Hevi-Shot: old vs. new

[grayghost]

I'm not paying $25-$30 for any box of 10 shells. I have no problems killing ducks/geese with Winchester or Kent steel loads. No, I'm not pass shooting but I do knock Snow geese out of the sky with steel BB's (3"). Most of my hunting is over decoys. I have no issue with anyone using high dollar shells, but to me, we're getting hosed and I'm not buying it. I have shot some of the expensive loads (field tested) and my end results were no better than steel. If you can work ducks and geese into reasonable range, steel will kill effectively.
gg

[fabsroman]

Originally Posted by grayghost

I'm not paying $25-$30 for any box of 10 shells. I have no problems killing ducks/geese with Winchester or Kent steel loads. No, I'm not pass shooting but I do knock Snow geese out of the sky with steel BB's (3"). Most of my hunting is over decoys. I have no issue with anyone using high dollar shells, but to me, we're getting hosed and I'm not buying it. I have shot some of the expensive loads (field tested) and my end results were no better than steel. If you can work ducks and geese into reasonable range, steel will kill effectively.
gg

Yeah, my first two shells are usually steel and the third shell is Hevi-Shot or Remington HD. From now on though, it will either be Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote which uses pellets that are heavier than lead or Remington HD where the pellets are heavier than lead. Looks like Environmetal has decided to scrimp to save a couple dollars and beat out Remington on the price point. If I am already paying $28 for 10 shells, what the heck is another $5.

In my opinion, there is definitely a difference between true Hevi-Shot and steel in the performance category. Yeah, Hevi-Shot isn't needed for the close shots, but who really knows what the situation is going to present. Sometimes, the birds just don't want to come in close. Had one group land on the outer edge of the decoys a couple of weeks ago and that was 60 to 70 yards out in the field. You just never know.

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Yeah, Hevi-Shot isn't needed for the close shots, but who really knows what the situation is going to present. Sometimes, the birds just don't want to come in close.

This is the problem on the managed areas that I hunt: Guys don't let the birds work the decoys, and take shots that are way out of range. So now the birds won't come in close, and the guy feels he needs something with "longer range", so they buy hevi or something similar, and take longer shots.....way to long (100+ yards). All this does is educate the birds to fly even higher, and those that are hit become sailers and end up in the refuge, where they become statistics. Then the rest of the season, it becomes nothing but pass shooting......might as well leave the dekes at home.
It's very frustrating.....................

[fabsroman]

Originally Posted by Mr. 16 gauge

This is the problem on the managed areas that I hunt: Guys don't let the birds work the decoys, and take shots that are way out of range. So now the birds won't come in close, and the guy feels he needs something with "longer range", so they buy hevi or something similar, and take longer shots.....way to long (100+ yards). All this does is educate the birds to fly even higher, and those that are hit become sailers and end up in the refuge, where they become statistics. Then the rest of the season, it becomes nothing but pass shooting......might as well leave the dekes at home.
It's very frustrating.....................

Not only does Rapier make me look like an irresponsible idiot on another thread this week for not cleaning my guns, but now you guys are making it look like I cannot call or shoot geese and that I am some rookie hunter out there.

Simply put, my wife and I are just below Obama's definition of rich, so buying Hevi-Shot doesn't hurt the pocket book as much as it would have 12 years ago when I was just out of law school. However, I bought some of the stuff even back then when it came out, which I think was 10 or so years ago.

Do I need to post the pics I have of truck loads full of geese? Before I had kids, I would routinely kill 100 geese a season. Sometimes, we would have our limit in a field before 9:00 in the morning. One of the best hunts I have had was with my dad on the last day of the season about 7 years ago. We had our 5 bird each limit by 9:00 and were trying to get out of our field, with birds still trying to come in, with guys hunting the field right next to us. I was pulling birds away from them that morning and they were skybusting some of them out of frustration. They were also very rude to me when I went to speak to them first thing in the morning when they set up right on the edge of the field we were hunting. I almost wanted to park my truck there right on the edge the rest of the day just to piss them off, but decided to be a nice guy instead. One of the few instances where I have turned the other cheek.

As far as shooting ability goes, I hate to toot my own horn. There are a couple of people on this board that have shot with me. Skeet and DelDuck are two that come to mind. For the most part, I shoot around 90% in sporting clays. Best score ever was a 48 out of 50, but I also don't shoot them as often any more. 60 yard shots aren't impossible for me, and the guys I have hunted with have always been surprised by my shooting ability. A lot of the guys cannot kill a goose unless it is backpedaling with its feet down. Well, that isn't me. However, since I hunt with these guys I try to get the geese to come in as close as possible before calling the shot. Like I said, I waited on a group the Friday after Thanksgiving until they actually landed in the decoys. Actually had a pair come in and land on the edge of the decoys, let them sit there for the next group, and had another bunch land right next to the pair. That is when I decided to shoot them.

Yeah, I am not a big proponent of skybusting and that is the reason the first 2 shells are steel. After that, it is Hevi and any reloading I can do before the geese are out of shooting range is with Hevi. They are in the right front pocket of my parka.

I bought an SBE because of the reviews I read about it. 13 years later, it was a good purchase.
I bought my first bunch of Hevi-Shot because of what I read about it and because I wanted to try it out. When I crushed a mallard 50+ yards directly above me trying to leave dodge after I downed the other two birds that came in with it (i.e., the threesome came in nice and low and on a string for the decoys, but this third one made it through and decided to gain altitude and come back around for another look). That bird came down like a rock and was dead as a stone. I was shocked at how well the Hevi #2 worked and have been using it since. For the most part, I don't use it during early season because the birds are really dumb in September.
I bought a patternmaster choke because of what I read about it, and after patterning with it, guess what, it works in my gun.

Granted, I have only been hunting waterfowl for 14 years now and only have 14 bands, one of which is a $100 reward band on a mallard that I shot in the scenario set forth above. Actually got a band Thanksgiving weekend on the morning my dad, brother, and I shot our limit by 9:00, maybe 9:30, and we shot like poo that morning. A father/son pair that I hunt with, and really, really like, have been doing this for 4+ years now and neither of them have gotten a band. So, I must be doing something somewhat right, or like they say, I swallowed a horse shoe.