EP420 All About Shotguns & Shells for New Duck Hunters

Now, when we're talking about your first duck hunting shotgun, or maybe the first duck hunting shotgun that you buy...

There's a couple things you want to keep in mind.

All right.

What are your goals? What are your objectives? What is your budget? If you're talking about the very first gun you walk into the woods with, I'm going to give you my golden rule for duck hunting shotguns.

And really, this is pretty much my golden rule for all hunting shotguns, whatever it is that you're going to be going out with.

And probably it expands beyond shotguns.

into rifles for other kinds of game as well but it's maybe not exactly the same for rifles because there's just some other nuance there but when it comes to shotguns my golden rule is very simple i think the best shotgun for you to take into the woods on your first hunt is the one you already have can easily and legally borrow or could buy used cheap all right the one you already have or can easily and legally borrow or can buy used cheap I do not recommend you go out and spend a bunch of money on a shotgun before walking to the woods hunting ducks for the first time or any game for the first time.

And that rule is similar for rifles, except there has to be some qualification there because you can't use just any rifle for hunting every kind of game.

You've got to have, you know, at least enough potency or not too much potency depending on what you're going after.

That's somewhat true for shotguns, but almost any shotgun can do the job.

I wouldn't recommend you take a .410 out, but whether it's a 12-gauge, a 16-gauge, a 20-gauge, or even a 28-gauge, you could take that gun duck hunting, even a 10-gauge, of course.

You could take that gun into the woods.

And I don't recommend people go out and buy a new shotgun to start duck hunting because why would you buy a particular shotgun? Well, you would buy a shotgun because it complements your style, because it fits the way you hunt and the location that you hunt, and it provides things that are of meaning or value for you as a hunter and a shooter.

You don't know any of those things until you have been in the woods hunting ducks.

You don't know where you hunt, how you hunt, what you value, what you don't value, what complements your hunting style.

You don't have a hunting style yet.

You've got to get into the woods.

You've got to get some experience.

You've got to decide maybe if you even like this duck hunting thing and ever want to do it again.

That would be a good decision to make before you spend a bunch of money on a new gun.

I think that if you can get into the woods cheap, inexpensive, maybe with $0 tied up in a gun, that's going to be better for you.

Go out a couple times.

Even if all you have is the single shot break action 20 gauge that you inherited.

Or your grandfather's old bold action 12 gauge or whatever it is.

Not ideal tools, but still functional.