And go...

Shell as in waterproof outer jacket, or shell as in shot shell load?

This topic is like 5 topics down from yours. The consensus was 3" #3s.

Kent fast steel 3" #3

3 inch #3 steels is overkill. I'm an avid duck hunter - hunted all over the states in a variety of conditions, as well as ducks in Argentina. 12 ga 2 3/4, 5 or 6's is all you need unless you are trying to sky bust. Just say not to sky busting. I regularly shoot teal and early season ducks with my 20 ga. For a 12, 5's if shooting a fast-steel type shell, 6 if you're using a tungsten, bizmuth, or hevi-shot type shell.

You may have a reason to increase pellet size one numeral scale (i.e. move from a 5 to a 4) if you are hunting big ducks late in the season in really cold weather.

In Argentina 2 and 3/4 lead 6's are lethal - those loads will take down their big dugs like the Rozy Bill no problem. Of course I remember when you could shoot ducks with the same lead loads in the states - still have some of those loads in my closet I can't get rid of. Not trying to derail the thread into a debate on use of lead shot on waterfowl!

PS - focus on a duck's head and not their wings when taking your shot. The shooter's eye is naturally drawn to their wings due to the rapid wing beating. The problem is that duck wings are positioned way back along the body during flight, so if you shoot at their wings you are way likely to miss behind the ducks. This is why you'll see a lot of ducks jump forward when you shoot, because the shot stream takes out their tail feathers or misses just behind them. You have to train your eyes to do this, but focus on their heads and shoot their heads. You'll either connect with your target and take them clean, or if you do miss behind the head you have a much better chance of a lethal body shot in the heart/lungs. Works well for dove too.

The only time you don't want to do this is if you ever get a chance to hunt heavy timber ponds in Arkansas or similar, where the ducks drop vertically in out of the sky. If you shoot at their heads in this setting you'll miss high/above them every time. Free tip of the day. Carry on!

[This message has been edited by dr_boogs (edited 11/13/2013 5:02p).]

Good info Boogs...gotta disagree on the lighter loads though. I knock the most ducks down with Black Cloud 3" #3 high speed (1450 fps I believe). They are a little much for the "in your face" decoying ducks, but work better for me when having to pass shoot.

Mine is whichever fits in my gun, is not lead and costs the least. I've never killed a duck with these shells that didn't die.

Hevi-Metal #6

My well tested favorite is 3 inch 1 1/8 oz #3 either Kent or Black Cloud. The problem is finding them on the shelf (Houston). Far fewer cripples with Black Cloud but Kent is quite a bit less expensive and also knocks them down. Before the high speed steel loads were available I hand loaded them and that may be a lower cost alternative. You can read all about the advantages of 3" vs 2 3/4" in various places. I have a book from ballisticproducts.com full of interesting test data. You have to be a way better than average shotgun shooter to get the same results with 2 3/4" shells vs 3" and you will always give up range/lethality. There is a big difference between #3 and #6 steel shot.

[This message has been edited by Ikanizer (edited 11/13/2013 8:49p).]

I also disagree that #6 shot is effective for killing ducks in Texas. #4 can be shot all season but as far as a best all around 3" # 3 Speed is very important in my opinion. Mallards can wear #4 shot an keep flying you will have a lot of cripples.

Good to hear everyone's opinion. Probably a lot of variables playing into our different opinions - type of hunting, location, gun/gauge/chokes, pass shooting versus in your face in the decoys.

Most importantly though, it's great to be able to discuss these topics on the OB with fellow enthusiasts without everyone melting down just because we don't all share the same opinion. Five seconds on the politics board or over in the zoo and I feel like I need a shower.

3in #3 are my choice

Black cloud, heavy metal, didn't get much love on the hypersonics but any 12ga 3in #3 will do you good

2-3/4" #4's dropped a hell of a lot of ducks for me on the bays and in the marshlands on the coast.

I rarely saw #3's in the store, and #2's were a little too heavy, so #4's became the go to most of the time.

I always had a box or two of 3" in the bag to swap over if the birds were flying high or weren't decoying all that well, but probably better than 90% of the time the 2-3/4" shells were far more than adequate.

Goose loads were a different story.

I suppose if you are teal hunting and have good shots, #6 of bismuth, tungsten or hevi-shot would work pretty well, but i wouldn't personally shoot anything that light at larger ducks (mallards, pintail, redhead, etc.). I'm sure plenty of people do with success, but not my cup of tea.

A lot of your load choice has to do with where you are hunting, what he dominant bird selection is, and what their flight and decoy patterns are. We had one blind that just about required 3" shells - for whatever reason the birds didn't decoy as close to this blind as we wanted and the longer shells made a huge difference. When we built our other blind, conditions generally brought the birds in a lot closer, and the 3" shells did more damage than anything, so the 2-3/4" became the go-to choice for that location.

If you are hunting wood ducks and teal in cover, 3" shells are usually overkill. A buddy of mine from A&M used to hunt the Scatters up in Arkansas around Pine Bluff (lots and lots of flooded timber) and never used a 3" shell, because they simply didn't need them where he hunted at.

At one of my old friend's place near Caldwell you needed both, depending on where you chose to hunt - flooded timber was 2-3/4" with limited shooting lanes, the pond was a 3" shell type of blind to reach to the other side of the water, and even then it was a little iffy.

But still, it always depends on specifics.

I like 3" #3 or 4. Have shot 3" #6 and killed them dead but found more shot in the breast.

Had to buy shells as Academy last night and all they had were 3" #2. Haven't shot that load in a while.