Some thoughts on shotgunning – Patterning your gun
Note: No Hogs Were Harmed or Hunted In the Writing of This Post.
The other day over at Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors forum, one of the members was asking for advice about buying a new, high-tech choke for his duck gun. It immediately occurred to me to ask why he thought he needed this special choke, and what was wrong with the one he had. Was the factory choke too tight, or too open? Why was he interested in spending some pretty good money on something that may or may not make any difference whatsoever? What did the shot pattern look like?
He didn’t know. In fact, based not only on his own responses, but those of some other members, patterning a duck gun was a relatively new concept. Sure, lots of folks take their duck guns to shoot clays in the off season. That’s good, for sure, and every shotgunner should spend time at trap, skeet, or sporting clays. But I don’t think there are many waterfowlers who have ever spent any time with a patterning board, and even fewer who have spent enough time and ammo testing their shotgun’s performance on stationary targets at various ranges (turkey hunters are a whole different ball game).
This came up again, sort of, in NorCal Cazadora’s recent comments on my recent duck hunting post (sorry to pick on you, Holly… but I mean well). She’d shot and wounded a scaup. She chased it down and finally had to resort to a finishing shot at very close range (about 10 yards, by her estimate). Anyone who’s ever shot much with a scattergun knows that a load of shot at that distance can make quite a mess, and apparently this one did some real damage to the near side of her bird. I suggested that next time she just go for the head shot, to which she replied that she would, but she wasn’t sure where to aim to get the bird’s head in the edge of the pattern without pulverizing the body (To quote her directly and correctly, she wrote: “If I were better at this, I’d’ve tried to aim more precisely to put the duck at the edge of the pattern. But I’m not that good yet.”).
Fair enough. It’s also fair to mention that Holly doesn’t have two barrels on her shotgun (which is a shame, but hey… there’s no accounting for taste), so she can’t pick one choke for close shots and another for long ones.
In my example to Holly, I mentioned using the full-choke barrel of my double. I know that, from this gun with the loads I shoot, the pattern at 10 yards is still roughly the size of a grapefruit. If I used the modified choke barrel, the pattern would be a little smaller than a volleyball at that distance. I would confidently make that head shot with either barrel, because I have seen, many times, how this gun will pattern at that distance. I also know that full choke or modified choke are fairly relative terms, and that my Mossberg 500 with modified choke barrel and using the same loads will shoot a pattern almost as large as a basketball at 10 yards, and Kat’s Remington 870 with the modified tube installed spreads the shot somewhere in between the other two. Now, of course the difference between myself and Holly is that I’ve been doing this for most of my life, while she’s just coming to the sport.
Point is, I had the opportunity as a youngster to spend hours in the field with my guns and little supervision, and as a result had the opportunity to “experiment” on many things. For example, I learned by trial and error exactly how far away I could stand and still cut a three-inch diameter pine tree in half with a load of low-brass #6 shot. I found out that, at 60 paces with that old Mossberg and a load of 00 buckshot, I could put about half of a load of 00 buckshot (2 3/4″ 00 has 9 pellets) in the door of an old Volkswagon Beetle, but at 100 yards I was lucky to land two pellets on the entire side of the car. The outcome of these experiments is that I became very proficient and confident with my guns so that a headshot on a crippled duck (or a healthy turkey) doesn’t really even get a second thought these days.
Now none of this is meant as a brag or anything. Lord knows I’m no Phoebe Mozee! What I’m getting at, though, is that the best way to become proficient with your gun is to go out and use it.
I got my experience running the woods and shooting up trash piles, but I realize that may not be practical or practicable these days with urban sprawl and nosy neighbors. Still, people in more urban environments can get the same experience by toting a few sheets of cardboard and a Sharpie out to the range. Mark some circles of varying sizes, set ‘em up at different distances and have at it. The standard patterning board is a 4×4 sheet with a 30″ circle drawn on it, and then shot from 40 yards. My recommendation is to use that 40 yard target as a basis, but to shoot from all realistic distances… a lot. At what distance does your shot pattern open up completely (each pellet makes a separate hole)? Does your gun shoot to the point of aim (most shotguns don’t)? Is it high or low, left or right? Is it significant enough to get your gun adjusted? Understanding your pattern at different ranges can really make you a better shot, and help you to figure out what’s going on when you miss.
For this kind of practice, it’s best to use the ammunition you’ll be hunting with. I know, at $2/shot for some of this stuff, who can afford it? I’ve got to say, if you’re really making a commitment to the sport and want to maximize your (and your gun’s) potential, it’s worth it. Once you’ve patterned your gun, you can practice with cheaper ammo.
You can also practice, as I still do sometimes, after a hunt when there’s not much else to do but go home. You’ve already got the gun. You’re already out in the boonies somewhere. Why not take a little practice session? Didn’t bring some cardboard? No worries. Shoot some trash before you pick it up. What will your gun do to a plastic soda bottle at 10 yards? It’s about the same size as a duck’s head and neck. Find out! How many holes can you put in that beer can at 40 paces? Go for it! How many empty shotgun shells can you knock over with one shot? Only one way to find out! Can you stack two cans and only knock off the top one? Give it a go from 10 steps, then back up and try again at 30!
Most BLM and National Forest land in the west allows visitors to target shoot, as long as they’re shooting safely and cleaning up behind themselves (another topic for another post some day). I like to do it as I’m cleaning up behind someone else. I always pick up trash from the trailheads and campsites anyway, and it always gets me a little aggravated that some idiot left it there, so why not take out that aggression on the garbage as I go? I don’t spend as much time testing the pattern anymore, because I’ve pretty much got it down, but the trigger time is good for me… and it will be good for you too. (By the way, bowhunters, I do this same kind of thing when I’ve got my bow and a few judo or field points.)
Safety first, of course, and always check the regulations for the specific location in advance. Also, for this kind of shooting you don’t have to use the high-dollar ammo. I use whatever I’ve got in the truck… bird shot, old steel shot, etc.
Shooting is like any other skill requiring muscle memory and hand-eye coordination. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. But practice with a purpose, and I think that’s particularly critical with shotguns. Unlike a rifle with a single, realtively large projectile, you are trying to make the best of a swarm of tiny projectiles. Sure, all you need is the “golden BB” to kill a bird, but optimizing the whole swarm to do your bidding is the real goal of shotgunning and really pays dividends when you have to make that close range killing shot, or if you have to get your retrieving dummy down out of a tree.
I can totally understand where your coming from Phillip.
My only thing with this post, is that I’ve never duck hunted before. I haven’t hunted a bird – except turkeys – for many years. I can totally understand the idea of knowing how your gun patterns, though, that makes complete sense to me.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Good advice. I wish my kids had an old Volkswagen to practice on!
January 8th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Phillip,
What I find most disturbing, is that the gentleman who precipitated this inquiry had no idea why he wanted to change his choke. Without a clear goal in mind, what could he be expecting?
Patterning a new concept? How could this be? I’m no shotgunner, but I sure do know how to pattern one. There’s at least one article on it, in every shooting magazine, at least once a year!
I would venture to guess that people just aren’t reading traditional media like we once did. I remember anxiously awaiting my Outdoor Life’s arrival every month.
Be that as it may, you give sound advice. Not hard to practice and learn if you decide to do so and make the effort.
Regards,
Albert A Rasch
January 8th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Albert, I don’t think the concept itself was truly alien, as most anyone who’s ever picked up a hook-n-bullet magazine has read something about patterning. I may have dabbled just a bit in hyperbole again. I think most of those guys knew what it is, but I think very, very, VERY few shotgunners have ever actually done it, and even fewer have done it in field conditions.
What I described is really nothing more than what bowhunters call “stump shooting”. Just use the scattergun instead of the bow. Repeated use builds consistency and confidence, and practicing on inanimate objects allows us to take chances (long shots, silly angles, etc.) that we wouldn’t ethically try on live critters.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
[...] bookmarks tagged nosy Some thoughts on shotgunning – Patterning your gun saved by 11 others josette54 bookmarked on 01/11/09 | [...]
January 11th, 2009 at 7:51 am