When I was a kid, my grandpa gave me so many great ideas and tricks when it came to duck hunting. I still see them posted by other senior hunters. But the one I have remembered forever comes from the fact we all misjudge distance. When putting out decoys they are the perfect marker for distance. Many of us who do not hunt the same spot know it's a tool to remember. I keep chokes on me for this reason since those distances change.
I see folks hunting with shotguns and ammo that are what they have on hand and not what is favorable. I'm not a rich man but I buy gear that will give me the advantage of leaving with birds, and it's crazy how many of those skyblasters I see at boat ramps at the coast have Maverick 88's and 2 3/4 lead loads. But the last time I was there with friends we had a pretty big group of college age guys shooting mostly old short shotguns...what they could round up for the group and they were shooting Bismuth at probably $60 a box and they said they ran out!

schmellba99 said:

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Micropterus said:

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" Things like bag limits, 13" rule, shell capacity limits, etc are designed to ensure we dont mismanage through over harvesting, wounding but not recovering, etc. the game species."

Please explain how another two in the pipe is mismanagement through over-harvesting.

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Because 90% of the time or more tvose otger two in the pipe are going to be used on game that is out of range and it results in wounded game that is not recovered.

I think it was ursus that either found a study years back or did the study when he was a biologist on dove hunting and tge ranges most often guessed or shot at by hunters. Most of the guesses or shots on distance were woefully bad - hunters that swore birds were st 20 yards werr shooting st birds st 50-60 yards.

The point is that most bird hunters arent great or are flat out terrible st estimating ranges, and that leads to bad shots and wounded game that ends up dying as a result.

There is also the fact that a lot of bird hunters lime to shoot - a lot. A large contingent arent going to go out, load 10 rounds in their extended mag auto scatterguns and be happy with limiting out in 2 volleys in 8 minutes.

Like it or not, history shows that when there arent rules and regs, people in general will hunt animals into near extinction given the opportunity to do so.

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With steel shot, yes, I agree it can produce more cripples. However, with better shell technology that can be brought to a minimum. I just dont buy that shots 4&5 would cause that many cripples, given that the law was passed in the 30's when the only option was lead, which we're all familiar with its advantages over steel in terms of density and knock down

If I could 6 shoot ducks in 10 shots in 8 minutes, thats a glorious day in my book. I did something close to that once in the valley back in the mid 90's. I think the limit was 5 that year and i got it in 6 shots within 30 minutes.

As for hunting them to extinction, thats the whole purpose of a daily bag limit, regardless of shell capacity.

O also think with today's available data and conservation dollars, the plug thing is probably unnecessary any longer.

Besides that, if you cheap bastages would just pony up and get that double, you no longer have to worry about the plug.

O/U or double sucks in most tight quarters duck blinds.

I have a full camo dipped O/U for certain setups. And it works well. But not in a cramped blind.

I am pretty sure Turk would site his own Grandmother a citation. He pulled out in front of me a few weeks ago and changed lanes without a blinker. Thought about flashing him down and reminding him the law is the law.

Yardbird said:

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I am pretty sure Turk would site his own Grandmother a citation. He pulled out in front of me a few weeks ago and changed lanes without a blinker. Thought about flashing him down and reminding him the law is the law.

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You should have!

Aggieranger said:

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My .02, I have been duck hunting for approximately 45 years, for 10 of those years hunted 50-60 days of a season and bagged 1,000s of Ducks and Geese. I go hunting to enjoy the outdoors, for the harvest of animals to provide protein for my family and friends and the challenge of "tricking" ducks into thinking that my decoy set are real ducks by calling and set up for an ethical harvest.

The ability to harvest, 4-5 of the 6 ducks allowed in the daily bag limit, in one volley is not why I got out of a warm bed at, sometimes, 2;30am to be in the cold. It's an experience to be enjoyed not rush to see how fast I can get my daily bag limit and get back in bed or to the restaurant for breakfast.

To say that your "Rights" are being infringed on by not allowing you to hunt ducks with as many shells as your gun will hold at one time is ridiculous. Hunting is a privilege not a Right, try and enjoy it as such.

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Ditto

Even if gun could hold 15 shells.....law could be only 3 just the same. The plug law is for those that would.

Surprised some of these folks are not arguing that they should not have to have a license on top of the no plug because they would only be hunting for 5 minutes they are so good. Good grief.

96 and AgEng have already made my exact counterpoints to your post, so I dont have re-address that. Look, if you want to go out there and birdwatch with a single barrel 410, go right ahead. But your argument is based solely on the fact that because you like to go about it one way, everyone else should do it that way as well. That logic is akin to arguing the use of modern centerfire rifles instead of bows is unfair because rifles make it possible to shoot an animal at 250 yards. Look, I love to hunt and the draw of the early morning sun coming through the trees, the sounds of cupped wings, the smell of gunpowder, the camaraderie, all of it. But make no mistake, I'm showing up to kill stuff and kill em as quick as I can. As Phil Robertson said, "when it gets to this point, it aint about conservation, it's about killing". If that aint your jam, thats fine. You hunt how you want to, I'll hunt how I want to. Which, for now, is no more than three shells in the shotgun because thats what the law says. But I can still question why.

John Cocktolstoy said:

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Surprised some of these folks are not arguing that they should not have to have a license on top of the no plug because they would only be hunting for 5 minutes they are so good. Good grief.

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Yeah, no one is advocating nor making that argument.

Micropterus said:

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John Cocktolstoy said:

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Surprised some of these folks are not arguing that they should not have to have a license on top of the no plug because they would only be hunting for 5 minutes they are so good. Good grief.

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Yeah, no one is advocating nor making that argument.

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Only because I've been on my best behavior.

Immediate medical is required if the birds are crippled. Head to the nearest vet.