Im probably the wierd one in the bunch, but when I hunt, if I have shot my 3 birds, Im done. Now, I may continue to hunt with someone thats along without a dog, but Im not shootin. If my dog puts up birds for you, and you cant hit them, I better not hear any grumbling that night about not getting your birds..
As far as multiple birds, I would have to say that it would be a rare, rare occasion that I would even attempt a double, let alone a triple.. I did score a double this year on prairie chickens, though.
My feeling are, these birds are tough as nails to anchor. I watch to see how hard I hit a bird on the first shot, and if I dont think its hit hard enough,(and time allows) I will give it the second barrel. I like easy retrieves...
Ive been around too many situations where a guy says.... Bring the dogs,, I got three down and cant find any of em.. Well, If you dont have a dog yourself, you should probably limit your birds to one at a time. Knock one down, you run to the spot to find it. I dont care how many birds get up between you and the fall site. But thats just me.
With that said.. On the last trip, Breez was pointing 20 yds in front of me.. A rooster jumped up 12 yards to my right, (they run, right?) I pulled up on the bird and missed the first shot, and also the second shot, at which time 7 roosters got up right in front of my dog, 20 yds away. Those are the thing that you remember about a hunt. I cant remember many of the kills this year, but I remember great dog work, and a great find, tracking job or retrieve.. and of course, the misses..
For the kind of hunting I do, a double barrel is a perfect weapon..