Ducks, Geese, Grouse Or Pheasants

Aug 26, 2023

For the first time in a long while, I am pretty excited for bird season this year. Well, let me say waterfowl. It’s been some time since I made an effort to get ready for waterfowl season, but this year is the exception.

Nothing will replace my time swinging for the trees in search of a whitetail deer, but I was reminded some time back of the thrill I feel when I would take the field or the water in search of ducks and geese. For me it wasn’t so much bag limits filled, but it was the style and companionship I enjoyed, sitting over a spread of green head and waiting for the sun to break over the hilltops.

With waterfowl season kicking off Sept. 1 for geese, it won’t be long before we gas up the duck boat and head to the lake.

With the official opening day approaching, it is about time to get in the spirit by breaking clay targets at one of the many sportsmen clubs. Not only is shooting trap, skeet and sporting clays a good way to get in the mood for hunting, it’s also good practice. If you have a place to shoot, a target thrower of your own and a partner to practice with, you can tailor your practice to the types of birds you’ll be hunting.

If you expect to shoot at upland birds, have your buddy fling the targets out in front of you. Most of the shots you’ll get on upland birds are going-away shots. For waterfowl, have your partner fling the clays from the side to simulate passing shots. Keep safety in mind, though. Don’t position your thrower in the line of fire. That means you can’t practice incoming shots, unless your trap has a remote trigger or a really, really long string.

Sporting clays can get you used to a variety of different shots, but it can frustrate you to no end. Sporting clays may be sporting for the clays, but it’s aggravating as heck for the shooter. Whatever you do to get ready for bird season, have some fun while you’re doing it.

This past week I received word from Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone. As many may know, Sheriff Quattrone is a lifelong sportsman and enjoys spending time outdoors with family and friends hunting and fishing.

Sheriff Quattrone is hosting a Trap and Skeet Shoot at the Westfield Fish and Game Club in Westfield. The event is being held on Sept. 23 from 9:30 am. to 3 p.m. The event is designed to be a fundraiser for the Chautauqua County Law Enforcement Association.

While the shoot is a five-person team event, individual shooters are welcome and will be assigned to a team. Sheriff Quattrone reminds everybody that no experience is necessary, with the members of Westfield Fish and Game Club on hand to help out any new shooters. In fact, there will be shotguns available, also with the help of the Club and Friends of NRA.

For more information contact the Sheriffs Office at 716-753-4232. Teams and individuals should be registered by Sept. 15.

While practice is very important for types of hunting, hunting from a duck blind or layout blind is a totally different shooting position. Just like practicing with your archery equipment in different positions, it’s also important to practice different shooting positions with your shotgun or rifle.

While I am no expert, I have been instructed by first-rate shooters and they offered me this advice: being a good wing shot on ducks requires good fundamentals, like planting your front foot toward the bird. But it also requires familiarity with both your gear and birds themselves.

No amount of summertime clay pigeon shooting will replace a drake wood duck in a strong wind.

In both trap, skeet and sporting clays, you’re usually practicing with targets flying away from you at a consistent elevation. But you almost never get this shot when you’re actually hunting ducks. If the birds are decoying well, your first shot is usually at birds moving towards you on a downward trajectory. Your second shot is at birds going almost straight up, and your third shot is somewhere in the corner of their turn up and out.

When people practice shooting, they’re usually in a T-shirt, standing upright, shooting at a target going away from them. When they are put in a layout blind with birds coming at them instead of away from them, the shooting goes haywire. Not to mention a faster target and way more clothes.

Find somewhere you can practice with clays coming at you at varying speeds and angles. You can do this pretty easily with modern clay pigeon throwers, which have remotes that enable them to throw from anywhere. Or, you could really step up your practice by breaking out the old hand throwers for more variation and trickier flight patterns.

When you’re hunting water, every visible shot string is a gift with the potential for a learning experience. The obvious lesson here is your lead. Were you in front of the bird or behind it? Under or over the bird? It’s an easy visual representation of your shooting faults, and you get feedback with each miss.

Years of guiding clients for ducks and geese I have pretty much seen everything, but it’s pretty rare to see clients lead a bird too much. These birds are typically moving very fast. A lot of folks are shooting behind the birds every single shot. Especially on crossing shots where the bird is not coming straight in.

Shotgun beginners should take a crack or two on water; this can be and needs to be done safely. As folks learn how to effectively shoot a shotgun, they start to understand where the pattern is going. Go to the range and use a 24“x24” piece of cardboard, put a red circle in the middle, aim for the circle, now you know where your pattern is for your gun/choke/load.

When beginners are shooting at clay targets in the air and undoubtedly missing, they have an understanding of their pattern size or speed of the shot. But firing a few rounds at a clump of cattails on the water gives beginners some context of what’s coming out the other end of the barrel.

I know this will probably upset some, but it’s so very true, because I see all sorts of waterfowl hunters do this. One day they shoot #4 shot through an improved cylinder at ducks and the next day they shoot BBs through a full choke at geese. For the record, #4 shot are Black Cloud High Velocity 11/8-ounce, shooting 1,635 feet-per-second and the BBs are a standard 1™-ounce, shooting 1,450 feet-per-second. Personally, I’m not a fan of changing loads like this. Unless you’re hunting enough to build up a knowledge of each load and choke tube, I think it hurts more than it helps.

I’ll concede that you don’t want to shoot #4 shot at geese or BBs at wood ducks, but I still think more consistency in your load and choke combo is important, especially regarding speed and cartridge model. Your lead changes with each load. One hundred eighty-five feet per second might seem insignificant, but those Black Cloud High Velocity shells are almost 13% faster than the standard 1™-ounce load. A 13% difference in your lead isn’t going to matter at 10 yards, but it’s substantial on that third shot as the birds peel out.

I also think it brings more confidence to know how your specific choke and shell combination patterns are. I’ve shot Black Cloud for almost 10 years now, so I know what to expect from my gun, choke, and load combination. Most of the best waterfowl shooters I know stick with one choke tube, and one or two loads.

Here is my last piece of advice for the day. Practice properly, watch your misses, and stick with an ammo and choke you’ve patterned and tested. Practice with the load you plan on hunting with. You would never be going deer hunting with a target load for your 06, you would hunt with your hunting load. Practice with a load and the way you plan on hunting.

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For the first time in a long while, I am pretty excited for bird season this year. Well, let me say waterfowl. ...