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What are the best steel pellet sizes, load and chokes for ducks?
That's a pretty broad question and you'll likely get a lot of opinions about this or that pellet, load and choke. It really comes down to how far do you want to shoot your ducks and what kind of ducks you are shooting. Obviously, shooting teal at 30 yards is a different proposition than say shooting mallards at 50 yards.
If you get ducks inside of 40 yards they just aren't that hard to kill, just tough to put the pattern on their front end sometimes. At normal decoying ranges (20-40 yards), steel #4s, #3s or #2s (provided they are choked properly) will take care of most any duck business you have. Obviously, it is better to use small pellets on small ducks to increase pattern density and larger pellets for larger ducks to maintain pellet energy, but generally any of these would be a good starting point for ducks over decoys.
It doesn't take a 3 1/2" or even a 3" shell to effectively kill ducks. A 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz. load @ 1,375 fps will kill ducks at any reasonable range if it is choked properly for the distance you are shooting.
For chokes, take an IC, LM and Mod. with your shell/load of choice and head to the pattern board to see which one works best in your gun. Out to about 35 the IC will probably do best, 35-45 the LM may do best, and from about 40-50 the Mod. may be the best choice. The ONLY way to find out is to pattern them!
When you start getting outside of normal decoying range (>40 yards) and shooting larger ducks you'll need to go with larger pellets (#3s or #2s) and tighter chokes to maintain adequate pellet energy and pattern density. Beware, when you get beyond 40 yards it not only becomes more difficult to hit the duck, but it also becomes more difficult to find a load/choke that will maintain adequate killing pattern density with larger pellets. Not that you can't find a combo that will work, but you will need to do some pattern work to make sure you are shooting a lethal combo.
Normally, I am shooting steel #4s and IC for close decoying and/or small ducks and later in the season when I'm shooting mostly mallards I shoot steel #2s with a Mod. choke. Steel #3s are a great compromise, but many times I can't find them so I go with some combination of #4s and #2s like having a #4 for the first close shot and follow it with a couple of #2s.
As far as velocity, get loads in the 1,300 to 1,500 fps range and neither you nor the duck will ever know the difference. Many of the hyper velocity bunch don't agree with me on this but to each his own. Put the pattern on the duck and he's dead!!!
For me the best reference concerning duck load lethality and minimum pattern requirements is Tom Roster's CONSEP Lethality table. Try and get a copy of it and study it for your load/pellet/choke selections.
Remember, if you can't put the pattern on the front end of the duck little else matters!!!
Good luck.
(Found on another site, original link since lost)
That's a pretty broad question and you'll likely get a lot of opinions about this or that pellet, load and choke. It really comes down to how far do you want to shoot your ducks and what kind of ducks you are shooting. Obviously, shooting teal at 30 yards is a different proposition than say shooting mallards at 50 yards.
If you get ducks inside of 40 yards they just aren't that hard to kill, just tough to put the pattern on their front end sometimes. At normal decoying ranges (20-40 yards), steel #4s, #3s or #2s (provided they are choked properly) will take care of most any duck business you have. Obviously, it is better to use small pellets on small ducks to increase pattern density and larger pellets for larger ducks to maintain pellet energy, but generally any of these would be a good starting point for ducks over decoys.
It doesn't take a 3 1/2" or even a 3" shell to effectively kill ducks. A 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz. load @ 1,375 fps will kill ducks at any reasonable range if it is choked properly for the distance you are shooting.
For chokes, take an IC, LM and Mod. with your shell/load of choice and head to the pattern board to see which one works best in your gun. Out to about 35 the IC will probably do best, 35-45 the LM may do best, and from about 40-50 the Mod. may be the best choice. The ONLY way to find out is to pattern them!
When you start getting outside of normal decoying range (>40 yards) and shooting larger ducks you'll need to go with larger pellets (#3s or #2s) and tighter chokes to maintain adequate pellet energy and pattern density. Beware, when you get beyond 40 yards it not only becomes more difficult to hit the duck, but it also becomes more difficult to find a load/choke that will maintain adequate killing pattern density with larger pellets. Not that you can't find a combo that will work, but you will need to do some pattern work to make sure you are shooting a lethal combo.
Normally, I am shooting steel #4s and IC for close decoying and/or small ducks and later in the season when I'm shooting mostly mallards I shoot steel #2s with a Mod. choke. Steel #3s are a great compromise, but many times I can't find them so I go with some combination of #4s and #2s like having a #4 for the first close shot and follow it with a couple of #2s.
As far as velocity, get loads in the 1,300 to 1,500 fps range and neither you nor the duck will ever know the difference. Many of the hyper velocity bunch don't agree with me on this but to each his own. Put the pattern on the duck and he's dead!!!
For me the best reference concerning duck load lethality and minimum pattern requirements is Tom Roster's CONSEP Lethality table. Try and get a copy of it and study it for your load/pellet/choke selections.
Remember, if you can't put the pattern on the front end of the duck little else matters!!!
Good luck.
(Found on another site, original link since lost)
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