[skeet]

An 870 3' will be fine for almost all hunting you may do. I know many who have that gun and that is all they ever use. As far as waterfowl and steel shot..that is another case. Shooting steel is completely different. Yes Steel will kill the birds. Steel is a barely acceptable alternative to lead..in my opinion. If you are going to shoot steel go with the best of the stuff you can find...the premium lines etc. The cheap steel really isn't too much good for anything other than shooting cripples. The best of the substitutes seems to be hevi-shot or one of it's derivatives that most of the major manufacturers has available. It really seems to be better than lead..but it is very expensive. I find though that I use less shells for birds brought to bag and I certainly feel much better than if I shot steel exclusively.....and the hevi-shot and things like bismuth tend to shoot much more like lead ballistically. I know this will probably touch a raw nerve with some but kind of wish they would outlaw the use of steel. Just way too many cripples with it. In fact I would make the bet there are more birds lost to crippling with steel than there ever were lost to lead poisoning. If using steel for ducks and geese..use at least 2 sizes larger than you used to use in lead. It'll work ok for you. Also get some of the size 7 sportsman steel or what ever and go to a skeet(not Trap) range and shoot some clay targets. Learn to shoot the steel.