For The Non-Toxic Shot Users

[T-Bone]

For those who mix duck hunting with their pheasant hunting, I found a rather interesting study/article:

http://www.lakeoaheguides.com/forums/steel_shot_for_roosters_warning_long_post?app_p=1

The results mirror my own conclusions when I've hunted non-toxic shot areas or done a pheasant/duck combined hunt. The latest issue of Shooting Sportsman magazine has a related article as well on steel loads for pheasants in the 3" 20 Ga.

Tom

[lokidog]

Thanks for posting this, very interesting.

Interestingly, hunters lost only two of 68 birds hit at distances of less than 30 yards with all three loads combined, a wounding rate of 2.9 percent. All test loads together produced 15.1 percent wounding loss at shot distances of 40 yards or greater. 

Wow, 5X more birds wounded past 40 yards, who'd of thunk it?  What about waterfowl you might ask?

That distance (majoriity of self-imposed distance selection of 20-29 yards by the pheasant hunters) is significantly shorter than the 39-yard average shooting distance found in duck hunting tests, and the 50.5- and 68-yard average distances recorded in over-decoy and pass shooting goose hunting tests, respectively. "And you have hardly any wounding," Roster added, "which tells you that the pheasant hunter participants were really able to hit the birds at that distance, and the loads were really able to kill them."

I wonder what the increase of wounding is past 40 yards on ducks since their shot angles are generally more difficult than those on pheasants and the pheasant differential is 5X.....

BTW, to those of you that shoot a lot, target shooting with your steel loads, I am not directing this at you, so don't get your pants in a bunch.  It is the average shooter, like myself, who is not out there shooting sporting clays with steel shot, or even trap, that should pay attention to maximum shot distances.

[NW-GSP]

I have always used #4 for pheasant release sites but the shots are usually not that long of a distance, I could see where #2 in 2 3\4 would be better for wild birds. When hunting upland I have been using #5 due to usually only seeing quail and the occasional rooster.