Les,
The last few years I've gone to SD in late Dec. I generally take 3 shotguns. An SKB 12 M/F, a Rem 11-48 16 ga mod. and one of my 16 ga doubles that have more open chokes.
I generally use #5 shot for about all my shooting, and it works great! I suppose that the distances encountered are a mix of fairly close 20 yds out to 40-45, which is about the limit I'll take a shot.
There are three of us that go, so we utilize a variety of techniques on the terrain we're hunting, but if I were solo, it would be more difficult to corner the birds at this time of year, due to their wildness.
