What size 12g steel shot for foxes?

DiRTY DOG

DiRTY DOG

Well-known member
What size 12g steel shot for foxes in the brush? Lead free is required now (CA) and tungsten type loads are too expensive for high volume shooting. Foxes are pretty frail so steel should work same as big ducks or geese, right?

Having never hunted waterfowl, what 12g steel load and chokes would you recommend? I figure BB, 1 or 2 shot would work out to 35 yards which is honestly about as far as I normally shoot anyways.

For reference, I've killed a bunch of foxes with 3-inch 2 shot which hammers them DRT out past 40 yards. I liked the high pellet count over the wide spread of #4buck or BB shot. Foxes are pretty small afterall. But I can't use lead anymore.


What about Black Cloud type loads, or Heavy Metal? Or should I just stick with regular cheep steel shot? Must be a commonly available load from Sportsman's Warehouse or similar.
 
I duck and goose hunt a lot and usually run out of my lead fox loads and end up using some waterfowl loads at some point in the season. I've shot them with hevi metal bb,2,and 3 shot. Never had a problem with any but the bb seemed to really end it quick. If I had the money I would shoot hevi shot dead coyote t shot. I don't think that's lead but it's costly
 
I have shot a few big alberta coyotes with cheep winchester bb and it seems to kill em DRT as long as he is not too far. From experiencing what it does to waterfowl i would use black cloud that stuff tears sh÷% up! It wrecks meat harder than lead does. In something like a fox i would use 2s or even 3s if you find em.
 
Most of the guys on Duck Hunting Chat Forum that know quite a bit about steel shot loads think that Black Cloud, Hevi-Metal and Blind Side loads are just gimmick loads. They cost more but don't work any better than the cheaper Winchester, Federal, Kent and Remington steel shot loads.

EMI that makes Hevi-Metal says the shot in Hevi-Metal that is not steel shot is Hevi-Shot but it isn't Hevi-Shot, it is Hevi-Metal shot that is not as dense as lead. If Hevi-Metal had half Hevi-Shot in it the Hevi-Metal shells would be selling for about $55.00 or more per box.

I ran some different loads in my KPY Shotshell Ballistic Calculator and it looks like steel BB shot maybe the way to go for foxes with steel shot.

With the KPY Calculator they say you need 1.50" of gel penetration for ducks and 2.50" of gel penetration for geese. So I put in 2.10" of gel penetration for the loads I entered.

Lead #2 shot at 1200 fps gets 2.10" of gel penetration at 62.7 yards. 166 pellets per 1-7/8 oz load.

Steel #2 shot at 1450 fps gets 2.10" of gel penetration at 28.1 yards. 154 pellets per 1-1/4 oz load.

Steel BB shot at 1450 fps gets 2.10" of gel penetration at 49.9 yards. 89 pellets per 1-1/4 oz load.

Steel BBB shot at 1450 fps gets 2.10" of gel penetration at 57.8 yards. 76 pellets per 1-1/4 oz load.

For foxes I think I would try the steel BB shot over the steel BBB shot because the BB shot has 13 more pellets per shell.

A modified or Imp/Mod choke may be tight enough for steel shot at 35 to 40 yards.
 
BB shot knocks the slop out of geese. Penetrating them and their feathers is a tall order. I'd not feel undergunned with some B or BB shot. I like Nitro-Steel or Hevi-Steel loads.

Now this is only waterfowl experience, not fox.
 
Just use plain steel 2 or BB.As others said the new fangled stuff is a marketing scheme.My 835 patterns very well with Fed's Game Shok.
 
I shoot the same load on fox as I do on ducks, black cloud 3 and 4 shot. I prefer the 4 shot and would recommend something that patterns poorly as fox are not even a smidge of a challenge to call and you'll likely shoot most of them at 10 ft if you don't bust them with a rifle in the first 10 minutes they hang around.

I know you know this based on the picture above.

If this is about fur damage and you are going to strictly use a shotgun then I find that a plain old mod patterns better than needed with this load.

If you don't care about the fur my coyote load really seems to hammer them. Plain old varmint express #4 buck with a mod as well.
 
Not around here. Foxes are easier to call than coyotes, but our foxes live in the brush and NEVER hang around or come back to the call. They are skittish and usually leave just as quick as the come. Plus we must use only hand calls for foxes, no electronic calls allowed.

I've seen videos of grey foxes just as dumb as can be, but we have to work for ours.
 
I'd like to come out there, wherever there is. I enjoy hunting fox just always feel guilty about it because they're so easy to call here.

If it was a challenge it would be my favorite.
 
I ran a test with hevi metal in Bali stick gel and it tended to penetrate further than Kent steel. It very well may not be much different than regular steel but it does pattern the best for me.

BE CAREFUL with steel shot in tight tubes. The tightest you can go with steel is a modified stock choke unless the choke states otherwise. I have heard many guys that say it's fine to shoot through a full choke but eventually most of them have come back to me over the years with barrels that look like elmer fudd got hold of them.
 
Pattern some Black Cloud BBB, if you want tight you will not get a tighter pattern, bb is good to, but bbb has plenty for taking fox at any range you are going to use a shotgun for, it's the wad, it's not a gimmick, it works.
 
Originally Posted By: dennydPattern some Black Cloud BBB, if you want tight you will not get a tighter pattern, bb is good to, but bbb has plenty for taking fox at any range you are going to use a shotgun for, it's the wad, it's not a gimmick, it works. What choke you use with that?
 
I patterened three brands of 3" BB today, Winchester, Federal, Kent. Used a Carlson's Modified and Kick's High Flier Full choke.

Patterns at 40 yards were inconsistent with all three loads and both chokes. Some patterns were great, some not good, it seemed to vary shot to shot. Didn't give me much confidence...
 
Unfortunately that how steel shot is most of the time. And you should see how little penetration you can get. I don't shoot steel over about 25-30 yards for that reason. I did find a deal on some tungsten a while back I think it was old Kent stuff. I bought 4 boxes for $5 each at an outdoor store near me. Those are long gone but I would look for a deal on something like that if the 30 yard shots are not common
 
I'm in the same boat. I have a Kicks high flyer extra full that throws OK patterns with steel BB and T's but 40yds is going to be max. 20-30yds and critters are in trouble...
 
Back
Top