I’ll say this, irrespective of gauge used, as I think it’s all been 12 gauges…my last 3 trips have averaged 5 hunters per trip (6, 5, 4)…we’ve harvested a few hundred birds….seen ALOT as it pertains to hitting, missing, recovering, and losing roosters….the first of these last 3 trips had 3 dogless guys, the next trip had one dogless guy, as did the final trip that I returned from Wednesday nite…many guys between the 3 groups I had never met…nor their dogs if they had them…made some good friends, all of whom were invited back—safe, respectful hunters…had some great grub…monitored chokes, shells being used, shot size, etc…no epiphanies or profundities, but solid reinforcement of lessons learned over the past 33 seasons…lots of “dead” birds aren’t dead…lots of “hard hit” birds aren’t hit very hard…some “missed” birds weren’t missed, watch those birds fly away for 10-20 seconds, some sky high and fall dead…where a hit bird lands isn’t where it’s always gonna be recovered…most of these lessons aren’t new concepts for many guys on the trips, but they are for some…overall, lots of situations and scenarios that one learns from…lots of birds, that’s for sure! Heading back 12/31 unless Mother Nature intervenes…can’t wait! Further thoughts on the past 3 trips over the past month, roughly: most common choke used by guys that were “cleaning up” was IC, IC/M for doubles….shot size used was #5, lead in almost all cases. Problems were had consistently by wearers of cotton clothing and wearers of leather boots…as in, getting wet, staying wet. Observed lots of expensive hunting pants ripping on barbed wire fences; layering clothing always a good idea; most guys not using ear protection, bad idea!
