Pheasant leads

After 63-years on earth, 53 of them spent chasing Roosters, I disengage the safety, shoulder the gun, swing & shoot. Sometimes you get them; sometimes you don't. I also practice a lot during the off-season. I have never had the urge to calculate my lead options (could be a real pain when switching from lead to steel; I prefer to practice & rely on my years of experience.). When I was an avid bowhunter, every time I thought about the shot, I missed. Now with my varmint rifles, I keep drop tables taped inside the rear lens cover, but I'm still old school & estimate the range.
 
go dove hunting...
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You don't hunt doves. You shoot at doves & when you run out of ammo, you go home . . .
 
lmao lol rofl gatzke you are truely welcome to go hunting with me and i will show you how one bb in the eye is done on a wiley ole parrott !!!!! now on quail i only hit the male ones with one bb in the eye
 
35mph seems awfully slow if you ask me! Maybe 35mph on the 10th wingbeat but after that is't full steam ahead!

And all of the calculations are for naught because two variables aren't included. the slowing of shot due to drag and wind.

We all hunt pheasants and that almost always includes some degree of wind, sometimes a large degree of wind! I know a birds speed is greatly affected by wind as is shot trajectory.

I thin the near universal answer amongst hunters other than engineers will be, just go hunt. :thumbsup:
 
I agree with duppy-shoot more, think less. Try to shoot more trap, skeet, or ideally, sporting clays. Try these with the gun in the position you would carry it in the field so that you can work on your mount as part of the process.
PairOfLabs
 
AtTheMurph said:
.....
We all hunt pheasants and that almost always includes some degree of wind, sometimes a large degree of wind! I know a birds speed is greatly affected by wind as is shot trajectory.
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Yea I was out this past weekend during a wind advisory :eek: The Pheasants won.
 
The more you think the more you miss! point and shoot, if your behind increase speed of swing, till lead is ridiculous, shoot again. repeat till success or empty. This has served me well for 50 years. as my old long gone mentor would say, you can't hit 'em if you doin't shoot.
 
Questions? Into the wind or? Uphill against the wind or? Standing in a creek one leg bent like pretzel and other on bank slipping when bird flushes? Please give me those lead estimates?:p
 
oldandnew said:
if your behind increase speed of swing, till lead is ridiculous, shoot again. repeat till success or empty.
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The only problem with this theory is if he completely misses, he may not know if he was behind, in front, over or even under the bird. If you hit tail feathers on the other hand and the bird continues on that is a good clue. As I have always stated, if you laser or focus your eyes hard on the birds head (look for white ring) your gun magically follows your eyes. You don't have to think about lead. It will take some concentration on the part of the shooter to train himself to do so, but once you do, you will see the birds start to come down.

The only real circumstance where you need to see a gap between the bird and the barrel is on a long crossing shot (over 30 yards). For me personally, on a rare shot like this I tend to mount the gun to the birds head matching it's speed momentarily, then slowly pull away triggering the shot without hesitation. I use these same techniques when shooting sporting clays and that is where you really need to hone these skills.

The killer to all of this is when you look back and forth between the bird and the barrel to try and make it perfect. When you do this you lose whatever gun speed you developed and you WILL shoot behind. Trust the computer in your brain and good things usually happen.
 
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Anyone can build a bridge that stands. It takes an engineer to build one that barely stands.
 
birdshooter said:
The only problem with this theory is if he completely misses, he may not know if he was behind, in front, over or even under the bird. If you hit tail feathers on the other hand and the bird continues on that is a good clue. As I have always stated, if you laser or focus your eyes hard on the birds head (look for white ring) your gun magically follows your eyes. You don't have to think about lead. It will take some concentration on the part of the shooter to train himself to do so, but once you do, you will see the birds start to come down.

The only real circumstance where you need to see a gap between the bird and the barrel is on a long crossing shot (over 30 yards). For me personally, on a rare shot like this I tend to mount the gun to the birds head matching it's speed momentarily, then slowly pull away triggering the shot without hesitation. I use these same techniques when shooting sporting clays and that is where you really need to hone these skills.

The killer to all of this is when you look back and forth between the bird and the barrel to try and make it perfect. When you do this you lose whatever gun speed you developed and you WILL shoot behind. Trust the computer in your brain and good things usually happen.
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This makes sense, when I went to a motorcycle road-racing school, instructors preached that the bike follows your path of vision. Taught me not to look at the catch fence real quick! Thanks for the advice. Going to try it today.
 
What birdshooter is suggesting has worked for myself and it did dramatically increase my shot to kill ratio.
Again between that and patterning the shotgun you use for the load you use. The rest is just practice.
It also works real well on ducks and geese but I focus on the eyes then.
One other reason this might increase the kill ratio is since your brain is focused on the front of the bird, the head area of the bird is where the thinnest feathers are at, not to mention the obvious brains.
Sounds basic I know, but it does work.
 
shot velocity - 1300 fps
rooster velocity - 1350 fps :p
 
Guys, guys, this fellow made his third post and was probably genuinely curious about speed, distance and patterns and such. Be a little gentle here. New guy asking a question is all.

Of course, going shooting will eventually make the point you all are trying to make but be a little considerate of a new member or don't complain about lurkers rather than members.

As far as TlG, put that curiosity to use and tell us which shot and/or shells pattern better and why and from which guns/chokes. You obviously got some brains in your noggin and I for one would be glad to have your input on that!

As for me, I'm doomed. I'm not bright enough to realize that keeping two bird dogs year around for five or six trips into the field a year, plus gas, plus shells, plus license, plus gear, plus food, vet bills, dog meds.... I obviously don't have the sense God gave a goat. :cheers:
 
I don't care who you are, that's funny right there. Think it will work?

ROTFLMAO

Busted...

Also, the math (and trust me I'm no good at that, either) really gets bad when you weigh the price per pound for Phez and Ruffs.
 
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aahh... but it's not just the meat were after. ;) If it were that i agree, expensive way to do it. But it's the total experience of being in the out of doors and being one on one with nature. The camaraderie of being with family and friends, that's what makes it all worth it. :thumbsup:

I love Foxworthy.:)
 
Daisybuck said:
Guys, guys, this fellow made his third post and was probably genuinely curious about speed, distance and patterns and such. Be a little gentle here. New guy asking a question is all.

Of course, going shooting will eventually make the point you all are trying to make but be a little considerate of a new member or don't complain about lurkers rather than members.

As far as TlG, put that curiosity to use and tell us which shot and/or shells pattern better and why and from which guns/chokes. You obviously got some brains in your noggin and I for one would be glad to have your input on that!

As for me, I'm doomed. I'm not bright enough to realize that keeping two bird dogs year around for five or six trips into the field a year, plus gas, plus shells, plus license, plus gear, plus food, vet bills, dog meds.... I obviously don't have the sense God gave a goat. :cheers:
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me to i wish i was as smart as this guy but i did mean he could go hunting with me anytime , i like people that are smarter than me around me or successful it tends to wear off on u :)
 
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