What’s The Best Kind of Choke for Duck Hunting?

Blog
22 Dec, 2021
Posted By: Patrick Long

When I first started duck hunting I remember one of the most confusing things to figure out is what choke tube I needed to buy. I had always used an improved cylinder and I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t hit the birds nearly as far away as my buddies could!

For new duck hunters shooting birds up to 30 yards, an Improved Cylinder is the best option. However, for an experienced shotgunner who is looking to hit birds in excess of 40 yards, a Full Choke will cover the distance and maintain a tight shot pattern.

Let’s take a look at the different choke options for duck hunting so you can get the right one for you, and limit out on your next day on the water. Quick disclaimer: Make sure whatever choke you select is compatible with steel shot. Steel shot is used when waterfowl hunting and is much harder of a choke tube than lead shot.

Cylinder (No Choke)

Generally speaking, a cylinder bore shotgun(one with no choke) won’t work for duck hunting. The shot pattern, while very wide, has an extremely short lethal range. A Cylinder bore has many uses including home defense, deer hunting(with a rifled slug), and some trap shooting. Unless you can guarantee the ducks are going to be within 20 yards, I would not recommend duck hunting without a choke. The shot pattern will open up far too close and you will end up wounding more ducks than you harvest.

Improved Cylinder

An Improved Cylinder Choke is what I recommend all new duck hunters start with, especially if they aren’t the most experienced shotgun shooter. The Improved Cylinder will be the most forgiving of the choke tubes offering a 40-inch spread at 30 yards. Beyond 30 you rapidly start losing lethality for an average-sized duck, because the shot pattern opens up too much. Because of that, it’s important to know how far the bird is before you pull the trigger, it could be the difference between a dead duck and a wounded one that gets away.

Modified Choke

A great middle ground between Improved and Full, the Modified is a solid choice for the intermediate shotgunner who is looking for a step up in range from their Improved Cylinder. The Modified Choke has a 40-inch spread at 35 yards. Which is what is considered the maximum lethal range of this choke.

The Modified Choke is a great general purpose choke as it is commonly used for applications other than just duck hunting such as squirrel, rabbit, and upland bird. If you’re looking for a “Jack of all Trades” shotgun choke, or are buying a shotgun with a fixed choke and want the most bang for your buck, I would suggest looking into a Modified Choke.

Full Choke

Okay, so you’re a seasoned shotgunner and have been duck hunting with an Improved or Modified for a while now and you know you can hit ducks further away. The full choke will be the best option for you. With a 40 inch spread at 40 yards, it’s generally considered the tightest choke used by most duck hunters. It is lethal up to 45 yards depending on shot placement and can send an impenetrable wall of steel at any duck within that range. However, your margin for error with a Full Choke is considerably smaller than an Improved. At 30 yards when the Improved Cylinder pattern is at 40 inches, the full has only opened to 26. This means you’ll need to be far more accurate or you will miss a lot of birds.

Full Chokes have other uses as well such as Goose, Fox(with Buckshot) and some hunters even use it for Turkey!

Other Options to Consider

Skeet Choke

A Skeet Choke is tighter than a Cylinder Bore but wider than an Improved Cylinder. I still believe this is too wide of a pattern for effective duck hunting in most circumstances

Light Modified

A Light Modified Choke is between an Improved Cylinder and a Modified Choke, this could be a good option for someone who wants the openness of the Improved, but needs an extra 3 or 4 yards because of their setup.

Improved Modified

Slightly tighter than a Modified Choke, an Improved Modified Choke is a solid option for someone who needs a little more range than a Modified will allow but isn’t ready or has no need for a Full Choke.

Light Full

A slightly wider option compared to the Full Choke, it will be a little more forgiving while hurting the lethal range a bit.

Extra Full

Is the full not enough range for your set up? Extra Full could be your solution. It will give roughly another 5-8 yards of lethal range to your shot at the cost of an even tighter group than a Full Choke

Turkey Choke

As the name suggests, a Turkey Choke is made for putting a lot of shot in an extremely tight group to shoot a strutting tom in the head. I would not recommend this for duck hunting at all

In Conclusion

Picking the right choke tube for your duck hunt comes down to two main factors. How far are you shooting and how good of a shot are you? If you’re shooting ducks that are close or you need some practice hitting a moving bird then an Improved Cylinder is going to be the most forgiving because it will give you a wider shot pattern. If your birds are further away and you are a seasoned shotgun shooter, a Full Choke would offer the best results.

This is because the full choke is fairly tight and will keep the shot pattern small and that means that your lethal range is increased. If you’re somewhere in the middle of these, a Modified Choke could be your best option. You’ll have a longer lethal range than an Improved Cylinder, but a wider shot pattern than a Full Choke, the trade-off to that is that you have a smaller shot pattern than an Improved but not near the range of a Full. The Modified Choke can be viewed as the “Jack of all Trades, Master of None” but a good middle ground for intermediate waterfowl hunters who want a step up from their Improved Cylinder.

Foundry Outdoors is your trusted home for buying archery, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, and outdoor gear online.

We offer cheap ammo and bulk ammo deals on the most popular ammo calibers. We have a variety of deals on Rifle Ammo, Handgun Ammo, Shotgun Ammo & Rimfire Ammo, as well as ammo for target practice, plinking, hunting, or shooting competitions. Our website lists special deals on 9mm Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 45-70 Ammo, 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, 300 Blackout Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 5.56 Ammo, Underwood Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo and more special deals on bulk ammo.