r/canadaguns • u/DryF1re • 27d ago
Buy recommendations Best Duck and Migratory Birds shotgun?
Would like to get into duck and migratory bird hunting.
I inherited a pump 2.75" 12-gauge but its pretty old and unwieldy (though the slamfire is fun). Wouldn't mind something a bit more modern and in 3".
What is your go-to waterfowl and goose hunting shotgun?
Is there a best bang-for-your-buck shotgun for ducks and migratory birds?
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u/airchinapilot 27d ago
You have a lot of decisions and factors:
Pump vs semi? Pump is reliable and less can go wrong with it. Semi will shoot faster but a pump in the hands of someone who is practiced with it is not dramatically slower. Myself I will not go back to a pump as I don't like taking my eye off the bird and I just am just used to my semis. But I began with a cheap SXP and killed lots of birds.
If Semi then gas vs inertia. Gas will have less recoil as it uses the gas to charge the next shell but it will be dirtier and need more cleaning. How much more cleaning depends on make and model.
Wood vs synthetic furniture: Synthetic will hold up better in the elements but wood is classic and looks good to some eyes.
Cost - up to you
Fitment - way more important than any bells and whistles. My most expensive duck gun - my Maxus 2 - I am putting on consignment not because it is inherently worse than the cheaper SX4 I am keeping but because at the end of the day I just didn't feel it. You have to like the way it shoulders, how it swings, the weight of it.
2.75 -> 3" -> 3.5" - Going up to 3.5" is really not important IMO unless you are regularly hammering big geese. a 3.5" shell will tenderize your shoulder after a day of it and at the end of the day you are paying for just a bit more extra power and extra BBs in the air. But hunting waterfowl has so many other factors involved to bring birds right down in your face that a skilled hunter with a 2.75 with the right load will put them down just fine. Another factor to think of is availability of ammo.
12g vs 20g - I have no opinion on this since I've never had a 20g but many people have no issues shooting the lighter load. There will just be some availability issues and you won't be able to share ammo with your blind buddies more than likely.
Black vs camo pattern - as long as your gun is not some marine coated chrome gun this is not really that important. My longtime hunting buddy has not moved on from his black gun in all our years together and he puts down birds easily. And if you are lucky to be regularly in a blind, you are hidden anyway until the moment you decide to shoot.