Best Waterfowl Load

[Sportin' Woodies]

red box federals. 3" or 3.5" BBs. i shoot enough stuff to tell the difference.
kent 3" 2s pattern great thru a patternmaster, but they dont measure up to redbox federales long range. of course if youre shooting woodies up close, it really doesnt matter.

im only telling yall this because wounding the few ducks we have is a tragedy.

[willyworm]

nothing works as good as lead shot. so when i feel like i can get away with it i shoot lead. when i hunt where im subject to get checked i shoot whatever steel is the cheapest and do the best i can do with it.

Seriously?

Cue Trad.

They'll all do the job if you hit the duck. Shell performance - 5%. Shooter performance 95%

I think those numbers are a little skewed. Steel which maintains little energy by the time it reaches 30yds, sometimes doesn't kill birds even with a good pattern.

Even though the tungsten mixes cost more per shell, if costs less per hunt because you don't need kill shots, or waste more shells on birds you hit but swim, or even fly, off. The bird is dead or you missed.

[SCDivers]

Had two drylok shell seperate (plastic hull from the brass) and the hull get lodged in the barrel. Digging that out was fun. both shells came from the same box, probably a fluke but it switched me to Kent.

[possum88]

i go for the cheaper stuff. i shot a box of black clouds and they shot just as good as the winchester experts. winchester experts may have even shot better, but i normal stick to 3 inch # 2. 3 1/2 for geese

[clacavalier@yahoo.com]

I shoot 3in #2's, i have found it works for me.

enough said

[Redux]

Black Cloud #3's. I shoot em at everything from mallards to teal. Not much leaves. Killed 2 redheads in 1 shot last season and they bled like stuck hogs. Surprisingly, they don't mess the meat up any worse than regular steel. Only down side, you can't shoot geese with em. Gotta have #2's, so I keep my loops on my waders full of 2's just for that purpose. Merry Christmas.