Jeramie Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Im out of my element here. A guy I work with and I are going to hit the ducks on public land this year. I have a river that is over 100 yards wide less than 5 miles from my house. It has all sorts of large creeks, fingers, surrouding ponds, etc. We are scouting this weekend and trying to find a place to setup. Ive always hunted my family's ponds (13 total). You can reach across them with pretty much any setup. Average shot is typically less than 35-40 yards easily. Now that we are hitting the public land (77k acres) Im sure I will have a few more challenges. Im shooting a Charles Daily, 12ga (chambered to 3 1/2"). I had planned on shooting 3" shells. I have both a Full and Improved for this shotgun. What would everyone suggest for choke, load, etc? Keep in mind im novice at Duck Hunting. Ive only really hunted them for the last two years. Over the past 18 years or so I always just jumped them off of ponds while Rabbit or Squirrel hunting. I would thump 4 - 5 and head home with them. Using a blind, calls, etc. brings a whole new challenge! Im ready. I want to know my shotgun and load is too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camoman1 Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Well.... In my opinion, 3.5''s dont really extend your range, they just make a better pattern in the 'normal' range. So your decision to shoot 3 inchers is a good choice as far as my thinking goes. (save some $$) Steel normally patterns a bit tighter than lead does. For example if you shoot steel from a Improved Cyl choke, it will most likely be more like a modified choke pattern. I personally use a modified choke in my Gold Hunter and I shoot Hevi-Steel 3'' 1 1/8oz #2's for ducks. I have no trouble killing birds at 40yds with that load....but if your going to put out decoys, let the birds come into that 25-30yd range. I personally believe that shooting at birds more than 40 or so yards away is a little ridiculous, unless its crippled or already been hit....but every situation is different. I generally hunt on a big lake that can have some good size swells on it and finding crips that flew off a ways is often difficult. Wouldnt hurt to buy a box of shells and fire a round thru a few different chokes into some paper and see what you got. Good luck, post some pics if ya get some!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNcrittergittr Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 (edited) I agree with camoman about the 3 inch shells. Especially if you are gonna be targeting ducks more than geese. I prefer a modified choke, and I really don't like shooting anything lighter than 2 shot. For geese I like BB or BBB, T's and F's are great too. Patterning your gun will show you a lot about how it's going to perform with different loads and different ranges. I hunt on a river too with a lot of inlets, bays and sloughs, it also has some bigger water too as it is one of the main tributaries to Lake Superior, so the closer to the big lake ya get, the bigger the water. I'd recommend doing a little research on different decoys spreads for different situations too, hopefully with the right spot, set up and wind you'll be able to take nice close shots. I'm not trying to get too complicated here...just have fun out there man! Good luck! Edited October 14, 2009 by MNcrittergittr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Early season when you are hunting over decoys then your shots shouldn't be too far. I use an IC choke with Kent Fast Steel 3 inch #3. Have fun--I love hunting on rivers. todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I agree with camoman about the 3 inch shells. Especially if you are gonna be targeting ducks more than geese. I prefer a modified choke, and I really don't like shooting anything lighter than 2 shot. For geese I like BB or BBB, T's and F's are great too. Patterning your gun will show you a lot about how it's going to perform with different loads and different ranges. I hunt on a river too with a lot of inlets, bays and sloughs, it also has some bigger water too as it is one of the main tributaries to Lake Superior, so the closer to the big lake ya get, the bigger the water. I'd recommend doing a little research on different decoys spreads for different situations too, hopefully with the right spot, set up and wind you'll be able to take nice close shots. I'm not trying to get too complicated here...just have fun out there man! Good luck! The good news about the spread is this kid use to Guide in South Texas. He has the duck hunting thing down. We went out a couple of times last year and hit the ponds. Now he is changing my element... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Early season when you are hunting over decoys then your shots shouldn't be too far. I use an IC choke with Kent Fast Steel 3 inch #3. Have fun--I love hunting on rivers. todd I hope I love rivers too. Im wanting the added challenge. We are close enough to Arkansas that we are typically covered up with ducks. Hopefully that hold true during season. I have just never paid attention to how many come in on rivers?! Hopefully it works out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenhead_hunter Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 kicks I just bought a kicks vortex and I love it, I bought the full and it definitley improved my patterns, it is made specifically for the blackcloud though, but ive been practicing with the blackcloud#3s and its 70 bucks very well spent, from 20 to 50 yards that bird is dead meat. whack em and stack em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkhntnfool Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 I use to use a improved with kent 3" #3 worked pretty good. For the last few seasons I have used a pattern master with the kent steel. I have shot ducks at 60+ yards with this combo. I would suggest that you use the improved and when the time is right get yourself a good aftermarket chock like a pattern master, kicks or briley's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.