How good is 2 3/4" 12 guage?

I agree with others the 2 3/4 shells are all you need for ducks over decoys.  IMO only a skyblaster would suggest that the 3 or 3 1/2 inch is needed.

The measure of the shotshell (and the hunter) is how many ducks do you get from a box of shells.  I figure about 12-15 with my 870 using 2 3/4 inch steel shot.  Some time a wounded diving/swimming duck is hard to finish on the water before it gets to the cattails.

#4 for steel (I liked #6 in the lead shot days).

I find that most of my friends kids (under 23) buy and shoot many of the most expensive 3 1/2 inch shells available.  My thought is that more spent means more security.  When My son and nephew were starting duck hunting, they had 20 guage Mossberg.  We were in a blind on lake Erie and lots of goldeneyes were flying.  For about 1 hour the kids shot there limits and added a few dumb mallards.  The fellow in the next blind came over and asked if we were using 10 guage guns.  He had gotten only a single (maybe slowed down by the boys.  He could not believe the shooting from 20 guage (cheap shells from Walmart too).  I told him the boys were shooting those same 20 guages at trap and skeet about 100 rounds a week for the last 6 months.

BEAR

It is far better to practice in clays than trying to learn in the field.  In duck hunting when you miss you seldom know why?

Some thoughts.  Skeet and trap are great learning things.  But not really like ducks.  If you get another guy to throw some clays to you "incoming".  It is very different in the way you lead a bird quartering toward you.  Get a buddy over a bank (safety) and have him throw high angle birds toward you.

Good luck NH, ducks are great fun and they taste delicious (puddle ducks) not divers.

NH, How about 1 3/4? Assuming you are exagerrating a bit. RD

http://aguilaammo.com/minishells.htm     

Being able to "use" your shotgun properly and have it do what you want it to do will happen only after you PRACTICE  with enough and with different size pellets to get to "know" what id does. This isn't really that different from being a good rifle shot on deer or other game. The # of shot in the bird and the amount of shocking effect they have is what counts. Do you need a lot of pellets to do that [3" and 3.5" in 12 and 10] or can you achieve the necessary effect with a fewer amount. The shocking power from a 20 gage #6 pellet can easily be as great as a #6 pellet from a 3" or 3.5" shell.

Practice and shot placement....good advise. But having the opportunity to spend time with an experienced shooter is worth everything it costs to get to that point. You don't need to reinvent proper shooting techniques and you don't really know just what your bad habits are. This is where an  experienced partner standing by comes in handy. A simple comment like: " keep your cheek to the stock" can make a profound improvement in your hit-to-miss ratio. I would venture to guess that a good shooter with 23/4" shells will bag more warwerfowl than a mediocore shooter with a 10 gage mag. Making up with meat where you lack in experience only works in welding.

I'm going astray now with a FWIT.

NH... Opening day of deer season was last Saturday, which got rained out about 10:00 AM here. As I was headed home, a flock of geese landed in the field in front of my brothers home in Nobleboro. I was considering the effort to go after them in the pounding rain when my brother said to me "many men have tried to get to them in the field and no one has got one yet. Well!......that got my inner ego juices flowing. I went home and got into my "fall foliage leaf" suit I made with artificial maple leaves purchased at Walmart. People fall down laughing at me standing in the road but ducks and geese are not frightened by it. I took a "read' on the land and used a rise to sneak close to the flock. When I stood up I was 40' - 50' from the main bunch. They raised their heads straight up and froze for 15 - 20 seconds trying to figure out what they were looking at. When I raised me shotgun to my shoulder [Win Model 12, FC, 3" #F shot] they took off. Three shots and three geese down with one #T killing shot needed. Two of them fell and never moved and the killing shot was at ~50 yards.

I do a lot of sneak shooting and I have found, for me, that I get a better kill ratio with steel BBs than with #4s or #2s. I DO GET IN CLOSE AND PICK MY SHOOTING OPPORTUNITIES.

In a snowstorm those surplus Norwegian snow camo suits from Sportsman's Guide catalog that sell for $14.97 work excellently for getting up close to late season ducks and geese.

I apologize for getting off track and subverting your post....but just maybe it was worth it?

If all I had was  a  2 3/4 12 guage it would be fine for me.  Nothing lacking with it.

BEAR