No great numbers today but skeetshooter and I shot very well. We keep count on a counter as the birds are dropped or sail off into the fence rows to die. As we picked up the birds today we counted them. We had 62 on the counter and picked up 59 around the blinds with one more being picked up by where we parked the trucks. That is unusual for us as we usually spray birds all over the place. We had lots of shots today that were in the center of the pattern which resulted in most birds dead in the air. I would guess we saw less that 90 birds today. 62 of 90 that we see is an extremely high kill rate for us. We normally see at least 2 to 3 times more birds than the ones we kill.
All in all fun hunt.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
Good hunt and excellent shooting. Sounds like you are well on your way to a record breaking season.
Your high percentage ratio of birds to kills illustrates that how birds arrive to the set up (singles and small groups) can be just as important as the quantity of birds that fly thru your hunting area.
Good hunt and excellent shooting. Sounds like you are well on your way to a record breaking season.
Your high percentage ratio of birds to kills illustrates that how birds arrive to the set up (singles and small groups) can be just as important as the quantity of birds that fly thru your hunting area.
BH
Great observation! As I though about it more I think it was two fold. What you said about small groups was definitely true. Only had 4 sets of 4 birds or more that I can recall. Two of those sets all 4 were killed. The other was we did not have a kiddo with us so all the skillet shots were hammered instead of winged and needing followup shots.
The funny thing was that these are birds we hunt several times a year. They decoyed well enough for decent shots. We were hidden in blinds in the pecan trees so by the time they could see the blind they were already in range.
Good luck up that way. How long till you start shooting?
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
Congratulations on you shoot 8. You had what I would call a "clean shoot". It is quite obvious that you and your hunting partner were shooting and communicating well this day and likely the conditions were near optimum as well. The odd time I hunt with a partner we usually alternate shooters, the other backing up the first. One always shoots better when he/she has all the targets to their self and is in no rush to pick a target. Wasting of shells by both firing on the same bird is eliminated as well.
Lately I have been mentoring my 9 year old in the discipline of crow killing. He is shooting a 410 with 2 1/2 inch loads of 8 1/2 and 9 shot... not a real shotgun by any standard and best left in the hands of an expert I feel. He is no "expert" but has been consistantly hitting. This is likely because he's not thinking about what he is doing but looking at the target, letting the brain do the rest. Further, I have been giving him first go at the crows when they're tight. Thus, my shot to kill ratio as dropped significantly
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
