 20 or 28 Gauge...the Browning 16 Gauges were still there...(1 1/4 ounce load at 1300 fps...I wouldn't want to shoot them out of a light 16 Gauge.)