Increasing Pattern Density - What would you do?

[Ravenanme]

Tom Knapp did put on a demonstration with a shotgun that was totally pattern control , he could make a Golf ball curve to the right or left !
Shooting Fed clay target loads through , what he said was a open choke , he would use the edge of his pattern (right or left) to hit the ball .
Tom really liked his cocktails so after his exhibition at our club , I invited him to the ranches golf course's bar and lounge . There I asked if
there was a trick shooting those golf balls , his reply was , shoot at them before the pellets started to disperse into a wider pattern ! That made
since , not throwing them very far and shooting while the pellets just left the shot cup or wad ! What a Great Story teller he was and after
his THIRD cocktail he became one of the best Joke tellers of , all time !
I was fortunate to be paying the tab !

 

[Billy Bob]

Could body shoot them with a .22lr when theyre hanging in front….

Yeah sure. Go see how many straight away trap targets from station 3 you can beak with a 22 and report back.

Did I say straight away? Nope, I said hanging over the decoys. Try it sometime...

 

[C M Wings]

Did I say straight away? Nope, I said hanging over the decoys. Try it sometime...

It’s the same shot. You try. I have. It’s hard. I was AA at the time. At 35 yards target is just sitting there hanging in the air right in front of you, same place every time.

 

[Billy Bob]

That is great duck hunting country. Some of the best duck hunting in the country and hardly any competition, from the pot-holes to the rivers ( Columbia, Skagit, Black , Wilapa, Chahalis) to the coast from the Canadian border all the way to the Oregon border. Now I'm hunting the desert SW not as many dcks but I don't need three sets of hunting cloths so some are drying out while I hunt in the others.

If you want a denser pattern wait till they get closer.

I may know that spot.

There is a ton more pressure here than there was 5 years ago. The spot I met you has 4-8 decoy spreads daily. Several places I had all to myself are pressured now. Word must have got out.

 

[Ravenanme]

What ? 35 yd head shot with a shotgun ? Must of been a .045 or more constriction , with a lot of Luck !
Clay targets with only the rim showing require knowing how tight your loads are at 35 yds with the largest pellet loads you have .
Pattern Density does come into play with those type targets . Target setters have come along way , their devious ideas of target flight , can sometimes
baffle the most gifted shooters !

 

[Tuleman]

If I intentionally shoot for the front end of the bird, and I end up with pellets in the head and neck, and none in the body, that isn't fortuitous.

Yes, it is.
If you've seen a pattern, you'll know it's 90% luck.

And yes, by definition, if there are pellets ONLY in the head, that bird is head shot.

​

IF I intentionally shoot to hit only the head, and actually hit only the head, THEN I made a head shot. Anything else is luck.

head·shot​

(hĕd′shŏt′)
n.
1. A photograph of the head.
2. A bullet or shot aimed at and hitting the head.

headshot

Definition, Synonyms, Translations of headshot by The Free Dictionary

www.thefreedictionary.com

Have you ever shot at the body and still hit the head along with the body? Probably. We all have. Did you call that a 'head shot'? I wouldn't.
Have you ever shot at the head and still hit the body along with the head? Probably. We all have. Did you call that a 'head shot'? I wouldn't.

Bottom line to all this is:
We've all...probably....have made an intentional head shot. But, if we're honest, we'll admit those are not the norm in our waterfowling; they are unusual and few duck hunters can count on making head shots for more than a tiny percentage of our bird shooting. An intentional head shot on a flying bird is more trick shot than SOP.

 

[Ravenanme]

I can remember over the years of head shooting birds . It was a definite miss as I over lead the bird and only One (or so) pellets hit the bird !
You can (sometimes) see it as the bird continues flapping its wings as it , kind of , stays in one spot , then drops to the ground !

 

[Billy Bob]

C M

No, it's not. You are comparing a near stationary mallard to a moving clay.What I said was to convey how easy it is to head shoot a hanging duck at 20-25 yards with a shotgun. Your responses make it sound like you don't shoot at many birds with their toes reaching for the water.

 

[Tuleman]

Tom Knapp did put on a demonstration with a shotgun that was totally pattern control , he could make a Golf ball curve to the right or left !
Shooting Fed clay target loads through , what he said was a open choke , he would use the edge of his pattern (right or left) to hit the ball .
Tom really liked his cocktails so after his exhibition at our club , I invited him to the ranches golf course's bar and lounge . There I asked if
there was a trick shooting those golf balls , his reply was , shoot at them before the pellets started to disperse into a wider pattern ! That made
since , not throwing them very far and shooting while the pellets just left the shot cup or wad ! What a Great Story teller he was and after
his THIRD cocktail he became one of the best Joke tellers of , all time !
I was fortunate to be paying the tab !

Great story.
And one that illustrates that we cannot control which pellets hit the target....at ranges greater than about 6 yards.

 

[Ravenanme]

Great story.
And one that illustrates that we cannot control which pellets hit the target....at ranges greater than about 6 yards.

Yep as pellets start to bloom into a useable pattern at about 10 to12 yds , with a Skeet 1 or IC choke , it's up to the hunter to allow birds to
get out to a distance that the pattern is more beneficial ! With Steel shot patterning so darn tight it takes very little constriction to kill birds
inside the decoys . With pellet size giving you more distance , it's up to the shooter to pattern his/her chokes /load to find out where the
sweet spot of patterns is ! I prefer to pattern at 32 yds with my .015 choke , this gives me confidence , that birds at 45 yds are still in my
loads ability ( 1 1/16 oz of #3's) . You'll then know what works best for you !