Gentleman- I have seen countless posts for years about chokes, shells, wounded birds etc

It's not the shells, guns, choke fault for misses- it's because you are not on the bird

Actually, if u shoot any winged animal at proper distance w proper lead- they will fall STONE DEAD- period

Work on your gun mount/ fundamentals- shooting is like golf- can't expect to go out and shoot a high percentage unless you shoot A LOT- repetition
That's my 2 cents.

Everyone have a great season- hopefully the BWT show up in numbers- we typically have good numbers after a full moon phase-

Good luck to all!!

Amen brother.

Most hunters (including myself) do not lead the bird enough and do not swing the gun.
Imagine the swinging the gun like you would pass a car on the highway at 60 mph.

You can still kill a dove with nr 9 lead at 40 yards if you follow these rules.
You dont need 3 or 3 1/2 inch 1700 fps loads at 30-50 yard ducks. It will make it worse.
You will start short leading the bird and when you switch to 1200 fps load 2 3/4 you will miss a bunch.

Back in the days they shot 1000 fps loads or less in paper and 24 gram, and had no problems (even if it was lead)

Nowadays some hunters think it takes a canon and 2000 fps loads to kill a duck, you are not shooting at Dumbo.

My favorite cheap and quality load last season was a $99 case of 2 3/4 kent nr 4. Shot lots of ducks, teal and decoying geese with it. If i was sponsored though, i would take 2 3/4 heavyshot nr 4 all day.

Yes, we don't miss them over leading very often- that's for sure.

I posted this because I was smacking the dove opening weekend- doubles, left to right- except when they were zeroing in at 15-20 yards coming in strait at me-

Yes, I was lifting my darn head......crazy

We were breaking 50 yard crossers on the masters course at fossil with 8 ft of lead.

Thats the proof of your writing.

When they zero in at 15 yards with lets say a modified choke (and even IC) your spread is soo narrow and you will end up shooting above the dove. A skeet choke will be ideal for straight at you birds.

I am convinced that we will have a gun within 5 years that will adjust the chokes from skeet to full with the press of some buttons or even voice activated. Im on the phone with apple right now.

When they went left to right while swinging the gun, your spread is 2-3 times wider with a slow load (900 fps) and only 1.5 times wider with a 1700 fps steel hypersonic duck load for instance.

Also, It makes it harder with a pump, cause you loose sight and have to re-adjust. You also loose sight with kicking loads for your second shot. Thats why i prefer 2 3/4 non kicking loads for ducks on my second shot.

Well, you are also a good shot.

Always shoot IM or full at dove- South America style.

What I notice guiding is clay shooters shoot in front of ducks and the a few times a year guys shoot behind them. I'm always telling clay guys to shorten lead and the twice a year guys to lead them. A bird will tell you where your shot is. If bird pulls it's head back your leading to much, if it throws it's tail up you are behind it. A old pro showed me that 20 years ago

Plus clay shooters shoot at a perfect upright stand and knowing a clay will fly since they call the shot.
I might have to bring my layout blind at the stand next time we have a 30 mph northwind, fully dressed in camo and thick gloves, calls in my mouth, iphone lost in the blind somewhere, fogged up glasses in the rain and tell the instructor to randomly push the button 6 times from 6:30 am till 8 am. I ll bet i ll miss 50% of them

Yeah but a proper choke and load will also better your chances. Sure being a great shot helps but if you're shooting a skeet choke with #7 lead and trying to hit birds at 35-40 yards it's not the best combo for even the best shooter.

Some folks don't know much about all the chokes and shoot load combos. So they ask questions. And in fact a few people have learned and figured a few things out from it. Not to mention the people that just lurk and never post that are assisted from just reading.

I never miss, Chuck Norris is my gun.......

Right.... I laugh every time I see a $20 box of shotgun shells...

^this

It looks really smart to be the only guy to double back through the tailwater pit where 8 people just walked practically elbow to elbow. Sure enough, wily rooster pheasant gets up, and you're the only hunter...easy straight away shot...black it out...can't get safety off because of your gloves!!

Shooting clays is a step in the right direction. I wasted a ton of money on quail leases and dogs before I ever bothered to learn how to shoot a shotgun. I don't do clays much anymore, but I shoot 3-4 times a year and average 21-23 on skeet or trap. Took a good deal of professional counseling (instruction) to get there too. I've had several lessons over the years at Dallas Gun Club and Elm Fork. Funny how none of this seems to matter when shooting birds, and what's different - in addition to all above - is gun mount. Go shoot your skeet, trap, or sporting clays course with an unmounted gun and see how it goes. To this day I'm still just OK on birds, and that's on a good day. On a bad day I can be as bad as anyone.

Beaversnipe, I have some porn for you that you're gonna love. Send me a PM with your email or cell # so I can show it to you. I'd post the pics but my photo bucket is acting weird

Top shooters don't really see the lead. Match speed of target and blow it up. Your brain after shooting thousands of targets/ birds remembers sight picture. It's hard to trust it all the time- but your head- if U have shot a lot- is typically right

It's like "what type of sight or bead" is on your shotgun. I couldn't tell u if all my guns even have a sight/ bead on them. If u are staring at your sight- you are missing birds

Anytime someone thinks they are a good wing shooter, go to Kansas for late season prairie chicken hunting. I have literally lead them a couple truck lengths and hit them. Ruffed grouse in dense cover, pass shooting teal and prairie chicken pass shooting are the pinnacle to me when it comes to wing shooting. Chukar on the hillsides are a close second.

Woodcock in thickets are quite a task, no room to swing, erratic flying and have to try to time them hitting small openings.

That's how I always shoot clay. Funny I have tried shooting clay with my gun mounted, and I shot worse. I can focus and lock on the bird with my eyes better with my gun down, once my eyes are focused on bird everything slows down, then I mount my gun and pull the trigger when the gun hits my face. Good mount is key. Trying to focus on the bird with the barrel in front of me is a distraction. And if I ever think about lead I'm sure to miss.

And I'm not good at long shots, I don't even try, 45 yards max. I shoot IC all the time.

Oh no...you're being an arse

I have seen my grandpa shoot some dove at around 60 or further with his ole long tom 12 ga , if you dont know what a long tom your missing out lol.

What you've got to understand is that most guys only pick up a shotgun once a year, opening day.
You can't shoot once a year (or do anything else) and expect to be good at it.

Practice a lot. Go to the range. Join a skeet league.
Learn to put the shot where the target is going to be.........dead bird.

but its the size of a chicken...

And many have never take'n lesson and don't shoot correctly, like shooting with one eye closed like a rifle. If this is the case, practice will not help much. When you are young you can get away with bad habits like this, but once you get older and your eye focus slows down, your shooting will go down the tubes and you will find you are unable to hit anything. That's what happen to me about 6 years ago. I was an ok shot up until then, then all of a sudden (about the time I needed bifocals), I could not hit crap. At about 48 years old, I had to learn how to shoot correctly (with both eyes open). I could not hit anything at the time, station 4 forget it, first lesson my instructor had me hitting everything. I was amazed. That's why I tell people if you never had a lesson from a pro, go get one, it will be the best money you ever spent.