How to Choose Your First Duck Hunting Shotgun

How to Choose Your First Duck Hunting Shotgun

The shotgun has proven to be the most successful firearm for harvesting waterfowl.  Since the early days of duck hunters with punt guns to today’s semi-automatic options, shotguns continue to be the duck hunter’s go to.  Part of becoming a duck hunter is purchasing or receiving your first duck hunting shotgun.  For those of us lucky enough to have fathers who were or are as passionate at chasing waterfowl as us, we received our first shotguns from them.  Others who find duck hunting later in life have decisions to make on what gun to use.  The criteria behind which shotgun to choose include budget, capabilities (style), and feel.

Browning A5

After taking hunter safety when I was ten years old, my father gave me my first shotgun.  We found a used Remington 1100 semi-automatic shotgun.  I th

ought it was so cool to have a semi-auto for my first gun. Dad had a Remington 870 pump action that I could have used, but he knew how much I would cherish having my own. For those that know my father he likes to wheel and deal, trading in guns, boats, or whatever he has for the next thing.  Because of that, I didn’t have my Remington 1100 for very long.  Over the course of the next few years I would go through a Stoger over and under and a Benelli Super Nova before settling in on our family’s chosen shotgun of choice.  My father has always had an affection for the Browning A5, which was the first semi-automatic shotgun to hit the market.  At this point we own multiples of each gauge of Browning A5’s that have been offered.

As I stated earlier, there are some criteria for those that are in the position to purchase their own shotguns.  Later in life when I had the budget to afford my own and because I had the desire to shoot a larger shell, I went shopping for new shotguns. I of course had to stick to our family brand of Browning.  They have always felt best to me and my father.  I wanted a shotgun that would be rugged enough to handle hunting out of my skiff and the beating that takes.  This meant that I was looking for ones coated in Dura-Touch to protect the shotgun.  I also wanted my new shotgun to shoot 3 ½ inch shells because I wanted to put as much shot on target as possible.  I had seen too many Bluebills take a hit and not go down.  In the end I chose the Browning Maxus because of the gas operation. Shooting 3 ½ shells out of the new Browning A5 did not sound like the fun I was looking to have.  The A5 is a recoil operated action which doesn’t provide the same level of kick reduction as a gas operated shotgun.

Browning Maxus

My budget allowed me to look at duck hunting shotguns in the $1500 plus range, I wanted the capability to shoot 3 ½ inch shells through a semi-automatic shotgun, and I knew I wanted to shoot a Browning because of tradition and feel.  For any new duck hunter, these are the three criteria I would look through when out purchasing your first shotgun.  It doesn’t have to be a $2000 purchase, the Remington 870 is still a classic, dependable shotgun for well under $1000, but if you have the budget, get what you want, what fits, and what will handle what you want it to.  In the end your duck hunting shotgun is an investment that will hopefully last long enough to be a family heirloom.

What do you shoot?