This is probably going to get some hair rais'n but here goes.
Since I've been active at a numerous shotgun clubs for 30+ years, shooting trap, skeet, sporting clays and most of the shotgun games that have come down the pike, I'll air my opinion on "range".
Clay targets can easily be broken with one(1) pellet. Live birds take considerably more. A DU study a few years back concluded that the average mallard needed 4 pellets in vital areas for a clean kill.
Most skeet targets are broken @ 21 yds. Trap @ 31 yds.
Continental trap allows two shots if you miss on the first. I'd venture a guess that about 50% of those second shots connect.
Some of the other games we play offer shots out to about 70 yds. IE: 27 yd Anne Oakley IE: First shooter calls target, misses, second shooter misses, third shooter misses, fourth shooter 'chips' target - visible chip. First three shooters(missed)are out of the competition. Ususally dbl elimination. Most of the time in this game and the other games similar, if the first shooter misses, so do any others that attempt. Many do not even attempt because they know their chances are almost nill. The first shooter in this game has about a 40 - 45yd target. Everyone else has a much farther shot even though they are already ready to shoot(guns mounted).
Trap load: 1 1/8oz lead #7.5 - 390 pellets.
Duck load: 1 1/8oz steel #2 - 140 pellets.
First, in hunting, a bird needs to be hit. Second, it needs to be hit hard enough and with enough pellets to kill it cleanly. Not crippled so you see it go down on the neighbors property with no chance of retrieval or worse, dies that night from a crippling wound.
As stated earlier, ethical is determined by the shooter. 70yd shooting at ducks/geese is rediculous even with tungsten loads. Patterns are so sparse past 50yds and pellet energy is reduced below what could be considered lethal for enough penetration through thick feathers, skin and meat that these shots are basically unethical for a first shot at a healthy bird. Now a follow up shot on an already hit bird at these distances is another story.
There were a couple threads last fall talking about a similar topic. Bottom line, pattern your load, shoot your gun untill you're comfortable and confident with it and above all, know you and your gun's limiations. Seriously folks, is crippling birds our objective as hunters? Heck no. Would you gut shoot your elk because it was your only shot? Of course not. Unethical. We have to know when not to shoot. Sometimes you just let em go simply because they didn't come in close enough.
I do not shoot past 50yds as the norm. 40yds and under is what I'm looking for. They will come into this range if you do you part.
I make about 25 trips to various duck/goose spots every year. Mostly to Nisqually. I unfortunately see literally hundreds of birds crippled every season, mostly by hunters taking unethical shots at passing birds that are way to high. Many of these birds go down inside the refuge, probably die and do not benefit anyone. I'd also venture to say that they were not counted in that hunters daily bag limit either.
To address the 'alternative' shot options: Hevi-shot has a density of 12, lead shot - 11 and steel shot - 7.8. Some of the other tungsten shot products have a density close to lead, right around 11. Lead deforms when it hits bone, slowing penetration. This has been proven over and over. Tungsten does not. It penetrates further than lead. Many of the ducks I've shot with Hevi-shot or the like actually have exit holes. Also, lead cannot even come close to the velocities of today's steel or tungsten loads simply because it deforms in the chamber thus creating terrible patterns.
Actually steel shot can penetrate further than lead at resonable ranges with a large enough shot size because it doesn't deform.
Check out this link:
http://shotshell.drundel.com/pelletcount.htm Lead is gone. Has been for a long time for waterfowlers. It's on it way out for upland hunters in many areas and many of us will see it's dissapearance for big game huning in our life times. Arguing about it is a mute subject.
Today's steel shot or tungsten loads have been refined over the years as have the wads they're loaded in and the chokes they're shot through to the point of being very effective within their intended range. This range is ultimately determined by you when in the field.
We do not have referees out in the field. It is ultimately our responsibility as hunters to know what is ethical and what is within the limits or ourselves and our equipment.
There are a lot of ducks but there are not enough for any of use to cripple and waste them.
