Waterfowl

[Doug3006]

And Redfish in the afternoon!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Nice Redfish

 

[crackerman]

It’s so nice to hunt over dogs. They are bred for it and live for it. Watching them watch the birds, shaking with excitement, knowing what’s coming.

Yes, but you don't mention the downsides of hunting with dogs.

That look of utter disgust an upland dog gives you when you miss like, "I did my job buddy"

or the soul crushing guilt when the duck retriever is vibrating to be let loose after the shot when you've missed and the dog look at you "why can't I go, I WANT THEM!!!"

 

[Hunt anything]

Yes, but you don't mention the downsides of hunting with dogs.

That look of utter disgust an upland dog gives you when you miss like, "I did my job buddy"

or the soul crushing guilt when the duck retriever is vibrating to be let loose after the shot when you've missed and the dog look at you "why can't I go, I WANT THEM!!!"

Yep, I had a Chesapeake that would growl at you if you missed. He was a typical Chessie, possessive of his truck, his boat and his birds. Outside of the boat or truck he was a big sweetheart.

 

[264]

Few from Australia-
Cape Barron geese



Black ducks, Stutzen, wirehair

magpie geese

 

[Hunt anything]

@264 , beautiful!

 

[Rubberhead]

I told dad when I was 14 that all I wanted to do was kill ducks. Now, 47 years later, I still wait too many thought cycles worrying about how to kill the next duck. In 2012, I decided that instead of "limit hunting", I'd start trying to kill new species hunting solo and in my home state of South Carolina. Right now, I've killed 26 species of duck, and 4 goose species in SC. The Cackling geese were killed in NoDak and the tundra swans in North Carolina.

 

[Daryl S]

Good to see you, Mic, and Stutzen. Nice bag.

 

[Tintin]

Nice work Mick.

Sounds like you all had a ball.

@Marrakai and I did ok on the Magpie Geese at Harrison in November.

 

[Daryl S]

Say, have any of you blokes tried the shot sizes in 4 through 8's in tungsten? The guys on a black powder forum are using #9 tungsten on turkeys and getting penetration through the breasts as well as heads and necks. Such small shot, yet penetration on those birds better than #4 or #6 lead. The ranges are close as in out to 30yards, but - the penetration is super even though the muzzle vel. rarely runs over 1,000fps.

 

[DLSJR]

Say, have any of you blokes tried the shot sizes in 4 through 8's in tungsten? The guys on a black powder forum are using #9 tungsten on turkeys and getting penetration through the breasts as well as heads and necks. Such small shot, yet penetration on those birds better than #4 or #6 lead. The ranges are close as in out to 30yards, but - the penetration is super even though the muzzle vel. rarely runs over 1,000fps.

We’ve shot 9’s & 10’s TSS on both ducks & Canada Geese. It’s simply devastating. Goes clear through 13 pound Canadians.

 

[Mekaniks]

Say, have any of you blokes tried the shot sizes in 4 through 8's in tungsten? The guys on a black powder forum are using #9 tungsten on turkeys and getting penetration through the breasts as well as heads and necks. Such small shot, yet penetration on those birds better than #4 or #6 lead. The ranges are close as in out to 30yards, but - the penetration is super even though the muzzle vel. rarely runs over 1,000fps.

Here is a thread on TSS

Thread 'TSS ammo...is it worth it?'

Jan 9, 2022

Like many, I hunt all kinds of birds with my shotguns. Up until recently I've been using lead or copper coated lead for everything except waterfowling. Since 1991 waterfowling has required nontoxic shot and for a long time this has meant steel. Steel being less dense than lead required the hunters to go up two shot sizes to get the punch needed on waterfowl vs what they were using before. This forced the shotgun manufacturers & ammo companies to come up with 3.5" shells so they could pack enough payload of (steel) shot to get the humane kills on waterfowl. Now they have developed a new TSS...

• BeeMaa
• Replies: 248
• Forum: Shotguns

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[BeeMaa]

Say, have any of you blokes tried the shot sizes in 4 through 8's in tungsten? The guys on a black powder forum are using #9 tungsten on turkeys and getting penetration through the breasts as well as heads and necks. Such small shot, yet penetration on those birds better than #4 or #6 lead. The ranges are close as in out to 30yards, but - the penetration is super even though the muzzle vel. rarely runs over 1,000fps.

I've been on the TSS train for a while now. Yes I pay more per shot, but I've found that there aren't as many cripples and I shoot fewer shells total...and still come home with more birds. I use Winchester Last Call #7 for goose and Federal Heavyweight #7 for turkey. I have yet to find a pellet that hasn't passed through and I've taken shots out to 70 yards on geese. If I were hunting ducks, I'd step down to #9 shot. For reference, here is a quick video of me taking a goose at 40 yards.

 

[BeeMaa]

And this is what TSS can do to a goose on the water at 20 yards. For reference, I shoot a SBE3 with a Carlson's Federal Black Cloud (FULL) choke when hunting goose.

 

[Rubberhead]

So, @BeeMaa what are the specifics on the TSS load you're using?

I see them anywhere from 1 ounce to 2 1/2 ounces - from $8/shell to $15/shell. I've been looking for a TSS load to use when I'm chasing the next species on my list but just can't justify to myself the expense knowing that I'm not and never have been a good wingshot.

I usually shoot 3" Kent Bismuth with good results. Looking forward to your thoughts on this.

 

[BeeMaa]

@Rubberhead

For goose...Winchester Last Call TSS18 12ga, 3", 1.25oz, 1500fps, #7 (pure TSS, not a blend). I've found this at Roger's Sporting Goods for $600 a case (100) shells, but they are out now. Least expensive I've seen so far is starting at $660 and going up from there. A year ago they were $480 a case.

Turkey...Federal Premium Heavyweight TSS 12ga, 3.5", 2.25oz, 1200fps, #7...again, pure TSS. I bought this many years ago and stocked up when it was about $25/box of 5. Just guessing, but I believe I have about 100 shells of this in an ammo can. The going rate is around $50-60/box of 5 now.

TSS is not magic. If you miss, it's no different than missing with another shell other than the price you paid for it. I've invested a lot of time at the skeet/5-stand/sporting clays range to make sure my skills are up to snuff. What this translates to is more (non-crippled) dead birds per shot when I hit the field. My friend and I are getting pretty good at head shots when they are flying that prevents any bloodshot meat.

It's all about the density of the material being shot. The reason TSS is so good is because it's more dense, allowing for smaller shot to be used and smaller shot also means more pellets in the shell. I could go on for hours, but @Mekaniks put the link to my opinionated view on TSS in post #52. If you want to talk, send me a PM and we can exchange info.

FYI - TSS and bismuth are in short supply because China has stopped importing it. Prices are reflecting this supply and demand market. Manufacturers are going with alternate materials like copper, Boss is one of these and I'm sure others will be following.

Hopefully a more reliable source of TSS and bismuth can be found, but until then I'll have to dig into the reserves to take down birds.

 

[Daryl S]

That stuff is amazing(ly) expensive. I stopped shooting waterfowl & sold my duck and goose guns & deeks when the ban came out. That was a long time ago. I did buy a box of 3 1/2" #2 steel a long tome ago after getting an 835 Mossy, but have not fired a single one. The 24" rifled barrel is on that and have never fired a "shot" shell out of it.

 

[BeeMaa]

That stuff is amazing(ly) expensive. I stopped shooting waterfowl & sold my duck and goose guns & deeks when the ban came out. That was a long time ago. I did buy a box of 3 1/2" #2 steel a long tome ago after getting an 835 Mossy, but have not fired a single one. The 24" rifled barrel is on that and have never fired a "shot" shell out of it.

It would not be advisable to shoot anything other than sabot slugs out of a rifled shotgun barrel. Using rifled shotgun slugs will fill the rifling with lead within a few shots, making your rifled barrel essentially a smoothbore. Ask me how I know. You will be in for a long day of cleaning the barrel to regain the accuracy you would expect.

If you were to use normal shotgun loads in a rifled barrel, it will spread out the pattern exponentially as distance increases. You would be lucky to get 25% pellet count hit in a 30" circle at 40 yards. The centrifugal force applied to the shell by the rifling spins the wad and it's contents. Once it exits the barrel, the wad releases the now spinning load. This creates a magnificent pattern if you were hunting ducks at 20 yards, beyond that it would be difficult.

I would highly recommend using sabot slugs in a rifled barrel for hunting whitetail and other similar sized game and using a smooth bore for rifled slugs and normal shotgun loads not designed for rifled barrels. Midwest Gun Works has a good selection of barrels for less than $300.

Quick question for you @Daryl S - Did you mean that you stopped waterfowl hunting in 1991 because they banned lead in 1991?

 

[DLSJR]

Perhaps this anecdotal information on TSS will be helpful. Last year I was talking with Bryce Hensley, the owner of Foxtrot Ammo. I wanted to get some 2 3/4” TSS loads to test out on a hyena in Zimbabwe. Bryce suggested a 1 1/4 oz load of 2’s at 1,200 fps. I asked if he thought that would be sufficient and he replied that he’d shot a 180-200 lb. Pig a week earlier, broadside at a measured 52 yards. He said 41 pellets hit the pig and 38 exited. He said the 3 pellets that didn’t exit were found under the skin, after going through the scapula.

A couple buddies have shot more than 60 turkeys with 9&10 TSS in their 410’s, as well as the honkers & mallards I mentioned above. In my experience with them, nothing kills birds of any size the way TSS does.

I don’t think worrying about TSS performance on birds should concern anyone. Still waiting on a chance to shoot a hyena with it.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Maybe they should have named TSS. “Neutrinos”