2007 Summaries of Wildlife Research Findings - Minnesota State ...

Section 2: Shotgun and Shot Preferences and Use
Study participants were asked to indicate what gauge of shotgun they used most often to hunt for different
types of game, how many boxes of shells they typically used in a season to hunt different types of game,
and what type of shot they used most often.
Shotgun Gauge Used for Hunting Small Game
Respondents reported using 12-gauge shotguns most often to hunt the seven different types of small game
hunted (Tables 2-1 to 2-7). Respondents also frequently reported using .410 and 20-gauge shotguns.
There were no significant differences in shotgun use between metro and non-metro respondents
Shot Used for Small-Game Hunting
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Survey recipients were asked if they always, mostly, occasionally, or never used lead shot for hunting
small game (Table 2-8). Over one-third of respondents (37.9%) always used lead. Nearly one-fourth
(28.8%) mostly used lead and 19.8% occasionally used lead. Less than one in five (13.6%) never used
lead. Similarly, the majority of respondents reported using lead (compared to steel, bismuth or other) shot
most often when targeting specific types of small game (Tables 2-9 to 2-15). In general respondents
reported using less than one box of shot per season for hunting each type of small game (Tables 2-16 to 2-
22). The majority of respondents reported that they bought loaded shotgun shells (94.1%) (Table 2-23).
On average, respondents had 10 boxes of loaded shotgun shells on hand (Table 2-24). There was only one
significant difference in shot use between metro and non-metro respondents—a smaller proportion of
metro respondents who hunted dove reported using lead shot (46.2%) compared to lead shot use by nonmetro
respondents (82.4%) (Table 2-13).