Gentlemen,
Ninety-two (92) wood pigeons is no small feat! Nor is it a small amount of shooting, even if the marksman qualifies well above the average bloke. My hat is off to a well constructed hide, great shooting and an opinion arrived at through the blunt force of reality. I would hope that Dig's memory of the day outlasts any discomfort experienced ;-)
Leo also brings to the fore a perspective that can be shared by many, who for one reason or another, are unable to sustain a day's shooting with the heavier guns. Behind dogs or directly overhead from a butt, 'power' is easily displaced by accuracy, assuming adequate shot size for the intended game is in play.
I suspect that adrenaline often offsets the thump ... up to a point. After that its becomes an aggravation, and in a worse case a flinch or even a balk. The truth is that all of us have certain limits, not all the same, but limits nonetheless. We should appreciate the honest findings and feelings expressed on this site and respect those who have arrived at their opinions through experience. Personally, I find guns below six pounds to be a challenge, and it goes beyond just balance and execution. OTOH, following a dog much of the day for a few shots requiring no more than a handful of cartridges would not cause me to wish an overly heavy gun nor one that bites at the hand that carries it. Many sidelocks are simply not comfortable to the hand when carried for any length of time, probably because they were designed to be handed to the shooter from a butt and shot, their intended function being in the shooting, not the chase as the game was frequently driven or decoyed and not found by man's best friend.
Just some idle thots on my part, not meant to be remotely argumentative, thank you. Many valuable opinions here.
BTW, pigeons, while similar to dove are exponentially at least 2 with others closer to 3 .. they take some killing, aside from simply being hit, and in the wild they are quite deceptive as their wing beat does not translate into their actual speed .. disregarding what my brain is telling me about leads and doubling it provides the desired result more often than not.
