is how Thomas put it. For him it was just that, a great hunt that was diminished a bit by cripples.
We hunted this afternoon at a spot that typically does well with gray skies and a front moving in. The ducks must have heard the weathermen reporting 100% chance of snow tonight and tomorrow because they were moving about all afternoon in bunches with a sense of urgency. Decoying shots were frequent. Thomas is shooting a 20 gauge and we brought along Papa Goerge's 16 gauge SxS loaded with Classic Doubles Hevi-Shot for him to use. My 12 has a bit more lethality down range and I was able to finish the day a few hours early. Thomas was on his way to hist first Alabama limit when he knocked down two with picture perfect mechanics with the 16 gauge. However both escaped despite our best attemps to find them. Those with an earlier loss resulted in both of us getting frustrated with cripples! Shortly thereafter he lost another duck, two in the boat 4 MIA, not good!
At that point it became clear to me that Thomas made a mistake many of us make and still do. I bring this up because I think it is one of the biggest causes of lost cripples. The common mistake is going for a double when one duck wasn't positively taken cleanly. The cripple risk factor goes way up when the first duck dropped is at the limit of the guns effectiveness, say 35-40+ yards, and the final shot is used to try and drop another. Should the first duck not be cleanly killed then using the last shell on another duck, possibly another cripple, puts the hunter at risk of losing one maybe two. The reload time, and the need to take your eyes off the crippled duck(s) just adds to the problem, especially on divers who can swim long distances under water without a trace.
Thomas made the comment that he wished the ducks were only coming in single and pairs because it's less confusing and easier to concentrate and pick one out. He's right about that but also I think it's best to stick with one bird until you know it's down hard before swinging on another. Keeping the shots in close makes this a easier task and if the shots are at long range getting greedy often leads to lost birds.
Thomas is feeling better now about the crips just by the fact we saw a bunch of ducks this afternoon and he learned something about doubling up, but this is one lesson that adults need to keep in mind as it doen't just happen to 11 year olds. We all get over zealous at times with our shooting.
Eric
We hunted this afternoon at a spot that typically does well with gray skies and a front moving in. The ducks must have heard the weathermen reporting 100% chance of snow tonight and tomorrow because they were moving about all afternoon in bunches with a sense of urgency. Decoying shots were frequent. Thomas is shooting a 20 gauge and we brought along Papa Goerge's 16 gauge SxS loaded with Classic Doubles Hevi-Shot for him to use. My 12 has a bit more lethality down range and I was able to finish the day a few hours early. Thomas was on his way to hist first Alabama limit when he knocked down two with picture perfect mechanics with the 16 gauge. However both escaped despite our best attemps to find them. Those with an earlier loss resulted in both of us getting frustrated with cripples! Shortly thereafter he lost another duck, two in the boat 4 MIA, not good!
At that point it became clear to me that Thomas made a mistake many of us make and still do. I bring this up because I think it is one of the biggest causes of lost cripples. The common mistake is going for a double when one duck wasn't positively taken cleanly. The cripple risk factor goes way up when the first duck dropped is at the limit of the guns effectiveness, say 35-40+ yards, and the final shot is used to try and drop another. Should the first duck not be cleanly killed then using the last shell on another duck, possibly another cripple, puts the hunter at risk of losing one maybe two. The reload time, and the need to take your eyes off the crippled duck(s) just adds to the problem, especially on divers who can swim long distances under water without a trace.
Thomas made the comment that he wished the ducks were only coming in single and pairs because it's less confusing and easier to concentrate and pick one out. He's right about that but also I think it's best to stick with one bird until you know it's down hard before swinging on another. Keeping the shots in close makes this a easier task and if the shots are at long range getting greedy often leads to lost birds.
Thomas is feeling better now about the crips just by the fact we saw a bunch of ducks this afternoon and he learned something about doubling up, but this is one lesson that adults need to keep in mind as it doen't just happen to 11 year olds. We all get over zealous at times with our shooting.
Eric