When I said 14 feet it was about three full gun lengths. These birds were not true crossers like station four at skeet but slightly incoming so they hit the field at 75-80 yards and never got closer than 65-70 yards. They were going to the exact same spot, a pond we kept in the field as a duck bank, to keep birds in the area. We never gunned the pond and let the birds remain undisturbed once they landed. They were consistently flying the same route over and over again and it was driving us nuts. As most duck hunters, who watch birds fly just out of range, we turned several ideas over about how we could shoot them.
Our lease stated we could only hunt from the fixed blinds. So moving closer was not an option. On average we would see 50 birds, mostly singles and pairs, fly the exact same pathway. Mike had a new to him, Ithaca Mag10 which he used with great effect on geese. So he loaded up some loads for ducks. His first seven or eight shots over a couple morning were clean misses. So he went back to the basics. Started out with about ten feet of perceived lead and added more ever shot. His first kill was on a bird which flew about 100 yards after the shot, then folded dead in the air. We could watch the ducks for about half a mile as the crossed the field beyond where we pass shot them. So I doubt many were well hit, that did not die before making it to the pond. He found the sweet spot of about 14’ or three long guns but also found he needed hold over to hit them. We figured the shot was falling about three feet, maybe four. If we just used proper frontal lead we rarely killed the bird, never really for me.
That farm is now filled with mega mansions and no shots have been fired on it in 30 plus years. What a shame but I still have those memories. Pass shooting birds is a great pastime which I wish I could experience again. But you need either luck or the perfect set of circumstances.
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