That ammo executive was woefully out of touch with the "common man"... But that isn't much of a surprise. But what does surprise me is that, as an executive at a shotshell company, he was under the assumption that in a field like waterfowling, folks don't shoot many shells. That's just sad. Hopefully, his marketing team is a little more in touch.

As far as the Kent ammo, I swear it has a nearly religious following amongst the California waterfowlers. I haven't used it, but my waterfowling madness sort of wore off a few years back... now I might go two or three times a season, and I still haven't used up my case of Bismuth.

HOGBLOG...It has that religious following because of comparitive price of Kent's vs. the other name brands like Federals..Federals are always much higher. Gunners talk themselves into believing it is as good as other mfgers, and it well might be. Executives will come up with a selling pitch to sell the product, be it a car, or whatever the product is. Folks paying for high wage personnel are skilled at making a sales pitch. Try to sell insurance! The consumer pays a lot of money, and gets nothing to show for it, but a feeling of security.

I'll ditto idduckhunter. Faststeel is fine stuff but I don't find it to be any more productive than Winchester ... except for the price difference. I shoot a LOT of shells but nowhere near what that guide is knockind down. Wow! I have shot a little less than six boxes this year and probably brought home around thirty-five geese and six or seven ducks. And I thought I was shooting crappy!

Pattern over brand, every time! Case in point: I shot Faststeel with my old shotgun (Mossberg 500) and it patterned very well. I bought a Weatherby PA08 two years back and the Faststeel patterns were poor. I switched to Black Cloud as a result. Gun to gun, patterns can vary wildly. Cheap Winchesters patterned ok in both guns, so I use them sometimes.

I have never used Fasteel shot. When I hunt waterfowl (usually over dekes), I use my 10 guage BPS stalker and plain old Winchester Drylock steel shotshells. The Browning throws a gobstopper of shot with very little felt recoil (factory extended forcing cone and backbored) and it literally cartwheels the ducks when I do hit them. I shoot 2's or BB's and they're still only about $.90 to a buck apiece. I don't know what the velocity it but I do know that they pattern very tightly. Tightly enough that one better not get sloppy with one's lead.
I want to try the Fasteel, but I still have 3 boxes of the Winchester shotshells to use. Of course I suppose I could just go and buy a box of thwe Fasteel and try them out.

My hunting buddies and I shoot a bunch of different shotshells during waterfowl season, including Kent Fasteel, which seems to kill ducks and geese as well as any other steel for a few bucks less. I shop Winchester Xpert and Drylok after season sales due to the fact that we really shoot a lot. I also like Federal snow Goose BB loads at $20 a box. The Remington Hypesonic is pretty good too, but you need to be aware of your choke tube limitations with the heavier, faster shot loads.

Buckstopper -- we were in a cafe somewhere after the hunt when that conversation took place. We did stop at Mack's that trip early in the morning on that trip to pick up something we needed for the hunt. It was the old store downtown, not the giant new one which I have been to since.

Phil,
That was a good while ago, the original store was a hardware store downtown that sold shells to accomodate the locals. I heard tales of ducks freezing in flight and falling in downtown Stuttgart, supposedly back in the '40's. They grew the sporting goods over the years and moved out on the main highway. During the 90's someone thought it would be neat to do catalog sales and they morphed in to the superstore location a mile or so away about 10 yrs ago. They have sold me more than one shotgun over the years.

As a "budget hunter" I buy the Winchester and Remington non-toxic shotshells most often, but will snatch-up Kents when I find them on sale. I find them to pattern really well and have more confidence with them... I just go with the least expensive option most of the time. I have friends that have had problems with the Black Cloud shells not extracting all the time, so have steered clear of them.

As to that exec thinking that the overpriced "premium" non-toxic agrees with people's wallet? Well maybe he hasn't see what the economy has been up to over the last 3+ years. If you put out a decent spread in a good location, do just the right amount of calling, they get close enough that steel works just fine.

Want more bangs for your bucks, try RIO's. Not cheaper than dirt, but several dollars/bx less costly (<$0.50/3" 1 3/8ths #3 shot, 1300 fps) than any other steel shot that I am aware of. I can't reload steel for that price. 3's pattern well and drop ducks fine inside 40 yds. Out past 40 yds you better be lucky and/or shooting some manufacturers 'heavier-than-lead' shotshells.

"but a small percentage of the overall cost of hunting"
That doesn't fly. The consumer picks up a box of shells, and can gasp at the increased price. I get mad at the necessity of using steel in a high percentage of areas. I saw about 2-3 other dove hunters besides myself all season long. Why should I have to shoot inferior performing steel that wounds more birds than lead? And it isn't just doves.