Hunting Recent Posts
Categories
Recent Comments
Archives
Hunting |
December 14, 2012
Waterfowl Hunting: What You Need to Know About Steel Shot - 3
by Tom Roster
Nontoxic shot has been required for waterfowl hunting since 1992. And more states are mandating its use in select areas for upland bird hunting—even for doves on some state lands. During the past two decades, despite a plethora of nontoxic-shot types coming to the market—steel, bismuth, and tungsten composites—bird hunters have taken primarily to shooting steel shot. Steel currently makes up nearly 90 percent of all nontoxic shotshell sales. While numerous denser-than-steel tungsten-composite pellet loads have come on the scene, offering ballistic superiority over steel shot, their price point (generally two to three times higher than equivalent steel loads) has kept most wingshooters from embracing them. Because of material cost and low sales, most U.S. shotshell manufacturers are dropping tungsten-composite pellet loads from their lines. That means steel shot will likely remain king long into the future. Nevertheless, most hunters still don’t like it. Just as they were two decades ago, they remain vulnerable to misinformation and prejudicial comments against steel shot, which inhibits shooters’ performance. Dense Patterns Beyond 50 yards, 12-gram/cc tungsten-composite pellet loads are far superior to steel. Specialized close-range steel loads are now available. They feature cube-shaped (Winchester’s Blind Side) or beer-barrel-shaped (Federal’s Black Cloud FS Steel Close Range) pellets to facilitate pattern dispersal. These are not long-range loads and will increase wounding losses if used beyond 35 yards. Do not buy into the misinformation that when shooting steel shot, you need huge pellets to get the job done. Loads containing overly large pellets develop very thin patterns and increase wounding losses. For all duck species and pheasants, the science tells us the biggest pellet needed is a No. 2 steel or No. 4 tungsten composite; for all goose species, nothing bigger than a No. T steel or No. BB tungsten composite is needed. Because steel and tungsten-composite pellet loads are harder to hit with than lead loads (largely because of their less-forgiving shorter shot string), hunters need to practice on clay targets more than ever. That practice must be done with nontoxic loads, not lead. Shoot light loads going 1,300 to 1,400 fps to replicate the performance of your nontoxic hunting load. |
Visit Our Sister Sites at Bonnier Corporation
|
Outdoorlife.com is part of the Field & Stream Network, a division of Bonnier Corporation.
Copyright © 2013 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Comments (3)
I think the point here is that they want to phase out hunting of any kind. The laws aren't supposed to make sense. They are supposed to gradually stop people from hunting by making it so expensive and difficult that most people either cannot afford it or just lose interest and quit.
I have never understood the blanket non-toxic shot requirement for all waterfowl hunting, anywhere. The way it stands now, you can go field hunting for geese in a picked corn field, and you would have to use steel or some other non-toxic shot. But then after you're done goose hunting, you could go try to kick up a pheasant along the edge of that very same corn field, and wouldn't have to use non-toxic shot. That's just dumb, no matter how you look at it.
Tungsten- great way to turn a $25 dove shoot into a $125 dove shoot.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)
I have never understood the blanket non-toxic shot requirement for all waterfowl hunting, anywhere. The way it stands now, you can go field hunting for geese in a picked corn field, and you would have to use steel or some other non-toxic shot. But then after you're done goose hunting, you could go try to kick up a pheasant along the edge of that very same corn field, and wouldn't have to use non-toxic shot. That's just dumb, no matter how you look at it.
Tungsten- great way to turn a $25 dove shoot into a $125 dove shoot.
I think the point here is that they want to phase out hunting of any kind. The laws aren't supposed to make sense. They are supposed to gradually stop people from hunting by making it so expensive and difficult that most people either cannot afford it or just lose interest and quit.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)