Do you switch chokes?

[Tbyrnzy82]

The group of guys that I have hunted with for years have never switch out their chokes. All have either a patternmaster, kick's high flyers, or just a full. This is for dove, duck and goose! I didn't know if this was a common practice or just a whiskey tango anomaly.

[Colorado Luckydog]

For waterfowl rarely, I just leave in modified. For dove, trurkey and uplandbirds, yes.

[huntnteen]

i leave in Imprvd Cylnder for duck/goose,i dont switch it out tellturkey season

[BigOrangeBowHntr]

I usually leave the same choke in until turkey season then change to xtra full then back to imp. cylinder.

[johnch]

Both chokes and guns

Depending on how the birds are decoying and where I am hunting
I will go from a Skeet ( over bore dia.) to a IM , many times in the course of the AM
If I am hunting pheasants I will switch guns if I am not hunting them with steel

Many times I will have 2 shotguns in the blind
1 set up for decoying ducks , the other for geese or pass shooting

I normaly carry 4 choke tubes Skeet , IC , LM and Mod some times I also will carry IM

IMO you are hurting yourself limmiting yourself to 1 choke

John

[Colorado Luckydog]

You're not hurting yourself as long as you have set your standards for decoyed birds only. I will not pass shoot and neither will anyone with me or they won't be invited back. I don't care if other people pass shoot, I totally understand, I used to do the same thing. I just don't do it anymore. About the only bird I would consider pass shooting would be a snow, and we don't even do that. I just don't like to clean birds enough to pass shoot. If they are not totally fooled and landing in our dekes, they get a free pass!

[GordonGekko]

I shoot light mod for everything, except dove and sporting claysand then I shoot IC/light mod. cause I shoot my stackbarrel.... most folks would be fine with light mod or less choke....

honestly, switching chokes may be one of the most overrated parts of shotgunning...the change from IC to Mod isn't nearly as great as folks think (gives you roughly the same pattern 5 yards more distant)....

Colorado Luckydog you bring up a good point, if the gear is down you really don't demand a lot of your gun/shotshell.... I am not a fan of pass shooting, but I will take a long shot on abird hightailing it away from the blind after his buddies have met their demise

[Ned S]

I use the IC for ducks and Mod for geese in my 935. To get 3rd shot tighter patterns I just go to a bigger pellet and with geese more pellets also. Ned S who reloads fast, fast, sizzzzzzzzzzzlin steel.

[SwampCollie]

Its all situation dependant.

Because I hunt swamps and tidal timber a lot, my set ups will depend entirely on the wind. Lots of these tidal marsh creeks are fairly tight, and sometimes it can be 30 yards from the woodline to the water where the decoys will be placed. In other situations, it might only be 15 and somestimes we will use layout blinds and have the ducks almost light on top of us. I always have a Skeet, IC and Mod with me in the blind bag. About 65% of my wingshooting is done with an IC.

The only time I really change out is when I am a guest somewhere. There are times when I'll be diver hunting on the sound or bay and we will have shots at passing divers that are routinely 40-50 yards, and its very difficult to judge distance over open water. Thats when the Mod comes out. If we have a goose set up where the geese are decoying a bit out in the spread, then thats where the mod shines as well.

I use the Skeet mostly for super tight duck spots and dove hunting over decoys.

[blackduckmafia]

my sbeII gets the modified all year, never change it. My dove,quail,snipe gun is an over an under 20, keep a modified on the bottom and a improved on top.