WaterfowlForum.Net

I'm not sure I'll be able to hunt on a friend of mines place, and use the decoys. My back up plan is to walk along the edge of the creek at the lease and try to jump shoot some ducks. I'm guessing I'll mainly be running into wood ducks?? Idk, I'm just wondering about shot size, I've got a few boxes of 2's and a couple of 4's from my near drowning experience last year. I'm leaning more towards the 4's simply bc of more pellets = more chance of hitting them.

If you think you will have close shots take the 4's. Longer shots take 2's.

For wood ducks the 4s will do. If you run into mallards your going to want the 2s if your shots are far.
I like 3s for everything. Good pellet count and good hitting power even on the bigger ducks.

RMFC will love this, because I frequently detoured from grouse hunts to jump shoot woodies back in the lead shot days, and 7 1/2s "killed them deader than shit". And that was through my little 20ga twice-shooter, which I then deemed inadequate for open water mallards, even with magnum handloads of high antimony lead 5's. Believe the biggest difference was the ranges at which those birds were apt to be targets, with small stream jump shooting for woodies, on foot or by canoe, was apt to be at closer quarters. Or not at all, as they disappeared through cover.

All a roundabout way of saying I suspect you'll find the 4s offer plenty of oomph and more chances to win.

Would there be a possibility of mallards being in there? It's a fair size creek, prolly 30' wide in some places.

Could be, but the 4s will be fine for him, too, at the ranges I expect you'll be shooting. Didn't mean to disparage small shot at appropriate ranges, I now do most of my marsh hunting for everything from teal to mallards to specklebellies with 2 3/4' 20ga steel 5s.

4s will work fine, mallards and woodies.

Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

This is still funny every time. :lol:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

SMH. (First time I ever used that acronym. Feel downright hip.)

Rick wrote:RMFC will love this, because I frequently detoured from grouse hunts to jump shoot woodies back in the lead shot days, and 7 1/2s "killed them deader than shit". And that was through my little 20ga twice-shooter, which I then deemed inadequate for open water mallards, even with magnum handloads of high antimony lead 5's. Believe the biggest difference was the ranges at which those birds were apt to be targets, with small stream jump shooting for woodies, on foot or by canoe, was apt to be at closer quarters. Or not at all, as they disappeared through cover.

All a roundabout way of saying I suspect you'll find the 4s offer plenty of oomph and more chances to win.

7.5 lead Remington Express in 2 3/4 was my go to before the change to steel. When the feds made the change, I had to buy a gun that would shoot 3" and must admit, for several years, carried 15 or so of the 7.5's on every hunt, and would shoot them first (and recover every hull ). If it was too windy, would switch to lead #6 or even #5. Absolutely hated making the change, and it took a while for me to become comfortable.
Mohawk, if you hunt the creek, find a straightaway that has the largest opening in the tree line, and shoot passing ducks at first light. Woodrows tend to fly the creek at daylight before settling in. After the morning flight would be the time to walk the edges and ambush. #4's will work just fine, and it is much easier to kill a cripple with the denser pattern.

Rick wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

SMH. (First time I ever used that acronym. Feel downright hip.)

I still don't have the slightest clue what that means.

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

7, I killed 7.

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Deltaman wrote:[
7.5 lead Remington Express in 2 3/4 was my go to before the change to steel.

I was still writing for a living during the switch to steel and followed the controversy closely, and one of the things that's stuck with me was a study on the availability of lead to birds on tilled agricultural land. At a past LA governor's rice field blind outside of Kaplan, they found 1,500 7 1/2s and 8s in a cubic foot of "soil".

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Honestly, I don't keep that good of track. Safe bet is somewhere around 100. Once again, this is a running joke with Duck Hammer, just a heads up before you get all butthurt again.

On an only semi related note, it had been years since I'd seen anyone still boot-legging lead when the gentleman on the right, then well into his 80s:


was having gun trouble on that, his last, September teal hunt, and I traded him my 20 for the recalcitrant 12. TJ was a wealthy oil man who'd located his company in our area largely for its fine duck hunting, so I was a bit surprised to find he was shooting what appeared a Western Auto, or some such, pump with 2 3/4" chambering lacking enough port length to eject the 3" shells he was feeding it. Would have been even more surprised to find those 3" shells were lead 7 1/2s if I hadn't hunted TJ enough to know the cantankerous old cuss didn't believe in letting the feds, or much of anyone else, tell him what to do.

Then came the flash of instant karma. We shot our limits in short order, and I was in the pond shutting off the spinners when "BANG!" was followed immediately by "SPLASH!" Limits be damned, the old pirate couldn't resist taking a fortunately errant crack at a buzzing teal and fell on his butt in the edge of the pond. Told him it was God squaring things for all the birds he'd outlawed over the years.

Can post that photo without fear of cyber spying greenjeans, because they'd have to dig him up to prosecute. And am doing so because, despite being on opposite sides of the management fence, I miss he and several others I've known like him.

sws002 wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Mohawkwoodman wrote:Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Honestly, I don't keep that good of track. Safe bet is somewhere around 100. Once again, this is a running joke with Duck Hammer, just a heads up before you get all butthurt again.

Yeah I kinda don't believe you on 100 ducks. SHOW ME some pictures I bet you can't post up 50 ducks you shot ......
and I am real sure you where the one that got bent over and tore up then put away. How soon you forget Google boy. lets Recap they make 7.5 steel RIGHT

Rick wrote:On an only semi related note, it had been years since I'd seen anyone still boot-legging lead when the gentleman on the right, then well into his 80s:


was having gun trouble on that, his last, September teal hunt, and I traded him my 20 for the recalcitrant 12. TJ was a wealthy oil man who'd located his company in our area largely for its fine duck hunting, so I was a bit surprised to find he was shooting what appeared a Western Auto, or some such, pump with 2 3/4" chambering lacking enough port length to eject the 3" shells he was feeding it. Would have been even more surprised to find those 3" shells were lead 7 1/2s if I hadn't hunted TJ enough to know the cantankerous old cuss didn't believe in letting the feds, or much of anyone else, tell him what to do.

Then came the flash of instant karma. We shot our limits in short order, and I was in the pond shutting off the spinners when "BANG!" was followed immediately by "SPLASH!" Limits be damned, the old pirate couldn't resist taking a fortunately errant crack at a buzzing teal and fell on his butt in the edge of the pond. Told him it was God squaring things for all the birds he'd outlawed over the years.

Can post that photo without fear of cyber spying greenjeans, because they'd have to dig him up to prosecute. And am doing so because, despite being on opposite sides of the management fence, I miss he and several others I've known like him.

Rick wrote:On an only semi related note, it had been years since I'd seen anyone still boot-legging lead when the gentleman on the right, then well into his 80s:


was having gun trouble on that, his last, September teal hunt, and I traded him my 20 for the recalcitrant 12. TJ was a wealthy oil man who'd located his company in our area largely for its fine duck hunting, so I was a bit surprised to find he was shooting what appeared a Western Auto, or some such, pump with 2 3/4" chambering lacking enough port length to eject the 3" shells he was feeding it. Would have been even more surprised to find those 3" shells were lead 7 1/2s if I hadn't hunted TJ enough to know the cantankerous old cuss didn't believe in letting the feds, or much of anyone else, tell him what to do.

Then came the flash of instant karma. We shot our limits in short order, and I was in the pond shutting off the spinners when "BANG!" was followed immediately by "SPLASH!" Limits be damned, the old pirate couldn't resist taking a fortunately errant crack at a buzzing teal and fell on his butt in the edge of the pond. Told him it was God squaring things for all the birds he'd outlawed over the years.

Can post that photo without fear of cyber spying greenjeans, because they'd have to dig him up to prosecute. And am doing so because, despite being on opposite sides of the management fence, I miss he and several others I've known like him.

I'm going to make a hunt with Rick Hall before my time on earth is through....if only to hear his stories.

Rick wrote:

Deltaman wrote:[
7.5 lead Remington Express in 2 3/4 was my go to before the change to steel.

I was still writing for a living during the switch to steel and followed the controversy closely, and one of the things that's stuck with me was a study on the availability of lead to birds on tilled agricultural land. At a past LA governor's rice field blind outside of Kaplan, they found 1,500 7 1/2s and 8s in a cubic foot of "soil".

No wonder your posts are always well-worded and informative That is a lot of shot from a small area and surely from the most shot over spot near the blind. I still think the lead to steel is federal bs! I remember reading an article in Outdoor Life when the change was happening, and the x-ray photos of the birds used for evidence had lead shot in areas they wouldn't have been had they actually been ingested. I'm not saying there weren't any that died due to lead poisoning, but it appeared the majority of the birds x-rayed in the article had been shot, maybe cripples, with lead in the neck and portions of the body that were meat, not guts. Also, I have a gold crown in my mouth thanks to that damn hard stuff!!!! I used to love to pick my birds and cook them whole, browned in butter, stuffed with the trinity and sweet grapes, a slice of bacon draped over the breast, and then cooked slowly in a dutch oven until they surrendered......love'm that way. The only birds I will pick now are those that were head shot. It took me years to relent and go all out steel, but I have slowly become comfortable with it........dammit! It is faster, I'll give it that........but that's all I'll give it

I'm going to make a hunt with Rick Hall before my time on earth is through....if only to hear his stories.

This...........

I killed exactly one goose in my life, with lead - a 1oz load of 7.5's as it were - all because I mixed up a crow load with my goose loads

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:[quote="Mohawkwoodman"]Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Honestly, I don't keep that good of track. Safe bet is somewhere around 100. Once again, this is a running joke with Duck Hammer, just a heads up before you get all butthurt again.

Yeah I kinda don't believe you on 100 ducks. SHOW ME some pictures I bet you can't post up 50 ducks you shot ......
and I am real sure you where the one that got bent over and tore up then put away. How soon you forget Google boy. lets Recap they make 7.5 steel RIGHT[/quote]
I think it's time to put this to bed firstflight.
SWS made a 7.5 shot joke that's been a running thing here since RMFC make a thread about it. YOU blew it way out of proportion after that.

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:[quote="Mohawkwoodman"]Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Honestly, I don't keep that good of track. Safe bet is somewhere around 100. Once again, this is a running joke with Duck Hammer, just a heads up before you get all butthurt again.

Yeah I kinda don't believe you on 100 ducks. SHOW ME some pictures I bet you can't post up 50 ducks you shot ......
and I am real sure you where the one that got bent over and tore up then put away. How soon you forget Google boy. lets Recap they make 7.5 steel RIGHT[/quote]
It makes me happier than you can imagine to know how much I'm in your head right now. I couldn't give two shit whether you believe me or not. I'm already close to 20 birds on the year with our late zone opening tomorrow and heading to NoDak next week, I'll be over 50 birds by the time November rolls around with two months of season and the entire migration left.

DeadEye_Dan wrote:

Rick wrote:On an only semi related note, it had been years since I'd seen anyone still boot-legging lead when the gentleman on the right, then well into his 80s:


was having gun trouble on that, his last, September teal hunt, and I traded him my 20 for the recalcitrant 12. TJ was a wealthy oil man who'd located his company in our area largely for its fine duck hunting, so I was a bit surprised to find he was shooting what appeared a Western Auto, or some such, pump with 2 3/4" chambering lacking enough port length to eject the 3" shells he was feeding it. Would have been even more surprised to find those 3" shells were lead 7 1/2s if I hadn't hunted TJ enough to know the cantankerous old cuss didn't believe in letting the feds, or much of anyone else, tell him what to do.

Then came the flash of instant karma. We shot our limits in short order, and I was in the pond shutting off the spinners when "BANG!" was followed immediately by "SPLASH!" Limits be damned, the old pirate couldn't resist taking a fortunately errant crack at a buzzing teal and fell on his butt in the edge of the pond. Told him it was God squaring things for all the birds he'd outlawed over the years.

Can post that photo without fear of cyber spying greenjeans, because they'd have to dig him up to prosecute. And am doing so because, despite being on opposite sides of the management fence, I miss he and several others I've known like him.

I'm going to make a hunt with Rick Hall before my time on earth is through....if only to hear his stories.

Do it.

sws002 wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:[quote="The Duck Hammer"][quote="Mohawkwoodman"]Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Honestly, I don't keep that good of track. Safe bet is somewhere around 100. Once again, this is a running joke with Duck Hammer, just a heads up before you get all butthurt again.

Yeah I kinda don't believe you on 100 ducks. SHOW ME some pictures I bet you can't post up 50 ducks you shot ......
and I am real sure you where the one that got bent over and tore up then put away. How soon you forget Google boy. lets Recap they make 7.5 steel RIGHT[/quote]
It makes me happier than you can imagine to know how much I'm in your head right now. I couldn't give two shit whether you believe me or not. I'm already close to 20 birds on the year with our late zone opening tomorrow and heading to NoDak next week, I'll be over 50 birds by the time November rolls around with two months of season and the entire migration left.[/quote]
Bitch please .
Google boy I going to say you don't have anywhere near 2 ducks on the year. I bet my 12 year old has shot more ducks then you ever did just in youth season .
if you shot so many ducks post some up from this year bet you can't.
And just an fyi you're not in my head but like the 7.5 steel YOU ARE WRONG Google that .

NuffDaddy wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:

firstflight wrote:

sws002 wrote:[quote="The Duck Hammer"][quote="Mohawkwoodman"]Ive had mallards fly or glide 100 feet or more with 4 shot even under 30 yards. Those successfully retrieved had fatal hits head shots, neck shots chest shots and all. Now i use only 2 or 1 for mallard reduces wading. 4 shot smokes wood ducks though.

You should see BB out of a 10 on mallards. It'll throw em backwards in the air.

Says the guy who killed 3.5 ducks last year...

How many did you kill sws90210 ?

Honestly, I don't keep that good of track. Safe bet is somewhere around 100. Once again, this is a running joke with Duck Hammer, just a heads up before you get all butthurt again.

Yeah I kinda don't believe you on 100 ducks. SHOW ME some pictures I bet you can't post up 50 ducks you shot ......
and I am real sure you where the one that got bent over and tore up then put away. How soon you forget Google boy. lets Recap they make 7.5 steel RIGHT[/quote]
I think it's time to put this to bed firstflight.
SWS made a 7.5 shot joke that's been a running thing here since RMFC make a thread about it. YOU blew it way out of proportion after that.[/quote]
Ah sorry boss I said I shoot 7.5 steel. sws90210 said no body ever made 7.5 steel . He was wrong End of story .