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bluedavis

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Everything posted by bluedavis

  1. Making the noise is easy. But a lot of guys don't pay any attention to what the ducks are doing. There are times when the hen mallard greeting call will cause ducks to instantly spin around and come your way. And then there are times when that same call will scare 'em away. I carry three calls: an acrylic mallard call, an old wooden mallard call (softer and for days when #1 scares 'em, and a whistle for pintails and teal.
  2. I think the bore should be the least of your concerns. Take the whole thing apart - bolt and recoil spring - and then use some BreakFree CLP. These guns are incredible tools when they cleaned & oiled properly, but an expensive single-shot when not. BTW - the closest football team here is the Buffalo BIlls so I guess, as far as football is concerned, I may as well be in Ohio too. GO STEELERS!
  3. I hunt a state-owned marsh. It is a pretty good-sized piece of open water; I'd guess 80 acres with some cattails around the edge. We have a split season here (western NY) and this spot is usually frozen over by the late season. I would go out onto Lake Ontario but doing such a thing in my 10-foot jon boat is past my edge of sanity.
  4. No beer in the house, so I'm drinking wine tonight. For a snack I selected some mallard jerky that I made using the Hi-Mountain jerky mix that you can buy. This is something that you can make in the oven (when your wife isn't around) and I give it my highest recommendation. If you can't find it in your local sporting goods store, then check out their web site. I use it for venison too and am especially fond of the hickory and the mesquite flavors. http://www.himtnjerky.com/
  5. I wasn't too impressed and gave up on them. I'll be the first to admit that it could have been my shooting, but the ducks just didn't seem to fall the way they would with heavy-shot.
  6. Ducks are very good eating, at least the puddlers and vegetarian divers like redheads and cans. I don't like cooking and can't be bothered with fancy recipes, though I'm sure they're very good that way. I simply breast out the duck, put it in a ziplock with some italian salad dressing for 10-15 minutes, and then put it on the grill. The same rules apply for duck as for venison - don't cook it well done. I think ducks are wonderful this way. Geese are another story.
  7. I like the IC choke with a 3 1/2 inch load; BB's or #2's. If my shooting is getting good, then I'll switch to a modified with 3 inch heavishot #4's. I hate losing ducks.
  8. The winchester slugs work great for me, both the platinum and gold tips. I did have some penetration issues with the winchester plain sabots but the premium ones work great. I've stuck with 2 3/4 inch rounds and have heard/read that the higher velocity stuff can be unstable.
  9. I clean mine the same as my bird barrel - some solvent, a brush, and wipe clean. The sabots protect the barrel from the slug just as your shot cup would protect your bird barrel and so it doesn't get very dirty. And besides, you'll only be taking one shot. By the way, I use the same slugs and have found them to peform very well. Good luck!
  10. It completely depends on where you hunt. Often, puddlers can be hunted in a foot of water. But I agree with tucker301 - if you're into kneep deep water then go with chest waders. Even if the water is only knee deep you may find yourself crouching down and sitting it.
  11. When you jump to the 3.5 shell you can either increase the payload or the velocity. I'm starting to think that the increased velocity is the way to go. Even at 30 yards I see a difference in knockdown power between 3 and 3.5 shells. I don't like chasing ducks on the water.
  12. bluedavis

    sbe barrel

    don't forget about the forearm - you'll need a different one than for your bird barrel
  13. By the way - I've been using a modified choke with 3 inch #4's.
  14. The bad thing about using hevishot is that you only get one shot per duck. They just crumple and fall dead. You don't get that follow-up on the duck as it angles down and you don't get to chase them on the water. I found that it completely changes the hunting experience.
  15. I've been using 2 3/4 inch Winchester Sabots with good results.
  16. My SBE I has real tree camo. It has some scratches from being hit against snaps, buttons, and shells. The end of the barrel has become blackened and there are some places where the camo is chipped off (most notably around the receiver slot). I consider all of this to be normal wear and tear and have no complaints.
  17. It has been a very spotty season in western NY. My buddy and I limited twice but got skunked four times. If you just add the numbers (40-45 ducks for the two of us) then it was a pretty fair season. But the four skunkers were a surprise (and not a good one).
  18. I had a similar problem and found that oiling the ejector plate&spring was the key. I've heard plenty of horror stories about Rem oil and always use a good synthetic that is intended for automatics. I've had no jams this year, using big or small loads. And I tend to mix brands in my pocket and not care.
  19. I do. Rifles aren't allowed in my area (western NY)
  20. Maybe I'm stuck in a rut, but I always marinate duck breasts in a bit of Italian dressing and then put them on the grill until they're medium rare. I think they're better than chocolate. Teal are wonderful fare. The only problem I ever have with teal is that you need 2 or 3 of them per person.
  21. My advice is to find something that sounds different than what you've got. I've got a new acrylic double-reed call that the ducks were ignoring. Then I pulled out a 30-yr old wooden thing that my Dad had, and the ducks started paying attention. I think sometimes the ducks just get used to too much of the same thing and start getting shy.
  22. bluedavis

    cycling question

    If it happens alot, then you might have to send it back (mine was like that at first). Then I had random jams every 5-10 shots with various loads and sometimes I could shoot two boxes with no problem. With the advice of some folk on this board, I am now very careful to keep the ejector spring/plate oiled. For my SBE, it seems to be the critical oiling point. I'm about 2 boxes into this season without a jam. I would have shot more, but the switch to hevi shot seems to make me need fewer shells.
  23. I bought the (rifled) slug barrel for my SBE1 and it works wonderfully. I've found it to be very accurate. My shots are all less than 50 yards so I've stayed with the open sights. I do have two forarms though.
  24. bluedavis

    Camouflage

    When I bought my SBE I made sure that it was camo. I didn't really care about the pattern and would have been happy with a solid green. I wanted the teflon coating to protect against rust. Mind you, I do clean my gun and take care of it. But I've had blued shotguns show rust before I got home. That teflon coating was worth the extra cost to me.
  25. None of the factory full chokes, from any manufacturer, are suitable for steel. I'm not sure of the whole reason, but this is why you shouldn't shoot steel through old guns with fixed full-choke barrels. The high-priced after-market full-choke tubes for steel are specially designed, and are not the same as the factory tubes. My dad had his old Browning back-bored to accomodate steel loads, back when we first started using them. If you get an expert on line, they'll talk about length of the forcing cone and back pressure....
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