Few ducks can go 40 mph without a tailwind. But many clay targets can do so. I picked 40 as the high end. If a bird goes slower the distance traveled by it while the shot stream blast by it decreases even more. An people forget these ultra fast hunting loads of 1400 fps are cranked up because steel slows down quickly. So 1450 may be 1200 fps or less when the shot reaches the bird.
Fact is fast shot does not stay fast for long. The target travels very little distance in the time from when the first pellet to last pellet blast by it. I find larger shot is more effective at a long distance than ultra fast smaller shot. I doubt a long shot string kills more birds than a stray pellet does.
I once shot a round with the late Wayne Mayes who was a truly gifted shooter. As a demonstration he started shouting high station 4 birds. First by breaking the very front of the bird off and proceeded to hit each successive bird slightly further back until by the last shot he dropped a tiny sliver off the rear of the bird. It was impressive and taught me he was shooting several levels higher than the rest of us. He proved that by later shooting his 100-th .410 100 straight in regerstered skeet. Ive got less than a dozen in competition. Many of us never get one or two. Luck and lumps are hard to swallow sometimes.
Last edited by KY Jon; 02/19/20 12:03 PM.
