Pheasant leads

T

tlgatzke

New member
I was curious about the leads required to hit pheasants moving at different speeds after struggling with passing shots on high flying birds. I'm an engineer so I worked up a spreadsheet and was surprised at the results.

I was actually over leading birds in the extreme cases. It doesn't appear that a lead greater than 9' is ever practical. Take a look at the variables I used and let me know if some of the assumptions I made don't make sense to you.

Quick explanation of a few things. Driving in a truck next to a flying rooster I clocked at 35mph seems like a normal flight speed. These leads are for birds flying perpendicular to your line of sight.


Shot Speed Bird Speed Shot Distance Lead Req'd
(FPS) (MPH) (Yards) (ft)
1300 35 30 3.6
1300 35 50 5.9
1300 45 30 4.6
1300 45 50 7.6
1300 55 30 5.6
1300 55 50 9.3
1500 45 50 6.6

Shot speed doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference. I'm wondering if somebody has a feeling for what the average shot speed is over the course of the shot? 1300 would be muzzle velocity but how much does that taper off?

How fast can a downwind rooster fly? 55mph seems awfully fast to me...
 
Great googly-moogly. If you have time to measure the distance you are leading that ditch chicken you probably should have already pulled the trigger. I once led one by (my estimation) about the length of a Caprice Classic, but that was about as scientific as I ever got.

If you are going to get into this question seriously you will want to get on the guns and ammo section where there are guys who have done some heavy-duty digging about pellet ballistics, spread patterns, etc.

Good luck. If you can find a mathematical equation for shooting roosters on the wing, post it here (or better yet, PM me and we'll keep it our little secret...)

;)
 
50 yds???

I wouldn't be leading...I'd be watching.:p
 
Shot slows quickly

I don't see how you factored in the rate at which shot slows down, am I missing that? If it leaves the barrel at 1300 it isn't going 1300 at 50yards. There are some programs that calculate that.

Hard to overlead a bird in my experience. As a friend would say "shot them where the corn goes in not where the corn comes out"
 
tlgatzke said:
I was curious about the leads required to hit pheasants moving at different speeds after struggling with passing shots on high flying birds. I'm an engineer so I worked up a spreadsheet and was surprised at the results.

I was actually over leading birds in the extreme cases. It doesn't appear that a lead greater than 9' is ever practical. Take a look at the variables I used and let me know if some of the assumptions I made don't make sense to you.

Quick explanation of a few things. Driving in a truck next to a flying rooster I clocked at 35mph seems like a normal flight speed. These leads are for birds flying perpendicular to your line of sight.


Shot Speed Bird Speed Shot Distance Lead Req'd
(FPS) (MPH) (Yards) (ft)
1300 35 30 3.6
1300 35 50 5.9
1300 45 30 4.6
1300 45 50 7.6
1300 55 30 5.6
1300 55 50 9.3
1500 45 50 6.6

Shot speed doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference. I'm wondering if somebody has a feeling for what the average shot speed is over the course of the shot? 1300 would be muzzle velocity but how much does that taper off?

How fast can a downwind rooster fly? 55mph seems awfully fast to me...
Click to expand...

Please show your calculations that led to the above results. Thanks. Great thread.
 
Driving through Southern Minn this morning I thought of another idea. Why not drive by a stationary target (yeah, laws, whatever) at different speeds and shoot at it to see when you have to pull the trigger. Backwards, yes, but that's how my mind works... :p
 
Never killed a bird leading it,,,,, But killed quit a few swinging through the bird, I would think the follow through is the key,,,,,

The more you think about trying to hit that bird the more your gonna miss!!
 
sneem said:
I gave up on sustained lead years ago. Swing through. Butt, beak, boom. Works for me.
Click to expand...

Or as the Britts would say "Bum, belly, beek, bang".

Seriously, stop over analyzing lead. You should NEVER measure lead. Focus on the birds head and more times than not the gun will go to the right spot magically when you pull the trigger. It's really quite amazing how the gun seems to always follow the eye's. On a very long crossing shot, something that you may not encounter often with Pheasants as apposed to waterfowl, simply insert the barrel on the birds head matching it's speed momentarily, then slowly pull away and fire. But on the majority of shots simply focusing on the birds head will be all that's needed.
 
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:confused: If you're having trouble hitting birds just go shoot a few rounds of trap or skeet. Just going through the shells will make you a much better shooter.
 
tlgatzke

I know this an older thread but when I saw this website I thought of you and your question. www.chuckhawks.com Go to the shotgun information page and there is a lot of information on there.
 
Practiceq

Many of these responses say the same thing PRACTICE, is how you learn to lead or hit a target. As Tom Roster once told me "ever see a pro athlete that didn't practice?" You certainly never hear one say he learned to hit a fastball by asking an engineer and he would never take batting practice as it is stupid!

Many hunter don't like to practice for many reasons and that is up to them (at least in this country, Europe another story).

Practice, practice, practice, thats my motto.
 
lead calculations

Shot does slow down significantly after it leaves the gun, and it loses speed dependent on density of the metal in the shot and shot size (#6, #5......). I have made similar calculations just for the information and at 35yds i get 6 to 7 feet for a perpendicular bird at @35mph. That said it is not of much use in my opinion. Most shots are at something other than 90 deg., and the bird seldom at 35mph because of wind or time from flush to shot(bird needs time to get to full speed). Practice at shoots at various angles and speeds is the only way to go. Your brain has to make all those calculations in and instant. It can only do this trough practice, you can't think through a shot, not enough time. My best advise SHOOT MORE, THINK LESS. Good Hunting
 
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