# Opinion time fellows



## crowfoot (Dec 7, 2014)

I would like to gather everyone's opinion on thier favorite duck and goose rounds. I have always used Winchester 1550 but I'm thinking about trying bismuth or tungsten. I did also find that #4 workes better for me than the #2


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## Duckslayer74 (Nov 16, 2013)

I've been shooting the Fiocchi 1 1/5oz #2 shot at 1550fps, these are by my favorite shell. I'm shooting the new A5 with the IM choke and I'm getting tight patterns and very few cripples, these shells seem to hit like a freight train. I've notcied when cleaning birds that the shot is nice and round, this is not something you usually find in a less expensive shell. This is just my .02.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

I too shoot the new A5.. The Federal Blue box 3" #3 shot with a Carlson choke and it has been great for ducks (It helps when a guy can get a case for $99 from Rogers). 
Field hunting geese in laydowns, I admit I go overkill, but again I shoot Federal Blue box rounds but in a 3 1/2 BB. That load gives a full 1 1/2 oz shot and still smoking at 1550 fps.. But the 3" #3 shot did just fine on the goose I got Saturday at 30 yards.

I love #3 shot for ducks. For me, its the perfect combo that gives denser patterns than #2 shot, but gives ya a tad more range than #4 shot.


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## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

I shoot blue box with a Carlson's tube. Pattern is more important than name brand.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

^^^^^^^^ I couldn't agree more!

I ran a pattern test with my gun (Benelli M2) and found that the best patterns were thrown from the factory IC choke and either Blue Box Federals 3" 1 1/4 #2 or Estate 3" 1 1/4 #2.

It works on big geese and little geese - 


Light geese -



Ducks - 


And even swans - 


Sorry, its a slow day at work...


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

Winchester 1550 3inch number 2 for ducks and heavy shot 3 1/2 number 2s or bb for swans and geese. with mid range Carlson choke tube.


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## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

CPAjeff said:


> ^^^^^^^^ I couldn't agree more!
> 
> I ran a pattern test with my gun (Benelli M2) and found that the best patterns were thrown from the factory IC choke and either Blue Box Federals 3" 1 1/4 #2 or Estate 3" 1 1/4 #2.
> 
> It works on big geese and little geese -


A cackler is on my bucket list! I want it mounted flying with a mallard.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

I had great success with the federal heavy high velocity shells (available exclusively at Rogers now, the ones in the red box) for a few seasons. They're basically a step up from the standard ones in the blue box - zinc plated and some extra velocity. They got discontinued for awhile, so I started shooting the federals in the blue box, and they work fine.

I was fortunate enough to go on a spring snow goose hunt a few years back. Dad and I bought a case of Black Cloud Snow Goose (BB) to share, and I was thoroughly impressed with how well they worked. We were knocking geese dead at some unbelievable ranges. I shoot at maybe 1-5 flocks of geese in Utah every year, so I'm still working through the last of them. They work great on Canada geese as well.

I was able to get some black cloud high velocity duck loads in 3" #3 for around $12 a box when I combined a sale, a coupon, and a rebate, so I decided to give them a go based on my experience with the snow goose loads. Once again, I'm very impressed. The patterns are great and I very rarely cripple birds I hit.

Some people don't like them because they shoot kind of dirty, but if you clean your gun regularly it isn't an issue. I'll also note that both the snow goose loads and the high velocity loads shoot at 1635 fps, so the recoil is worse than I've experienced with any other shell. I wouldn't give them to a kid or first-time shooter, but when I'm hunting I get so excited that it doesn't bother me.

I shot my first swan with 3 1/2" Hevi-Shot, size B. It was probably at least 45 yards high and it came right down. No complaints there, but I don't think I want to pay that much again. This season, I plan on waiting for a closer shot and using Black Cloud Snow Goose.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

In the interest of full disclosure, my stash consists of:

5 boxes of Federal 3" #2 high velocity waterfowl load (blue box)
7 boxes Federal 3 1/2" #2 heavy high velocity waterfowl load (red box)
7 boxes Black Cloud High Velocity 3" #3 
7 boxes of Remington Nitro Steel, 3" #2

I bought the 3 1/2" red box loads because I got a really good deal on them, and then the blue box loads a bit later. I told myself I was set for awhile, but when I had the opportunity to buy the Black Cloud High-Velocity at a really good price, I decided to go for it.

After that, I was absolutely sure I wouldn't need to buy any more for a few seasons. But then Remington offered a black Friday rebate that let me get them for $7 a box and... you know how that goes.

If I could go back in time, I probably wouldn't buy the 3 1/2" loads. They work great, but they're more than I need. I take them with me when I target divers (I'd rather be excessive than see wounded birds dive and get away), but that's it. At the rate I'm using them they might be gone in 10 years. I've been selling the Nitro Steel to my dad, so he may use it all before I get to it. They work well for him.


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

*Chevy, Ford, Ram?*

If you ask 100 hunters what their favorite load is, you are probably going to get at least 75 different answers. And that's not a bad thing. Here are my choices.

Ducks: I've been shooting 12 Gauge Winchester Xpert 2 3/4 inch shells loaded with 1 1/16 ounces of #3 shot at 1550 fps for at least the last 6 or 7 years. I mainly hunt over decoys and vary rarely have to take a shot over 35 yards. When I do my part, this load kills them dead. I have NEVER seen a need to shoot 3 inch or 3 1/2 inch shells for ducks. I have tried #4 shot and found that the crippling rate was slightly higher, so I use #3 shot. If I can't buy #3 shot I will buy #2 shot.

Geese: I shot 12 Gauge HeviShot 2 3/4 inch shells loaded with 1 1/4 ounces of #4 shot for at least the last 12 years. Last year, I finally used up my last case and found that the cost per shell was now about $3.70. OUCH! I took a look at alternatives and decided to go with HeviShot Speedball 12 Gauge 3 inch shells loaded with 1 1/4 onces of #1 shot at 1635 fps. I've tried a couple different brands of steel goose loads and found them lacking compared to HeviShot. I was really disappointed with Black Cloud. Way too many cripples on shots that killed 'em grave yard dead with HeviShot. I will also be trying some Hevi-Metal 2's in 12 Gauge (geese over decoys) & 4's in 20 Gauge (ducks) this season.

My goose hunting is from pit blinds in fields for decoying birds, so the shots will not be overly long. If I do get any successful shots (one shot kills) over 50 yards with any of the goose loads, I'll record them for reporting back later.

It's your money and you are free to buy whatever works best for you. But to be honest, I believe that if your shooting ranges are reasonable for waterfowl (45 yards or less), you will be able to kill just about as many birds using 2 3/4 inch shells as you can with 3 inch or 3 1/2 inch shells. And unless you primarily pass shoot geese, you can kill them just as dead with 3 inch shells as you can with 3 1/2 inch using the appropriate sized shot - #1's or bigger. But that's just me.
:tea:


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

I like to keep it simple-3" #2 Remington Nitro Steel for ducks and geese over decoys, and 3" Winchester Drylock BB's for geese and a 3rd shot when I could run into ducks and geese in the same hunt. Both loads are 1 1/4oz running at 1400fps. Sometimes I will use #4's for jump shooting and small pond hunting. All through a Remington 870 with the factory Mod choke. I'm jealous of you guys shooting the new A5's, I've really toyed with buying one the last few years but I can't bring myself to drop that kind of cash on a new gun, plus my 870 has been going strong for 10 seasons, all I've ever had to do is replace the factory extractor with a new stainless one. 

A few years ago I lucked into a few boxes of #2 Hevishot, that was my favorite goose load ever but these days you would about have to take out a small business loan to shoot that stuff.

Dubob-I think you will like the Hevi Metal for geese over decoys, I split a case of the #2 with a buddy when they were running a crazy rebate on them a few years ago. I've shot many a goose in the decoys with that load and it works pretty well, not sure if it's worth the extra cost over regular steel though. I have shot some speedball too, the #1's are a great goose load but again they cost a **** fortune!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

JuniorPre 360 said:


> A cackler is on my bucket list! I want it mounted flying with a mallard.


That would be a cool mount! I got that cackler last year in Saskatchewan - it was mixed in with a flock of "regular" sized geese. When they came over the trees, saw the decoys, and locked up, I thought it was a duck at first. As they dropped below the tree line, I could see it wasn't a duck and quickly decided to send all three shells, if necessary, it's way. I wish I would have kept it, along with this blue to send to the taxidermist....



Sorry for the hijack of the thread...


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

That's awesome Jeff! I always see a few cacklers in Cache Valley in the spring but I've never run across one during the season. Nice blue goose too!


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

Pumpgunner said:


> I have shot some speedball too, the #1's are a great goose load but again they cost a **** fortune!


Not really; right now, you can get a case of 3" delivered to your door for $1.70 per shell ($170/case of 100) after rebate. They kill SO much better than steel that I think they are worth the extra cost over steel. :mrgreen:


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

That's not bad Bob, you could hang on to 100 shells for a long time if you're just shooting them at geese. I don't mind paying a little extra for a premium load if honkers are going to be the target!


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

The Speedball loads are definitely for geese only. I have two 3-day package hunts for geese this season - one in December (South Dakota) and one in January (Wyoming).


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

winchester or federal 2 3/4" #7's in 12 ga. or 20 ga. are duck killing loads. You get one hell of a payload with close to 400 bb's in each shot. I mostly use them for mallards.


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

Here's what steel 6s out of a 28 Gauge can do for you. :mrgreen:


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

dubob said:


> Here's what steel 6s out of a 28 Gauge can do for you. :mrgreen:


C'mon dubob, everyone knows you gotta have a 12 gauge 3 1/2 BBB to kill a duck.:mrgreen:

I can't wait to get my hands on one of those 28's. Very cool!


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Fowlmouth said:


> winchester or federal 2 3/4" #7's in 12 ga. or 20 ga. are duck killing loads. You get one hell of a payload with close to 400 bb's in each shot. I mostly use them for mallards.


Uhhh... I'm not going to disagree, but I value my teeth too much to want to mess with a load like that. I'm not sure my meat grinder would like it either.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Clarq said:


> Uhhh... I'm not going to disagree, but I value my teeth too much to want to mess with a load like that. I'm not sure my meat grinder would like it either.


At 20 yards they blow right on through.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

I think 4s are the best all around shot size for ducks, at least in my hands. Number 3s work okay, and so do the 6s in the Expert loads. I've killed lots of geese with 3s and 4s, too, in fact I've never used anything larger than 3s for geese. Leaving for Canada soon, we're taking nothing but 2 3/4" and 3" 4s in 20 gauge.


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Seems I can miss with 3s, 4s,5, 6s,7s. Expensive or cheap-O,-


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

Dunkem said:


> Seems I can miss with 3s, 4s,5, 6s,7s. Expensive or cheap-O,-


Whew! I thought I was the only one that could do that! :jaw:


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