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kill percentage

3K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  njonesy_07 
#1 ·
This is a spin off from the "How many shells" thread in the Honey Hole and I think is more telling. I put it in here b/c this is where I hunt and I think is a better comparison than to compare to someone hunting in completely different conditions.

Be honest. I know there are going to be heroes out there that say they kill a bird on every shot, and those guys already don't count. For the rest of us:

How many shells do you guys average per bird over the season?

For myself, I think I shot around 7 boxes of shells this year, and harvested 57 ducks and geese total (I don't count those "community birds" that everyone shoots at but no one knows who shot it). So that is 175 rounds fired, including cleaning up cripples (mine and others), shooting crows before the geese fly, etc., and brings me to just about 3 shells/bird in hand. Not terrible, but not great.

There's always room for improvement. I better head to the range this off season, and be a little more selective with my shooting.
 
#2 ·
We started of the season with a contest to see who had better percentage, but it's hard to keep trak of. If I'm guiding I only shoot woundies, but in a real hunt situation, I would say probably 1 out of every 3 or 4 shots is a dea bird for me. I try to modest and realistic. I had one day where I shot LOTS and missed almostall of them, I'll blame the new choke tube I was trying out, but bottom line...I had a crappy day. But there were also dys when you shoot Scotch doubles (2 bids 1 shot) an really up the percentage. So I'll be real and say 1 out of 4 for me. Divers are fast you know?
 
#5 ·
I actually had already wondered myself how I had shot this year, since it was my first, so I remember that I had shot one box and I had counted the ones I had left out of the 2nd box, which was 8...so, My results are 42 shells fired and 12 birds(ducks and geese included) which equals 3.5 shots per bird.

CPT D...I know what you are thinking :huh: How many shots did he shoot at that rabbit the other day? Well it was 3, though I should have quit after the first one because of all the brush...so I still have 1/2 shot left to kill a rabbit and still meet my standards!!
 
#6 ·
I don't care how many times you squeeze the trigger and missed. dude, finding that grouse was impressive as hell. You can miss a few more times and I still won't bust your balls for it. Besides, you don't pick on a guy that looks like he bench presses Volkswagens :biggrin:
 
#7 ·
To be honest I'm not sure how many boxes I shot this year. If you shoot 5 part boxes, and shoot 4 full boxes, and still have 4 part boxes left, that is how many times I shot this season.:biggrin: I would have to say I averaged about 3 to 4 shots per bird this year. Then Again I shoot a black eagle and sometimes ya just gotta shoot and I swear the second and third round come out automaticaly sometimes. It's a disease I just can't stop myself sometimes, even though you pretty much have no chance in hell. I do hook up occasionaly which makes you feel real lucky. Then again there are the occasional day when you shoot 8 times for a 5 goose limit. :thumbsup:
 
#9 ·
Whistler, I'm like you are. Early season is fine we shoot woodies and tel and of course Mallards, and don't get me wrong they taste great. But the real hunting for me is the late season when the divers come to town. This is the first year in a while that we got into the Oldsquaws, and Scoters big time. we pick up a few a year, but they seemed to be all over this year, Brant too. Ok back to the topic sorry guys :hijacked:
 
#10 ·
I claim just about every bird that falls that keeps my percentage up there around 65-70 %. :yes:
When I hunt by myself I'm pretty close to 100% :wink:

Then on the days when my brother and I shoot 75-times and kill 6 birds I just blame it on the dogs for breaking to early, or my brother for not hiding his face. I also make it clear that it's not my fault. :biggrin:
 
#13 ·
I buy a box or two at a time, plus the shells I had left over from last year, plus I didn't count birds this year. Next year I'm buying a case of something, and I'll start a new journal (gave up on mine early this season), so I'll have a good idea.

When I think my percentage is getting too low, I just flock shoot with lead to get my numbers back where they should be.
 
#14 ·
I would say about 15% early this season, then later on it jumped up to about 30% for later on. I sucked at the beginning of the season but, during the second goose season, I shot very well as well as everyone I hunted with. Quack3XS put the hurt on some birds, donuts, and some ice too. :rofl:
 
#15 ·
Good question, but I hnestly dont know. Had 2 or 3 goose hunts this year without a miss, but the duck hunts definitly brought the average down. I would guess 3 shells per bird would be about right?

I don't even know how many birds I shot? I do know that none of them were pintails, redheads or cans.
 
#16 ·
41 birds mostly Brant,20 hunts,11 boxes of ammo.Pass shooting and crips puts a severe dent in my bird to shot ratio.Im allways willing to help out a brother with their crips too.To say Im liberal with my trigger finger is an understatement.Alltho when Im shooting the HD I go 2 or 3 to 1.Im just to cheap to squeeze away at 2.50 a shot,I get pissed when I dump 3 shells and nothing drops.
 
#21 ·
i don't know the exact percentages, numbers of shots or birds taken but I would guess on the average 1 of 3 sounds about right. this year was my first year with autoloader which took some getting use to. i noticed i would bear down on the first shot but then rush the second and would regroup for the 3rd shot if it presented itself.

nothing beats goose sausage sticks (i call them slim jims) and a couple of Black Dog beers to wash it down.
 
#24 ·
Ok harvey let me rephrase that, :rolleyes: It was full, I'm working on it, that also includes fish from this fall and mommas frozen vegies I just made up about 10lbs of Goose jerky the other night ummm ummm :thumbsup:
 
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