I appreciate that upland and waterfowl are different worlds. Also sounds as though my waterfowl experience is about as extensive as your upland experience. When the topic of chokes comes up, I offer my experiences and, sometimes, my rationale for the chokes I use. I concluded long ago that when I cripple game, as all hunters will, I need to believe that I at least used enough gun. It's little consolation to the game, but I prefer a mangled, but very dead, bird to the disconcerting thought that I may have used too little shot and/or too little choke.
Ultimately, it's none of my business what others do, but I am curious...with 70 years experience and having mangled a duck with a modified choke.... why you chose not to use one of your open bore guns. Could it be that you, too, are more accepting of an inedible duck than one which flew away carrying a few pellets in its flesh?
