Last Dollar, when you're in good bird country, you can be more selective about the shots you take. I'm sure that the distance of the average shot taken at pheasants is a good bit longer than the average distance at which they're killed. Reminds of the range NCO in basic training, when one of my fellow trainees asked him the maximum effective range of our M-1's. "A whole lot farther than the maximum effective range of the soldier pulling the trigger!" he answered. Same deal with pheasants. There are often opportunities for long shots at roosters, and hunters are often prepared--in terms of choke and load--to take those shots. Unfortunately, most of them aren't prepared in terms of shooting ability. Walk a little more, wait for a closer one. Most pheasant hunters would do a lot better, in terms of shooting percentage, if they toted a 12ga choked skeet with something like 1 1/8 oz 7 1/2's, and never took any shots beyond 30 yards. But too many of them think that a heavy load of 4's, or maybe even Hevi-Shot, is all that's necessary to turn them into the scattergun legend they have always dreamed to be. Very few put in enough practice to be able to hit consistently at the maximum effective ranges of their chosen choke and load.
