20 Gauge Duck Hunting: Why This Caliber Dominates
20 Gauge Duck Hunting: Why This Caliber Dominates. Jim Ronquest from Drake Waterfowl explains why 20-gauge shotguns have replaced 12-gauge as his primary duck gun, and why steel shot loads are more than adequate { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://greyhive.com#organization", "name": "Greyhive", "url": "https://greyhive.com", "description": "Greyhive is a censorship-resistant video platform for the firearms, 2A, hunting, and outdoor industries — where creators build, review, and monetize unfiltered content.", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://greyhive.com/static/uploads/images/ae198483-01c9-44b4-a16a-03f516ceaf66.svg", "width": 512, "height": 512 }, "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/greyhive", "https://www.instagram.com/greyhive/", "https://www.youtube.com/@Greyhive", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/greyhive/" ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://greyhive.com#website", "url": "https://greyhive.com", "name": "Greyhive", "description": "Greyhive is a censorship-resistant video platform for the firearms, 2A, hunting, and outdoor industries — where creators build, review, and monetize unfiltered content.", "publisher": { "@id": "https://greyhive.com#organization" } }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://greyhive.com/c/retay_usa#person", "name": "Retay USA", "url": "https://greyhive.com/c/retay_usa", "description": "Retay USA is a Greyhive creator producing original 2A, firearms, hunting, and outdoor content.", "image": "https://greyhive.com/lazy-static/avatars/298610c3-5421-49c7-9d65-9badba139122.jpg" }, { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://greyhive.com/blog/20-gauge-duck-hunting-steel-shot#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://greyhive.com#website" }, "mainEntityOfPage": { "@id": "https://greyhive.com/blog/20-gauge-duck-hunting-steel-shot" }, "url": "https://greyhive.com/blog/20-gauge-duck-hunting-steel-shot", "headline": "20 Gauge Duck Hunting: Why This Caliber Dominates", "name": "20 Gauge Duck Hunting: Why This Caliber Dominates", "description": "Jim Ronquest from Drake Waterfowl explains why 20-gauge shotguns have replaced 12-gauge as his primary duck gun, and why steel shot loads are more than adequate", "articleSection": "Hunting", "articleBody": "20 gauge duck hunting is no longer a kid's gun or a novelty — for one of waterfowling's most recognizable voices, it's the default. Jim Ronquest, brand ambassador for Drake Waterfowl and the former producer of RNTV, told the Retay Nation Podcast that he now shoots a 20 gauge more than anything else in the blind, and that plain steel shot is plenty of gun for ducks. Ronquest isn't a convert looking for something trendy. He came up guiding out of the Stuttgart, Arkansas area — the duck capital of the world — and carried a 10 gauge commercially for years. He made the move to the 20 roughly eight to ten years ago, before tungsten shot reset everyone's expectations about small-bore performance. His reasoning is practical, not fashionable: the gun points better, it feels quieter, and the ducks don't know the difference. In Episode #26 of the Retay Nation Podcast — recorded from South Texas while Ronquest was filming a DUTV episode at Thunderbird Lodge outside Bay City — he laid out his exact load recipe, where he still reaches for a 12, and why he thinks the small-bore shift is permanent. He also talked heritage, the Drake and Retay outfitter tour, and a custom 20-gauge giveaway. Key Takeaways Jim Ronquest switched to a 20 gauge as his primary duck gun about 8–10 years ago, before the tungsten craze. His go-to load: 1 ounce of #3 or #4 plain steel shot out of a 3-inch 20 gauge — #2 works, but #3 and #4 give higher pellet density.…