Duck Hunting Shotgun Shells?

[DuckHunter88]

Hello, I am a duck hunter who wants to know what some good shells are! I shoot a 12 ga 3" remington 870 express.....I would like to know what your guys' ideas are for good shotgun shells. Also, please share what shells you use for snow goose hunting and what are effective for u,,,Thanks!

[Black Plague]

this was an interesting article on the matter   http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/shotgun-shell-ballistics.php   well, i am assuming here that the 88 in your name means your birth year so that would mean you are still pretty young and perhaps not rolling in cash, however if money isn't a problem then hevishot is the way to go, or tungsten or bismuth or even black cloud....if you are under a budget, then i would say get some BB for geese and 2's for ducks ...there are a lot of different brands out there and a lot of people like the kent faststeel because it is priced decent and has good velocity. ... i know guys who really like the Winchester Expert High Velocity 3in 1 1/8 oz #2s...the weird thing about guns is they all like something a little different so get a few boxes of different things and see what patterns best and check to make sure you wont have any ejection problems (you probably wont with an 870)   ...I did find some Remington 3 inch # 2 for 7 bucks a box at Bi-Mart ...but that was on a sale they had... but remember the cure all is to shoot them at 10-15 yards              Stats on hevishot are the following...according to them... PATTERNS NEAR 90% AT 40 YARDS- OVER 50% MORE RANGE THAN FAST STEEL-  EXTREME LETHALITY OUT TO NEAR 60 YARDS..... one person told me that instead of spending an extra couple 100 dollars on shells each season, that he took a shooting class that improved his kills quite a bit...I know we all think we are really good shots, but for the most part we could all learn a thing or two to improve our effectiveness.... ....hope I helped a little....

[lokidog]

Doesn't matter so much what you use, just get out there and PRACTICE with the same ammo you will hunt with.

I use 3's with a 2 to back up when jump shooting ducks and 4's with a 3 backup when decoying.   

[carpsniperg2]

i like fast steel 2-4 depending on what style i am hunting

[chester]

At the end of the year i was shooting faststeel  #1 for ducks and geese. For Goose only shooting BlackCloud and HeviMetal in  BB. Its all personal preference though.

[Copperwood]

My  , Hevishot is awesome but really spendy and not needed in my opinion. I shot 3" 2 shot for ducks and geese all year and I did just fine. 99 percent of the birds that got away was because I shot like *censored*.

[Snowman]

I like 3"in. 2's for snows an candians and 3's for ducks. 

[h2ofowlr]

I used to shoot Kent 3" - BB's for everything.  I have expanded my horizons.  I now shoot the Kent 3" -#2 for ducks or 1's.
For snows this season I was shooting the Black Cloud 3" - BB's along with Heavi Medal B's.

[gwpsage]

I've never had a problem with Winchester Xpert High Velocity.  They pattern well out of my Browning.  I use BB's for geese and #2's to 4's for ducks.  I have never been able to cough up the money for the Hevi-steel or Blackcloud's.   

[Black Plague]

just to be clear. ...the only time i ever shot a hevishot was when my dad gave me one to finish off a wounded duck at 45-50 yards...they work great for finishing them off on the water when they are swimming away....I have seen guys shoot 5 or 6 time at a duck sneaking  away until someone puts in a hevishot...so for me, I would only use them to avoid having to get in the boat to chase a wounded duck, and to avoid the cost of emptying your gun when one is just out of reach of your 2s or 4s or whatever....everyone is right, they are too expensive to use casually.

[WSU]

I seem to have better luck with the 3" 1 1/4 ounce loads than the lighter but faster 1 1/8 ounce loads.  Kent shells seem to work as good as any.

[Copperwood]

I've never had a problem with Winchester Xpert High Velocity.  They pattern well out of my Browning.  I use BB's for geese and #2's to 4's for ducks.  I have never been able to cough up the money for the Hevi-steel or Blackcloud's.   

[h2ofowlr]

You could also look back from last year.  I think there were 4-5 pages on this topic.  It comes up every so many months.