Standard steel loads are far from ideal in weapons bored for 2 3/4-inch shells. As we have seen, the recommended shot size (two sizes larger than comparable lead loads) produces a pattern with significantly fewer pellets, and most ducks, even mallards, are small enough that even a well-placed shot may hit the bird with only two or three pellets. If you are "winging" a lot of birds -- they glide off on long downward trajectories -- or that show definite signs of impact but never fall, this is probably happening to you.

The other way to increase a shell's energy is to make it heavier. At the same time ammunition companies were marketing faster shells, they were also investing considerable resources in developing better-performing, non-toxic alternatives to steel. The goal was to create a pellet that was heavier than steel but small enough to allow more shot to be packed in each shell, as had been the case with lead. Bismuth was the first widely available, non-toxic; it is slightly less dense than lead but about 25 percent heavier than steel. It was followed by Kent's Tungsten Matrix and Federal's Tungsten Iron, both of which have comparable density to lead. Remington's Heavi-Shot is the most recent entry into the field; it is actually 10 percent heavier than lead and 50 percent heavier than steel.

Although these heavy loads can be as effective on geese at a distance, especially when high velocity charges are employed, they really shine for waterfowlers who shoot birds at close range. All of these shells let you drop down in pellet size, and that instantly results in more shot in the air. Most experts advise that Bismuth performs best one size smaller than steel, while Tungsten Matrix and Tungsten Iron can be shot even-up with lead. Remington claims that its Heavi-Shot can be shot three sizes smaller than steel; in other words, size 5 instead of 2s for ducks.

Tungsten Iron and Heavi-Shot are chambered for 3-inch or larger chambers, and they shouldn't be fired in older weapons. But Bismuth and Tungsten Matrix shot are soft enough for old barrels, and they are available in a wide range of 2 3/4-inch loads. For hunters like me who prefer older guns, these shells are a godsend.

THE RIGHT SHELL FOR YOU
Most waterfowlers enjoy traveling to new locations and hunting unfamiliar birds. But we also usually have a regular place to hunt and it most likely offers three or four species that we regularly hunt in the same way and at approximately the same distance. The trick to improving your shooting, then, is to marry the shells you use with the type of shots you make and the gun you carry.

The information above should help a duck or goose hunter get started on the process of selecting the appropriate shell. But serious waterfowlers can fine-tune the process by examining each of the ammunition company's literature and by testing different shells in the field.

Finally, I think the late Erwin Bauer wrote the final words for any discussion on shotgun shells 40 years ago in his The Duck Hunter's Bible: "There is considerable evidence that the shell or load is far more important than the shotgun used in hunting waterfowl ... it is every sportsman's moral obligation to use a heavy enough load and then not to use it until the birds are absolutely within killing range."