"Richard Casady" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 May 2008 19:47:54 -0600, "Whizbang McGurk"
wrote:

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/DianaYang.shtml

Those are the ranges in every book and magazine and most gunshop gab.
This stuff is no secret. There are tens of millions of shotguns
around.

I figured 60 yards for geese which are a big target. It is much less
for quail. They are are small, requiring a dense pattern. Answer is
many smaller shot bearing in mind that the smaller shot start out with
less energy and lose it faster. I figure thirty yards for quail. Note
that you use full choke for geese and something with a wider pattern
for quail. I am a 25 yard shooter myself. In the case of pheasants, I
spot them in a roadside ditch, sneak up to within five yards, and blow
their heads to rags. Easy shot, like nailing a copter that took off
one second beford. Let then get high enough for a nasty fall, Almost a
motionless target. Same with the birds. The head and neck present a
four inch target, same as skeet. Not that hard. I hunt in Iowa, by the
way. People come from distant places to hunt the pheasants.
If you have one of the special rifled slug barrels they recently
invented, you can get 4 inch groups at 100 yards. Shotguns for deer
are required in some places, including Iowa.

Casady

I guess if someone wants to go deer hunting on their boat the shotgun is a
fine choice. Suppose some marauders come at you underway and they have an
AK-47 (7.62 x 39). Do you think a shotgun will hold them off? They could
shot at you all day from 200 yds and you can't do a thing. The AK-47 is the
preferred choice of pirates. A large capacity pistol is better in close
quarters than a shotgun, that's why police use them as primary weapons. For
longer ranges I prefer an autoloading .338 which I shot offhand remarkably
well. I shoot grouse and ptarmigan with an RWS air rifle. One shot through
the head does the trick.