What are y'all doing to your guns??
In flooded timber?
....... the short list would be stepping in stump holes, tripping and/or climbing over submerged logs, walking through (relatively) deep water, leaning against a 50 foot tall dead tree while standing in waist deep water and having that tree uproot from the bottom, fall over in an explosion of mud and water (and crapped pants), walking in varying depths of mud, and getting said mud in every possible place in and on a shotgun, equipment, and clothing. I've used and seen shotguns used (unloaded of course) to haul myself and/or extricate hunting partners out of mud in flooded timber, swamps, and flooded bottomland more times than I can remember. If you scout and hunt often enough, it's going to happen.
Flooded timber is great habitat for puddle ducks, but my experience is it can be one of the more challenging ecological niches to hunt. If the area is in a flood plain, creek bottom, or lower basin of a river bottom, it will typically have sediment dams on the lee side of trees, slack water islands containing deep mud, and areas with slow-to-no appreciable water flow heavily silted. Step in a submerged stump hole once occupied by a 200+ year old pecan or bottomland hardwood, you can easily find yourself in water and mud over your head. If it comes down to it, you WILL use your shotgun as a walking stick, lay across it to keep from sinking, or use it in some form or fashion that will fill it with water and mud. I've seen it and done it, numerous times, both while scouting new terrain and while hunting.
To answer your question regarding shotguns, I've hunted flooded timber and bottomland long enough to know what works for me. My first preference is an auto with a long recoil or inertia action such as the new/old A5, Vinci, SBE, M2, Stoeger M3000, etc. The caveat is I've had and have seen numerous issues over the years with mud and water getting into the action and causing problems in auto gas operated shotguns and to a lesser degree, auto inertia and rarely, pump shotguns. These problems in auto's were manifested by FTE, FTF, and/or sluggish performance where the bolt would cycle and eject the spent shotshell but not return to battery. If you're comfortable field stripping a shotgun to clean it if the need arises, stick with an auto.
Second choice would be a pump. Nova, SuperNova, BPS, 870, pick your poison.
Third choice (if there were no other options), sell my gas operated shotgun and get a good intertia action auto. Granted, some folks swear by a gas operated shotgun and that's fine and dandy if you're on an armchair hunt, sitting in a blind or duckboat, or hunt infrequently, but slogging through water and mud with a gas operated shotgun is asking for trouble. I've seen shotguns go tits up many, many times. All kinds, all manufacturers, at all price points. Mud and water being one of the primary causes.
...my $.02
