# Who remembers shooting lead shot at ducks?



## QuailJunkie (Aug 20, 2014)

Just curious who was around before the steel shot law took effect


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## MudDucker (Aug 20, 2014)

I shot ducks for about 20 years before they outlawed lead shot.

I hunted at the same place as the feds lawyer who agreed to the lead ban 2 years ago.  We shared a hunting lodge and he shared his story of how it happened.  The rule is stupid to the max!


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## king killer delete (Aug 20, 2014)

Me to


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## rnelson5 (Aug 20, 2014)

I remember shooting lead........... oh you meant before it was outlawed


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## tradhunter98 (Aug 20, 2014)

I shoot lead all the time...at doves that is!


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## Ocmulgee Arms (Aug 20, 2014)

I remember well. Rem 1100 with 2 3/4 #6 was deadly. If you hit them they were dead. Hardly any crippled. I hate steel.


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## Ocmulgee Arms (Aug 20, 2014)

I remember wanting one of those high powered 3" magnum.


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## The Longhunter (Aug 20, 2014)

Shot lead for years.

Killed hundreds of Woodies with 20 ga. 3"  7 1/2.  Very very few cripples.  Had a good dog.  I think I still have a box or two around.

For the big ducks, Fiocchi #5 were rare, but were the hammer of Thor.  Talk about being able to reach out and touch them.

I was able to go goose hunting on the Eastern Shore with lead shot for several years.  I remember the first time I took an  overhead shot with a "Baby Magnum" in my trusty 870.


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## Hornet22 (Aug 20, 2014)

Ocmulgee Arms said:


> I remember well. Rem 1100 with 2 3/4 #6 was deadly. If you hit them they were dead. Hardly any crippled. I hate steel.



Yep, and bout a buck twenty a box or less if you caught a sale goin on


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## steelshotslayer (Aug 20, 2014)

Yall are telling your age.


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## Halawaka (Aug 20, 2014)

I had two or three years with lead before the switch and if you lived it you were able to see what a bad crippler steel is.  Those first few years around Columbus the only place you could get steel was Service Merchandise.  Now that's showing my age!


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## king killer delete (Aug 20, 2014)

Reloads, Wichester AA once fired hull, Winchester AA red wad, CCI 209 primer, 29 grains of Hercules Blue dot magnum shot gun powder. 1 and 3/8  of cold chilled number 4 shot would kill a big duck at 50 yards all day long out of a Winchester Super X model 1, 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch auto shotgun with a 28 inch fixed modified choke. I have pass shot woodys at 60 yards and I did not have cripples. My dog was San Joaquin Annie who was out of the Great  1976 NFC/AFC San Joaquin Honcho who fathered 70 Field Champions, Annie was one of the first titled AKC and North American Retreiver Assc.  hunting dogs in South East Georgia.


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## florida boy (Aug 20, 2014)

Highbrass  fiocchi 4s and 5s would absolutely smash any duck that flew


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## Dog Hunter (Aug 20, 2014)

All I have ever shot was lead


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## GLS (Aug 20, 2014)

killer elite said:


> Reloads, Wichester AA once fired hull, Winchester AA red wad, CCI 209 primer, 29 grains of Hercules Blue dot magnum shot gun powder. 1 and 3/8  of cold chilled number 4 shot would kill a big duck at 50 yards all day long out of a Winchester Super X model 1, 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch auto shotgun with a 28 inch fixed modified choke. can Retreiver Assc.  hunting dogs in South East Georgia.



I loaded this exact load.  I shot it out of a Remington 3200 or an Ithaca M37.  I'd load a full case a season.  I have some left.


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## tradhunter98 (Aug 20, 2014)

My dad shot copper 4s at big ducks and copper 6s at small ducks...said you were in them they were dead.  The days I will never know.


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## The Flying Duckman (Aug 20, 2014)

Seen a 20 ga. with #5 lead take a mallard right out of the air between 35 and 40 yrds and it hit the water stone cold dead!


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## king killer delete (Aug 20, 2014)

GLS said:


> I loaded this exact load.  I shot it out of a Remington 3200 or an Ithaca M37.  I'd load a full case a season.  I have some left.


 I got to the point instead of number 4s I would dump numer 8s in and it was a magnum dove load. Mec 600 jr


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## king killer delete (Aug 20, 2014)

Grits Gresham who was the duck commander of my day only shot a 20 gauge at ducks.


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## yellowduckdog (Aug 20, 2014)

killer elite said:


> Grits Gresham who was the duck commander of my day only shot a 20 gauge at ducks.



Grits Gresham an the American Sportsman wow blast from the past, hunted lead with paper hulls


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## birddog52 (Aug 20, 2014)

Shot high brass 5& 6 sixs for ducks 4 shot for geese 23/4 inch very few cripples quit duck hunting for awhile when steel shot law went into effect. Started back to waterfowl hunting the thing with steel shot 30 yrds the max pattern the gun see what choke& load it likes best ( but you will still have ducks shot that looked like you opened a feather pillow & still fly off die  somewhere else)


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## king killer delete (Aug 20, 2014)

The first duck commander. Grits Gresham


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## ghadarits (Aug 20, 2014)

I started with lead and when steel became the law I thought I had somehow forgot how to shoot. Effective range for me diminished by about 25%. I can clearly remember killing ducks with #6 at about 50 yards no problem. Now 40 yards with #4 is the max I feel good about.

My weapon of choice was a Remington 1148 it was my first semiautomatic and would only cycle high brass shells.


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## bigkga69 (Aug 20, 2014)

my first birds were killed with 2.75" high brass copper clad #6, 20ga, out of my Stevens double barrel...lead of course...my very first was a mallard drake in Shrivers Creek cupping into our dog chewed decoys... I wasn't big enough to wade the swamps for wood ducks while lead was legal, but I remember my daddy would carry me on his back, wade into a hole, and sit me on cypress logs so I could hunt...


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## deast1988 (Aug 20, 2014)

I can only imagine!

I shot 50 to 60 pheasants last fall with a rio high brass 2 3/4in 7.5 20ga and it absolutely hammered them all. Got them on sale at academy $4.99 a box. And I can promise it anchored them birds from 10 to 35yds every shot. I've convinced the few I run with a 20 with the right pattern is a hammer. So if y'all witnessed on ducks what I've seen on similar sized upland birds. It must've been magic!


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## Headsortails (Aug 20, 2014)

High Brass Peters #5 was our load. They would dump a duck at 45-50 yards in a heartbeat. $4.00 a box at Sears.


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## chase870 (Aug 20, 2014)

1 1/4oz 3inch mag Ted Williams loads in a 20ga would kill any bird around. still turkey hunt with a few that I have left


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## king killer delete (Aug 21, 2014)

I had a 20 gauge pump Ted williams that would kill a mallard and I killed 6 deer with it.


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## WOODSWIZE (Aug 21, 2014)

Shot lead for years before the ban. Pocket full of 2-3/4" #6 was all you needed. Not many cripples. At least when you bit down on a bird that may have a pellet of lead left, it would not hurt your teeth. Try chomping down on a steel shot -it will win.


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## injun joe (Aug 21, 2014)

Headsortails said:


> High Brass Peters #5 was our load. They would dump a duck at 45-50 yards in a heartbeat. $4.00 a box at Sears.



^This


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## emusmacker (Aug 21, 2014)

killer remembers when Moses hunted ducks.  He was the 1st duck commander Killer.


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## king killer delete (Aug 21, 2014)

emusmacker said:


> killer remembers when Moses hunted ducks.  He was the 1st duck commander Killer.



YEP I was shootin Teal in Kansas with lead shot and my 114.00 dollar 870 wingmaster I bought from J.C. Pennys in Manhattan Kansas, a month before you born in 1973. 1973 was the first duck season I had hunted in the United States since 1969. I was fighting a war from 69 to 72.


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## emusmacker (Aug 21, 2014)

Was that 1973 AD or BC?


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## king killer delete (Aug 21, 2014)

emusmacker said:


> Was that 1973 AD or BC?


what year were you born? AD or BC


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## bigkga69 (Aug 21, 2014)

Killer was shooting ducks before they had webbed feet...


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## Headsortails (Aug 21, 2014)

Some of us have been around a while . There used to be more kinds of ducks but we shot them when the flew in to the Ark.


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## king killer delete (Aug 21, 2014)

bigkga69 said:


> Killer was shooting ducks before they had webbed feet...



You are a primary source.


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## waddler (Aug 22, 2014)

Killed my first duck (Woody, or as we called them then "Summer Duck")in 1956 in the creek backwater of a small pond in S.Ga. Winchester 410 that I bought from Western Auto with money from working in the fields at $3 bucks/day. Peters was the best hard hitting shells I ever used, lead of course.

When the switch to steel came about, I was guiding customers on a lake for ringnecks and the difference was unbelievable. I spent more time out of the blind chasing crips than I did hunting. Finally had to clamp down hard on shooters to not take the birds until I called the shot. Some of them went along grudgingly because they wanted to shoot the distances they had been used to, and thot I was letting good opportunities pass. But then I was doing it 4 times a week and they were doing it twice a year.

Hate steel with a passion and still believe the extra cost for Bismuth is marketing rather than actual "cost". I could be wrong on that, but I still want to feel that way. My greatest Shotshell  desire is to be able to afford all the "Hevi-Shot" I need for the rest of my life.


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## GLS (Aug 24, 2014)

waddler said:


> When the switch to steel came about, I was guiding customers on a lake for ringnecks and the difference was unbelievable. I spent more time out of the blind chasing crips than I did hunting. Finally had to clamp down hard on shooters to not take the birds until I called the shot. Some of them went along grudgingly because they wanted to shoot the distances they had been used to, and thot I was letting good opportunities pass. But then I was doing it 4 times a week and they were doing it twice a year.


Martin, I hope you weren't one of those "Bam-Bam , take'em guys" guides.   Gil


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## Nicodemus (Aug 24, 2014)

waddler said:


> Killed my first duck (Woody, or as we called them then "Summer Duck")in 1956 in the creek backwater of a small pond in S.Ga. Winchester 410 that I bought from Western Auto with money from working in the fields at $3 bucks/day. Peters was the best hard hitting shells I ever used, lead of course.
> 
> When the switch to steel came about, I was guiding customers on a lake for ringnecks and the difference was unbelievable. I spent more time out of the blind chasing crips than I did hunting. Finally had to clamp down hard on shooters to not take the birds until I called the shot. Some of them went along grudgingly because they wanted to shoot the distances they had been used to, and thot I was letting good opportunities pass. But then I was doing it 4 times a week and they were doing it twice a year.
> 
> Hate steel with a passion and still believe the extra cost for Bismuth is marketing rather than actual "cost". I could be wrong on that, but I still want to feel that way. My greatest Shotshell  desire is to be able to afford all the "Hevi-Shot" I need for the rest of my life.





Shot my first duck, which was a summer duck, in 1960 on the homeplace beaver pond in Wheeler County. With a single barrel 12. I have no idea what type shot, but it weren`t steel. Some paper shell of some kind.


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## rhbama3 (Aug 24, 2014)

Growing up in the early 70's in central alabama, all we had were Wood ducks and the occasional teal. 12 gauge 2 3/4 with 7 1/2 shot thru an improved cylinder choke was good for anything that flew over.


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## 35 Whelen (Aug 24, 2014)

Used lead in Pennsylvania for years, moved to Georgia in 1974 and never went duck hunting again.


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## waddler (Aug 25, 2014)

GLS said:


> Martin, I hope you weren't one of those "Bam-Bam , take'em guys" guides.   Gil



I got accused of it a couple of times.



Actually, I batted "clean-up". I had a Browning 32 ", 3" Magnum that would kill crips on the water pretty good. Saved taking the boat out of the blind to chase.


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## waddler (Aug 25, 2014)

Nicodemus said:


> Shot my first duck, which was a summer duck, in 1960 on the homeplace beaver pond in Wheeler County. With a single barrel 12. I have no idea what type shot, but it weren`t steel. Some paper shell of some kind.



Was your pond anywhere around Alligator Creek?


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## MudDucker (Aug 25, 2014)

killer elite said:


> Reloads, Wichester AA once fired hull, Winchester AA red wad, CCI 209 primer, 29 grains of Hercules Blue dot magnum shot gun powder. 1 and 3/8  of cold chilled number 4 shot would kill a big duck at 50 yards all day long out of a Winchester Super X model 1, 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch auto shotgun with a 28 inch fixed modified choke. I have pass shot woodys at 60 yards and I did not have cripples. My dog was San Joaquin Annie who was out of the Great  1976 NFC/AFC San Joaquin Honcho who fathered 70 Field Champions, Annie was one of the first titled AKC and North American Retreiver Assc.  hunting dogs in South East Georgia.




Man, you stole my recipe!  First I reloaded 2 3/4" 16 gauge with blue dot and #5 shot.  It was a bad bad boy.

Later reloaded 2 3/4 and 3" 12 gauge with blue dot and up to 1 7/8th oz of #4 shot.  Had a 30" fixed full choke in my rem 1100 mag or a 28" mod barrel.  

Rarely had a crippled.  Either crushed or missed.  Back then, mostly crushed!


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## MudDucker (Aug 25, 2014)

killer elite said:


> The first duck commander. Grits Gresham



Meet him in Savannah and hunted with him down on the Altamaha.  Guide dropped us off on sandbar on the side of the river, told us to stay up against the little slew between the bar and the hill.  Threw out about 15 decoys.  We killed a few, but had a great time listening to his stories.


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## MudDucker (Aug 25, 2014)

killer elite said:


> what year were you born? AD or BC



Was he born or hatched?


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## MudDucker (Aug 25, 2014)

The federal lawyer on the case said the reason we got steel all over the country was because the case was filled in the looney California circuit and no state game agencies or manufactures cared enough to get involved.  He had tried to settle with only certain hotspots having to use steel, which would have been ok.  We the hunters need to push back on that, but manufacturers really like the rules now.


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## Nicodemus (Aug 25, 2014)

waddler said:


> Was your pond anywhere around Alligator Creek?



As the crow flies, maybe 6 miles away. You know any folks over in that part of the country?


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## king killer delete (Aug 25, 2014)

MudDucker said:


> The federal lawyer on the case said the reason we got steel all over the country was because the case was filled in the looney California circuit and no state game agencies or manufactures cared enough to get involved.  He had tried to settle with only certain hotspots having to use steel, which would have been ok.  We the hunters need to push back on that, but manufacturers really like the rules now.


 You are right. First the Anti Hunters tried to stop duck and goose season in California because the state had mandated that the state  California was  going to be a steel shot zone. They California hunters fought back and received a stay that laste a bout a year until all the sporting goods stores had enought time to stock steel shot. Back in the day we had steel shot zones where steel was required fo duck hunting. In Georgia the only steel shot zones were the national wild life refuges. Next the Antis sued because 9 bald eagles had died from eating criples that had been downed with lead. The  federal courts ( 9th Federal court of Appeals) ruled when no state game and Fish Depts showed up in favor of steel.


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## Felton (Sep 9, 2014)

How about these "All new plastic" shells in #6





Or these federal #5







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## king killer delete (Sep 10, 2014)

The number 5, 1 1/4 oz Federals are the real killers


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## Felton (Sep 11, 2014)

Yeah i just thought it was funny it says "all new plastic" and i think it cool to see the boxes dated 66 and 67


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## king killer delete (Sep 11, 2014)

I bought guns and shells at Gibsons discount


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## tradhunter98 (Sep 11, 2014)

My dad shot his when he was 9 or 10 he is 50 now but anyways it was a mallard drake with a bolt action .410 with some type of lead shell.

Reckon I'll never know the glory days of hunting with lead, and I still hate steel shot.


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## Swamperdog (Sep 17, 2014)

Shot lead at geese on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as a boy.  All around Chestertown, MD.  Mostly hunted in pits in cornfields next to the Chester River.  The ponds and sky were black with Geese and the sound was deafening.  I remember when we switched to steel and could see and hear the shot hit the bellies of the geese and watch them fly away to die somewhere on the river.

There was an old guy there who loaded his own shells called "Blue Magics"  While we wounded geese with steel, he could drop a goose out to 50 yards.  His third shot in the gun was always a blue magic.  I'm pretty sure it was #4 Buckshot.

My brother still has my father's Ithaca Mag 10 shotgun with a 36" full choke barrel.  I have his Browning A5 Magnum with 32" full choke and remember others shooting a Marlin Super Goose bolt action 10 gauge shotgun with a 36" barrel.  These big guns were for "sky busting" back when lead was still legal.


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## steveus (Sep 19, 2014)

I loaded Winchester AA with lead #5's for big North Dakota mallards, a load from Ballistic Products that they called the Hammer, and it was.  Nobody ever even thought of needing a 3" mag.


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## skeeter1 (Sep 23, 2014)

*lead*

I killed my first woodies with a 4-10 with 3" #4s.and then on to a 20Ga. with #4s.what I don't get.is that I can hunt my brakish salt water creeks and shot marsh hens and geese all day long with lead shot but can't shot ducks in the same creek with it gotta use steel.it dont save the environment from lead.that ain't what it's about.  but it does cripple a lot more. so why do we have to shot it cause it saves ducks lives. and I ! get that shooting steel at them reduces velocity.so thus help in more get a way .js..


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## Lukikus2 (Sep 23, 2014)

killer elite said:


> I bought guns and shells at Gibsons discount



Gibsons was the place back in the day. And if you had time to wait for the pony express, Herter's was the best mail order deal ever, for guns or ammo. 

I ran through cases of Peters paper shells until those new fangled plastics came out. Back then they were all medium or high brass and you could reload them at least once. Wanda came out with the see thru plastic that looked cool and performed well also. I still have a few boxes.

Either way back then you could shoot rabbit, squirrel and ducks with the same load and fold them all up no worries.


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## Larry Young Jr (Sep 23, 2014)

1100 with 2 3/4 #6 . If remember right $2.99 for 25. I would cut 2 yards to buy 5 boxes.  But also remember when I was 18 years old I could fill my car up with gas , buy a carton Cigs and 6 pack of beer for less than $25. The good old days.


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## Nitram4891 (Sep 25, 2014)

I remember a year or so ago at an openind day dove shoot in Eatonton some idiots int he field shooting at a group of 4 wood ducks that flew over us.  

I would have paid a few bucks to see a game warden hand out those tickets.


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## Nitram4891 (Sep 25, 2014)

I remember a year or so ago at an opening day dove shoot in Eatonton some idiots int he field shooting at a group of 4 wood ducks that flew over us.  

I would have paid a few bucks to see a game warden hand out those tickets.


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