Choke tube selection for Kent Bismuth #5's 12 ga?

Elkhounds

New member
So my son and I are going on our first ever South Dakota hunt end of October. We have picked up some Kent Bismuth 12 ga. #5's in both 2.75" and 3". Neither of us has ever used Bismuth. We have used steel for ducks/geese and like the Prairie Storm for pheasants here in WI. Since we have to use non toxic we got the Bismuth. Should we be shooting the same chokes we have used for the Prairie Storm lead or go one size more open like for steel?

We will be burning up a box I am sure doing some patterning but would like to get an idea where to start.
 
I've shot & patterned a lot of bismuth. It tends to behave more like lead than steel. I agree that patterning it will give you the best info, since every gun/load/choke combination behaves differently. But in general, if you think your shots will be inside 30 yds, I'd go IC. If you think you'll have a fair number of 30+ yd shots, go MOD. I shoot a 16 gauge 99% of my pheasant hunting & most of it is shooting Kent Bismuth. In my gun, MOD is the most versatile. I never go IC. Once in a while I go FULL. Usually that's after a day of nothing but longer shots, if I think the next day will offer more of the same. Happens maybe 2 days a year. Good luck!
 
Thanks A5. Son has 2 Springers and one is only 1.5 years old. The other tends to want to chase the birds so our shots are sometimes farther than we would like. Coming from WI looks like we might be going right past you as we are staying in Mitchell. Have no idea where to go yet but hoping we can find some birds around on the public areas around there.

Without giving away any of your sweet spots do you have any suggestions for where we can look to get started. Right now we are thinking we will be losing the first of five days just trying to find an area. Hoping this could turn into an annual event.
 
Thanks A5. Son has 2 Springers and one is only 1.5 years old. The other tends to want to chase the birds so our shots are sometimes farther than we would like. Coming from WI looks like we might be going right past you as we are staying in Mitchell. Have no idea where to go yet but hoping we can find some birds around on the public areas around there.

Without giving away any of your sweet spots do you have any suggestions for where we can look to get started. Right now we are thinking we will be losing the first of five days just trying to find an area. Hoping this could turn into an annual event.

I don't typically get as far west as Mitchell, but there's some good stuff out that way. If you haven't looked already, here's a link to the public hunting atlas.
https://sdgfp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=946eccdaadf84df6aa2bcf08e9fb1aaf
The trick usually isn't finding public land used by birds. It's being there at the right time & hunting it the right way.
Try to find spots near harvested corn (preferably) or beans. That could be tough until late in the season this year too.
But....you'll have the right kind of dogs, if I do say so myself. Have a blast!
 
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