Steel Shot Failure!!!!

Here's a few informal notes from yesterdays hunt:

Clear day, birds not decoying well. Ducks, young snows and some speckled bellies in the air. Combined bag 5 geese, 7 ducks.

1. #4 shot, 3" steel: 3 ducks crippled and retrieved @ ~40 yards. 2 died by the time we got to them. One required chasing.

2. #4 hevi-steel, 3" 4 ducks and a snow goose all dead with no chasing wounded birds. Same distance as above.

3. #2 Kent Fast Steel, 3.5"--2 geese, dead when before they hit the water. ~50 yards

4. BB Win SX 3.5", one Blue Goose and one Speckled Belly. The Blue was ~50 yards up--saled 1/4 mile and retrieved. Speck was a solid hit, BB at 50 yards.

No scientific data here--#4 Hevi Steel was the smallest/lightest pellet that we are going to use in the future.

For 3.5" shells not enough data to distiguish between #2 and BB in 2.5" hulls.

And the rast of us laugh at people that care so little about the game they hunt and feel the need to prove how macho they are. If the only ducks you ever shoot are the ones that have their feet down,,,, you shoot very few ducks.

Click to expand...

Nothing macho about killing ducks. What works, works. Period. I killed a limit last time out ( I guess 6 birds could be called "very few" compared to the millions that migrate each fall) and every bird was less than 30 yards, orange feet down. #4 steel All of the big ducks were dead when they hit the water. I do go to #2 for my 3rd shot but never got that far.

No, I didn't get cut off in traffic this morning. Nor am I wanting to get into a pissing contest with someone who can "call" ducks. I just find it amusing when someone shoots shell "A" and doesn't kill the bird clean. They proceed to shoot shell "B" and get a clean kill. Therefore they show up here claiming shell "A" is not effective.

Do I get clean kills ALL the time with steel? No. Do I loose a bird OCCASIONALLY? Yes. Am I happy about it? Hardley. Did the same thing happen back in the lead days? Yup.

I bet that if most of the guys that sit around and female dog about steel spent their time scouting, changing set up, shooting clays, etc.... they would find those things more productive than changing what they shoot.

Just my $0.02

By the way, If you are where the ducks want to be and your set up is good, you really don't need to call much. But that probably makes me macho.

Better reread all of that. It is a matter of pellet count plus energy. It is normally accepted that a load should have a minimum of 188 pellets inorder to assure a pattern density of .25 pellets per square inch for Mallard sized birds. (or that we reduce or expand the pattern diameter inorder to have the desired pattern density) The energy the pellet retains is determined by the speed and the weight of the pellet. The simple fact is that a #4 steel pellet weighs less than a #6 HS pellet. (#6 HS has 235ft lb/in2 at 45yds when fired at 1325fps, while a #4 steel pellet would need to be fired at about 1700fps to do the same)
There is no factory #4 steel load which has 235ed at 40 yards, therefore my comment that it should not be considdered.

Now if my norm was to hunt a timber hole where you can't even see a duck at over 25 yds, much less get a shot at one past that distence, then of course my load choices would be different than it is. Here in Utah we will often spot birds a mile or more away, and then it is up to good calling, good positioning and decoy use that we get a chance at them. So why would I even considder limiting myself to a 25 yard range.
While I would guess that my average shot is closer to 40 feet than it is to 40 yards, those 40 yard shots are by no means out of the question.
What I personally do is always choke my gun for what I anticipate will be my average shot, and load my gun for what I considder would be the worst shot that I am willing to take. Simply put this means a little less choke and a little larger or heavier shot.

tom