Tupelo swamp hunt

[hawglips]

Used 7/8 oz 8-1/2s in 20 and 28 this year pass and jump shooting wood ducks. Probably better off staying around 10s and 9s...

[paulinkansas]

8 1/2's? Isn't that the steel equivalent of BBB?

[Dave in AZ]

yeah, about the same as BBB from the calcs.

Hal, why did you think the 10s and 9s though? I'm still always asking folks shooting them for wound lethality opinions on 7 thru 11 TSS... Just still worried those wee pinholes from 11s won't do as well as 9s. I bought some of the 10s you had on sale last month, but haven't shot any, so trying to decide my strategy for it, 1/2oz 410 loads or salting steel loads for 28ga etc.

Thanks! Also, great looking hunt! I've never shot a wood duck out here in AZ.

[hawglips]

yeah, about the same as BBB from the calcs.

Hal, why did you think the 10s and 9s though? I'm still always asking folks shooting them for wound lethality opinions on 7 thru 11 TSS... Just still worried those wee pinholes from 11s won't do as well as 9s. I bought some of the 10s you had on sale last month, but haven't shot any, so trying to decide my strategy for it, 1/2oz 410 loads or salting steel loads for 28ga etc.

Thanks! Also, great looking hunt! I've never shot a wood duck out here in AZ.

The ducks on this hunt are all woodies, and they are passing and jump shooting shots. Lots of dipping and diving low altitude shots through the trees at hyper-speeds. 9s and 10s give more pellets and don't pattern as tight as larger sizes. I've killed a bunch of woodies with 9s and 9-1/2s, and a handful with 10s, but tried the 8-1/2s this time. I don't think I will use shot that large on this hunt again. In fact, I came away thinking about ideas for a spreader load, as light skeet and cylinder is really too tight for the early pass shooting part of the hunt at least.

[Dave in AZ]

Thx!

[bullet225ho]

I think for wingshooting in the 410 the 10TSS is the way to go. I will swear by the 4/8tss, 1/8steel duplex in the 410. Steel gets shot opening up. 266 TSS pellets with 1.5" gel penentration at 47yds...I'm good with that. I think the big thing is shoot the 410 just like you would a 12ga. I'm sure anyone that shoots skeet has realized this. Shoot all of them the same.

The 10's do open up a bit better than the 8 1/2 that I've seen and this works well in the 410. I loaded up some turkey loads last spring for the 410 with 10tss and they weren't as tight as I'd like at 40. Plenty there to kill a bird for sure, but I'm seeing much tighter patterns on line with straight TSS with 9s in the 410. Now...I don't have an extended super full choke for the 410 so I was just using factory full.

In my experience the pin hole long flyer bird are birds that I shot at over 40yds or probably would have just "missed" in the past. When I have a flyer that glides off and then dies in mid air....they have 1 or 2 holes in the body cavity that hit vitals....could the pattern have went through the wings and missed the head/neck area...maybe...but I'd be more on a very outer fringe of pattern hit.

95% of birds that I've shot with 8.5 tss or 10s last couple of years were dish rag dead when they hit the water.

[Dave in AZ]

good info, thx!