PSA-Loosen up that choke, or get rid of it altogether

Glock said:
I think one of the things that makes it more difficult is that there is less to compare to when estimating range of a flying pheasant. With estimating something on the ground (like a deer) you have objects (along with time) around to help estimate. But with a bird, you only have the outline of the sky and so many seconds to make your decision.
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The bird is the object, obviously, and we get pretty good at using that to judge distance…sure, some birds are bigger or smaller, but I’d say 90% of the roosters I shoot are fairly similar. At present, I have no big issue of any sort with my rooster killing capabilities…knowing where to find birds, flushing them, knowing what’s in range, shooting them, recovering them…but it’s winter, chatting about pheasant hunting is about it. I did drive 500 miles round trip yesterday to visit a farm widow who fell and broke her arm 5 days ago…her land is more early prairie hunting, but she does have pheasants as well. Her land abuts a refuge, which is mostly a waterway, and there’s something about that that really holds the birds…special place, much further away than where she now lives...Saskatchewan is within spitting distance.
 
Different scenario, kind of, but good baseball hitters have extraordinary eyesight…they can discern much about the pitch thrown early in the release, often at 100 mph…I calculated that a clay pigeon thrown at 42 mph travels 60’ in a second…so, a pitch at 84 mph should get to the plate in half a second? A pitch at 100 mph even quicker. And the batter picks things up soon after the release. We hunters pick up lots of info the moment we ID the bird being a rooster…if my dog is birdy, I assume I’m already gauging distance…I know I am, I’m constantly concerned about how far the dogs are in case a bird flushes…more info we’re processing…this fall I observed a newbie in my gang pass on close flushes and shoot at super, super long birds…I didn’t ask…
 
benelli-banger said:
this fall I observed a newbie in my gang pass on close flushes and shoot at super, super long birds…I didn’t ask…
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I think this is part of learning. I would say it's important to mentor and educate new hunters about birds being in range vs. out of range, and this will speed their learning curve. The ultimate teacher is still going out and doing the thing you want to be competent at. Going out and hunting. Even between two people who have been hunting for years, discussion can help us learn. Always keep an open mind.
 
Bob Peters said:
I think this is part of learning. I would say it's important to mentor and educate new hunters about birds being in range vs. out of range, and this will speed their learning curve. The ultimate teacher is still going out and doing the thing you want to be competent at. Going out and hunting. Even between two people who have been hunting for years, discussion can help us learn. Always keep an open mind.
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Sometimes people aren’t confident in ID’ng roosters…this guy may have suffered from that. Frustration kicks in at times…long shots for the hell of it, whatever..,
 
AKSkeeter said:
Perhaps IC is the ultimate choke in the east and midwest, especially over a point or pen-rased birds?
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The choke is irrelevant for flare nares. They're as dumb as domesticated poultry. You could throw rocks and probably still kill one.

I am in the Midwest and use a retriever at close range with an IC choke. But I've also trained my dog to stay much closer while hunting so my shots are also much closer as a result.
 
When I use to hunt waterfowl we’d say that if you could make out the cheek patch on a Canada you could kill it. lol I never payed attention if it was true.
 
Glock said:
I think one of the things that makes it more difficult is that there is less to compare to when estimating range of a flying pheasant. With estimating something on the ground (like a deer) you have objects (along with time) around to help estimate. But with a bird, you only have the outline of the sky and so many seconds to make your decision.
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You also have terrain variations.
 
benelli-banger said:
The bird is the object, obviously, and we get pretty good at using that to judge distance…sure, some birds are bigger or smaller, but I’d say 90% of the roosters I shoot are fairly similar. At present, I have no big issue of any sort with my rooster killing capabilities…knowing where to find birds, flushing them, knowing what’s in range, shooting them, recovering them…but it’s winter, chatting about pheasant hunting is about it. I did drive 500 miles round trip yesterday to visit a farm widow who fell and broke her arm 5 days ago…her land is more early prairie hunting, but she does have pheasants as well. Her land abuts a refuge, which is mostly a waterway, and there’s something about that that really holds the birds…special place, much further away than where she now lives...Saskatchewan is within spitting distance.
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You can pheasant hunt in Saskatchewan.
 
Pheasant hunting is off limits to non-Saskatchewan residents. Just in the last several years has Sask residents even allowed to hunt pheasants.
 
Whether you can or not, I was simply referencing where I hunt in ND…I quit hunting Canada 20 years ago, waterfowl, too much bs for me. Bucket list hunt for me would be September prairie hunt in SK/AB….doubt I’ll do it, we do well in our current locales…
 
The Goose was hunting with the First Nation, not many rules. Thanks for the clarification. We would donate geese to the First Nation, but hunting with them would have been even better.
 
benelli-banger said:
I shot LOTS of SD roosters past 40 yards this season with my IC choked guns typically using #5 lead, standard velocity loads…works for me…not preserves, rarely pointed…but it’s not uncommon to get close flushes, either…I could see using LM choke, or even M…just haven’t been persuaded by my results, or the lack thereof. Whatever works.
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I agree. Since I hunt exclusively with steel, it patterns tighter than lead and I shoot fairly large shot since I also shoot geese and ducks while pheasant hunting and with a lab, not a pointer. So for me IC/Modified Citori early season, Skeet2/Modified late season has worked for me.
My typical shots are farther here in Montana than when I hunted in Michigan, especially late season roosters, huns, and sharptails.
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