I do a great deal of upland hunting but it's been years since I did any waterfowling. I now have the time to spend out in the blind and am looking forward to "getting back into it". With that said, I picked up a beautiful Browning Gold 10 gauge not long ago at a great price. I have a number of friends that own 12ga. 3.5s and some seem to think that the 10ga is over kill. Lets see 2 ozs of shot -vs- 2 ozs of shot????? I hope to be dropping Canada's as well as ducks here in the great white north of Michigan.

Your insight?

Oh, one other thing.

It seems, again according to some friends. That wood and blue steel have no place in a waterfowl blind. I do understand the need for camo but I just don't think that the birds have gotten all that smart since the last time I was hunting them.

Again your insight?

these new generation ducks have cable and sattelite tv and they watch those outdoor channels so they can keep up with whats going on these days. so yes you should get a cammo gun because these ducks are on to us.

seriously ive just started duck hunting and ive killed 4 wood ducks and my gun isnt camo so i dont think it matters if your gun is camo or not

the camo on a gun is partially applied by the manufacturer to give it more "in store" appeal to the potential purchaser. it's also there to prevent corrosion.

30 years ago people harvested lots of ducks w/o any fancy camo.

The "TEN" is more costly to operate and way less versatile. It's overkill for decoying ducks. So is a 12 gauge 3 1/2" for that matter. It's good goose and turkey medicine. It's also fine for pass shooting ducks. I like the camo finishes myself. Black synthetic is also fine, I don't think waterfowl can tell the difference between the two! The gloss finishes can spook game sometimes. Just keep it down until you're ready to shoot and you'll be fine.
3" shells are enough for geese. I took a couple geese off Long Lake over by you this fall using 3" BBB's H.V. shells.

10's are great for pass shooting and for turkey hunting. If you are decoying geese and ducks a 3" is all you need. But you have got yourself a great gun. I have a gold 10 in shadow grass and it will do the number on them. If it's all you got, you got enough gun for any situation.

I have both a 12ga Remington 870 Express Magnum (3" chamber) and a 10ga Browning BPS (3.5" of course). I hunt ducks, geese, deer, turkey, small game and upland game with the 870 and it has never failed to get the job done. I thought the 10ga would be a pretty hefty step up for pass shooting on geese but from my experience it's not all that. Dead is dead afterall - with the 10 you can just reach out and touch them a little farther away (5-10 yards).

I shot 10s for years. I started hunting more salt marshes, and after about 2 years, my remingtron SP10 wasn't looking too good. By 10am it would be a rust bucket. Saw how the camo coating on my friend's Benelli held up to the salt, so bought one. The camo definately helps with rust. Goos protective coating.

As for the knockdown....even though you're shooting the same payloads, this is what I have seen. When I shot geese with the 10, they died. All last season I shot geese with the same payload and shot size, but 3.5" out of the benelli. I probably had to finish off half the geese I shot once they hit the groud. I switched back to the SP10 this year, and out of 30 geese, I may have had to shoot 3 finish off shots. In my mind, the 10 definately hit's harder....at all ranges.

IMO the difference between the 12 ga 3 1/2 and the 10 ga 3 1/2 is like the 20 ga 3 inch and the 12 ga 2 3/4. The larger ga shoots a slightly better pattern because the shot has a slightly bigger hole to come out of. This may not be true with all guns but with a majority of them. It boils down to how are your results and how well do you shoot the one you have. I have both and if I am going to be pass shooting or goose hunting I prefer the cleaner kills I get from my Browning gold 10.

Yeah, I would say that if it was me I would go with a 3.5 12 ga but There isn't anything wrong with the 10. They would both be an overkill for decoying ducks however. Just keep the gun you have. The biggest reason camo is on guns is to apeal to humans. Not that it doesn't help sometimes but it isn't that big of a deal.