"##@%&$%@#&^" Imagine me red in the face pounding my desk!!
Guys, A very bright guy gave us, I repear, GAVE US, the tool to do exactly what Stan seeks to do. All we have to do is use it; For FREE!! Stan, youse is plenty schmart to do it, too. It does require some effort. But, I repeat, BUT, it will answer above patterning questions without systematic error. Yes, I speak of Insight; very appropriately named, it is, too. If I didn't have too many projects on my plate, I'd do it. I do, so I can't. However, I will most gladly coach anyone willig to work on this project. Stan??
Ok, pardon the rant. Before Insight, such a question would have required an unrewarding amount of work - I know because I started with a hand done analysis system; it worked, but was too labor intensive.
The ethic of shooting (at) any bird at any distance is not based on the distance alone. The ethic is knowing you have sufficient pattern density of shot with sufficient retained energy and sufficient aiming error allowance to humanely harvest said bird. That is to say, put a lethal dose of shot in the same airspace as said bird. The actual yardage is not significant if you know your gun/load's real world performance and your real world aiming performance. Some people are bad enough shots that there is no ethical distance for them on live birds.
IMO, the better question is, "Does anyone know a choke/load that might be useful at 100 yards?" I don't, but would not rule out the possibility.
DDA
