Early morning Arkansas flooded timber – the gloom of twilight blossoms slowly into a steel-gray, cloud-covered sunrise. Three chilled, sleep-deprived hunters wait in waist-deep water and watch for the sound of whistling wings and the shadows of mallards sweeping over the oaks.

We're hunting deep within the crown jewel of Arkansas' public waterfowl ground, 38,000-acre Bayou Meto. At Bayou Meto, each hunter is limited to 15 rounds of ammunition. While taking a mallard limit shouldn't take all 15 rounds, experienced hunters know misses happen in the close-encounter atmosphere of green-timber duck hunting. Also, chasing down swimming cripples through the densely packed trees is both a good way to run out of ammunition and a miserable task, so most green-timber duck hunters demand the hardest-hitting, best-quality shells possible.

Nearing legal shooting time, I reach into my well-used Cabela's shooting bag for three shells. On an Arkansas timber hunt, wet guns and ammo are practically guaranteed. This hunt would be no exception, as I fish out shells from a waterlogged side pocket. In my hand are three mean-looking, gold-hulled, 3-1/2" Hevi-Shot Duck Loads. On this morning's hunt, I'm hoping to prove the validity of manufacturer Environmetal's claims of steel-surpassing patterning and long-range-lethal pellet energy.

A few minutes before sunrise, commanding hen greetings from our Rich-N-Tones convince a group of around 15 mallards to pitch into our timber hole. Unaware of their fatal decision, the first drake comfortably splashes down into the decoy-lined opening in front of us. In speechless agreement to a finished group of "lit" ducks, our trio's nearly unified shotgun blasts echo eerily across the water and bounce among the oaks. I instinctively shoulder my BPS and swat a hovering drake a few feet about the decoys. Another greenhead captures my attention as it weaves through the timber – the shot string catches and pummels it at 30 yards. A third drake tries to gain altitude straight up through the top of the 60-ft. oak I'm standing beside. I send a 1-3/8-oz. load of No. 4's up into the tree canopy, trying to pick out a small hole for duck and shot to meet. With a bit of luck and Hevi-Shot's unstoppable, tree-limb-crushing shot pattern, the greenhead crumples in a shower of branches and bark. It splashes with a stone-dead "plop" a few feet in front of me.

I'm elated with Hevi-Shot Duck's performance and reliability. On this late-January hunt, it went through a gauntlet of wet, frigid-cold conditions without a misfire. The smooth 3-1/2" hulls cycled fluidly for quick second and third shots through my sometimes-finicky BPS. Most importantly, Hevi-Shot's dense patterning (through a Patternmaster® Long-Range choke tube, in this case) and high velocities are the right recipe for cleanly folding both first-shot-close and third-shot-fleeing ducks.

Click this link to purchase Hevi-Shot® Duck Shells.