Forty two total. Pictured are the ones that landed in the field. The rest were in the briers or the drink. Shot 86 shells. I am starting to like the 1200 fps loads of 1 1/8 oz. I would have killed for a more open choke as the birds were very low and in my face. One particular direction they came from the first shot I would have was less that 10 yards and I miss a bunch of those. I would guess I missed another 10 - 15 birds that were less that 10 yards. I was hunting on the edge of this pond and all 10 would have landed in the pond. The pond is about 40' across.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
8fishermen: I think I see Crow U-boat 235 trying to breathe through a reed! Excellent work. Well managed except for the targets inside 15 yards!!!
skip
Skip,
15 yards is a dead bird. I could have spit on most of these! I may as well have been shooting a 22. I had one opening on that side and when I could see them, they could see me! As soon as they broke over that tree, it was full tilt with afterburners and they would slip out the other side. Last two times we hunted that spot they came in from the South West so I set up for that. This time they came in from the North. It was humbling. I started shooting them through the trees with a little better success.
I called my shootin' buddy after it was over and he said I should have screw the choke out and just shot 'em!
To give a reference to how close they were, That 2nd pic is with a cell phone zoomed all the way in across the pond to the other corner. Most birds I missed were no where near that far away.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
This pic may give a better view of the pond. It was taken from the blind with the camera phone zoomed up. You can see the other side of the pond. That bird is about 20' from me and most misses were inside that. If you look closely, you can still see the ripples in the water from splashdown.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
This pic may give a better view of the pond. It was taken from the blind with the camera phone zoomed up. You can see the other side of the pond. That bird is about 20' from me and most misses were inside that. If you look closely, you can still see the ripples in the water from splashdown.
I started shooting them through the trees with a little better success. 
