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skybusting

4K views 39 replies 17 participants last post by  Bill Herian 
#1 ·
im guilty! dont want to be that guy but sometimes it happens. i set my decoys 25 to 30 yards out so i know the killing range
out front but have trouble sometimes telling how high they are; especially one rainy or hazey days. i know to wait
untill they almost land on me but passing birds throw me off. if i miss early ,i hesitate and pass up possible good shots.
my 12 year grandson now is a hunter and i want him to be a better hunter then i am SO how do you tell when too high is too high?
please everyone pass on your tips! this is the kind of topic this forum is perfect for.(maybe the dbs who skybust and dont care
will read and get the hint)
thanks,merlyn
 
#6 ·
Best advice I ever got was to go and get a couple waterfowl ID books. Study them. And don't pull the trigger till you know what you're shooting at.

By the time you ID the duck, especially if you are new to the game they are almost certainly in range. I let a lot of birds get away by doing it this way but I'm feel I'm better off for it now. You get to know alot about the birds we hunt by NOT shooting.

You learn what a flock of teal looks like compared to woodies. You learn how birds cut and dive when you aren't worried about trying to shoot them. They all seem to fly slower too when you aren't looking down a gun barrel. In the long run your ID ability gets much better and you'll be able to tell what they are at a much further distance. Coincidently, that's usually when your shooting improves too. It all takes time.

Depending on his shooting level, you can try to have him use his barrel as a rangefinder. If the barrel blocks out the whole bird when you try and cover it, it is toooooo far. Try showing him that when the barrel covers only the body of a mallard and you can see wings flapping on the sides of the barrel you are good to go bang!!

If you really want to teach your son some good habits that will last a lifetime, put your gun down while he is hunting and coach/mentor him. As the birds come in, talk him through the process. Help him ID the birds. Remind him to pick a single bird and shoot at only that bird until it falls. Watch him as he pulls the trigger, not the birds. Give him feedback like "you stopped swinging through, you lifted your head off the stock, ect." Don't worry about watching if the bird was hit. You'll know that answer by the look on his face. You're going to remember the look on his face long after you forget how many birds he killed on such and such day.
 
#7 ·
thanks! i especially like the one about seeing their legs! i use the la masters guide and dont have a problem knowing what kind
of birds they are, i do however have a problem telling hens from drake mallards early season .any more tips on judging distance
on flying birds are very welcome.
merlyn
 
#8 ·
Another thing to mention is pass shooting. In my opinion it is the same as sky busting. Try and get the birds to work your spread and get them to land. Don't just shoot at them flying by. Part of this sport is trying to convince the bird that your spread is full of live ducks. Once the birds lock their wings and commit to your blocks look for their feet and shoot. It's a great sport that can by ruined by young trigger happy kids in a heartbeat.
 
#9 ·
My old man handed me 3 boxes of shells and let me shoot at everything I wanted to shoot at when I was 12 years old. It didn't take me long to realize I wasn't bringing down any ducks from a 100 yards. After a year of hunting I wasn't taking any shots longer than 40 yards and most times a lot closer than that.

My advice is don't worry about the great sport hunter purists. Let the steel fly and learn from experience. The only way you develop into a better shot at all ranges is by making killing shots and learning from the experience of what drops birds.

Just go have fun and every once in a while put some meat on the table.
 
#11 ·
gatorsnagger said:
My old man handed me 3 boxes of shells and let me shoot at everything I wanted to shoot at when I was 12 years old. It didn't take me long to realize I wasn't bringing down any ducks from a 100 yards. After a year of hunting I wasn't taking any shots longer than 40 yards and most times a lot closer than that.

My advice is don't worry about the great sport hunter purists. Let the steel fly and learn from experience. The only way you develop into a better shot at all ranges is by making killing shots and learning from the experience of what drops birds.

Just go have fun and every once in a while put some meat on the table.
WRONG answer bud! Learn your distance at the range. Practice killing not educating the duck on the marsh. That's why they call it hunting. We are hunting ducks and geese not just (letting the steel fly) shooting at them.
 
#12 ·
DKMF said:
WRONG answer bud! Learn your distance at the range. Practice killing not educating the duck on the marsh. That's why they call it hunting. We are hunting ducks and geese not just (letting the steel fly) shooting at them.
Enough with this silliness.

Should we make everyone pass a marksmanship test before being allowed to hunt? Bad calling educates birds too. We should have a panel of judges that decide who gets to own calls.

Get out there, have fun, and start climbing the learning curve. If a few birds get crippled or "educated" along the way, its a small price to pay for a great lesson.
"
I'd tell some of you guys to get down off your soap box, but I'm afraid you'd hurt yourselves.
 
#16 ·
mikeg1005 said:
BurnettGunner said:
At a minimum, you should be breaking 49 out of 50 clays on the course before you ever set foot in the blind.
99.9% (probably including yourself) of people would not be hunting if this was a requirement. When you consider that breaking into the 90% range of clays hit is rare at major sporting clays events.
It was sarcasm bro...
 
#17 ·
B.E.Nelli said:
mikeg1005 said:
BurnettGunner said:
At a minimum, you should be breaking 49 out of 50 clays on the course before you ever set foot in the blind.
99.9% (probably including yourself) of people would not be hunting if this was a requirement. When you consider that breaking into the 90% range of clays hit is rare at major sporting clays events.
It was sarcasm bro...
I know, but it does stem from the truth that some people think you should be a professional shooter to hunt or carry a gun.
 
#19 ·
Bill Herian said:
DKMF said:
WRONG answer bud! Learn your distance at the range. Practice killing not educating the duck on the marsh. That's why they call it hunting. We are hunting ducks and geese not just (letting the steel fly) shooting at them.
Enough with this silliness.

Should we make everyone pass a marksmanship test before being allowed to hunt? Bad calling educates birds too. We should have a panel of judges that decide who gets to own calls.

Get out there, have fun, and start climbing the learning curve. If a few birds get crippled or "educated" along the way, its a small price to pay for a great lesson.
"
I'd tell some of you guys to get down off your soap box, but I'm afraid you'd hurt yourselves.
Speak for yourself.
A few is far different than everything that is flying past you. yes you have to practice to learn. If it don't work the first few times then stop doing it....

YES you should practice just as you do for bow hunting, I don't no why ethics need to fly out the door for waterfowl. Youth and adults practice shooting there bows, sight them in, and wait to take an effective kill shot. Shoot why not just let arrows fly.... You can shoot along ways with a bow..... Go have fun, sling an arrow at anything that is walking or running past you, part of the learning curve.

Enough with the silliness is right, don't be stupid. bad calling will educate ducks far less than blasting a gun at them. Blowing a duck call wont sink a couple pellets into a bird. Just because you didn't drop the bird doesn't mean you didn't hit it. It may very well die later on from the "fun" you speak of.

The foiles youth......
 
#20 ·
Of course you practice with your bow before hunting, but shooting that foam target ten thousand times still doesn't compare to the experience you gain by shooting at a deer, whether you kill it or not. You make preparations as well as you can, but the only way to get good at killing stuff, is by killing stuff.

koonce727 said:
ust because you didn't drop the bird doesn't mean you didn't hit it. It may very well die later on from the "fun" you speak of.
Practice what you preach. Henceforth you shall only take 6 shells with you when you go hunting.
 
#21 ·
Bill Herian said:
Of course you practice with your bow before hunting, but shooting that foam target ten thousand times still doesn't compare to the experience you gain by shooting at a deer, whether you kill it or not. You make preparations as well as you can, but the only way to get good at killing stuff, is by killing stuff.
That is a TERRIBLE... TERRIBLE. Mindset.

Have some respect for the animal... if you are going to kill it, kill it. Don't have it suffer because you want to experiment.

There is plenty enough "experience" out there from mistakes, listen to people and learn from them instead of reinventing the wheel at the expense of game.
 
#22 ·
Bill Herian said:
Of course you practice with your bow before hunting, but shooting that foam target ten thousand times still doesn't compare to the experience you gain by shooting at a deer, whether you kill it or not. You make preparations as well as you can, but the only way to get good at killing stuff, is by killing stuff.

koonce727 said:
ust because you didn't drop the bird doesn't mean you didn't hit it. It may very well die later on from the "fun" you speak of.
Practice what you preach. Henceforth you shall only take 6 shells with you when you go hunting.
I sure do, def take more than six but I don't need three boxes of shells to measure a hunt. We shoot birds that decoy and teach the same to the youth we take with, we loose very few birds, and educate far less birds than the yahoos blasting at anything that's brown. Also allowing birds to decoy you have a better chance of a positive id of the specie before you shoot, another problem I see. Shoot first, identify second. There's more to this "fun" than shooting at everything and if you can't show that to someone else then shame on you. We also practice sporting clays and push that As well on the youth that are involved with us.

Some people are lazy and are fine with whatever and call it fun. Big reason this sport has become a joke and a zoo show on public grounds. Who in there right mind would take someone out whose never shot there shotgun at moving targets. Purely stupid. Like I said before why do proper practices go out the door with waterfowl. Load up and hope for the best ey. Would have just as good of a chance closing your eye and flock shooting.
 
#23 ·
mikeg1005 said:
Don't have it suffer because you want to experiment.
Where did I say that?

Whether its ducks or deer, wounding animals happens, despite your level of experience, despite everything we to avoid it. Practice can only get you so far. The only way to learn your limits, or what shots are marginal, is to take them. I learned a whole lot more from the buck that I hit last year and didn't recover, than i have from all the deer I've killed combined. It wasn't a marginal shot, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it. If your any kind of sportsman, it won't take too many lost animals to learn when to pass on a shot. Just speaking from experience.

koonce727 said:
I sure do, def take more than six but I don't need three boxes of shells to measure a hunt. We shoot birds that decoy and teach the same to the youth we take with, we loose very few birds, and educate far less birds than the yahoos blasting at anything that's brown. Also allowing birds to decoy you have a better chance of a positive id of the specie before you shoot, another problem I see. Shoot first, identify second. There's more to this "fun" than shooting at everything and if you can't show that to someone else then shame on you. We also practice sporting clays and push that As well on the youth that are involved with us.
I say I agree with just about everything you said here. If someone wants to skybust, or shoot before they identify, that's their business. And I won't be hunting with them.
 
#25 ·
I was hunting in the Dells area from school in Ripon and i have been witnessing some of the worst skyblasting this season. First day of my season was sunday opening weekend and i got peppered once and my decoys got sprayed as well. Talk about scary. Then this weekend i was in the dells like i said earlier and it seemed like all the ducks wanted into my spread but unfortunately majority never got a chance to make their way over because people taking pot shots at them as they were coming. I was mad, but out of the few that got actually knocked down i hope those people needed the birds. Safe hunting everyone and if the ducks are not working YOUR spread or you cant tell the species of duck from where u are at. Don't shoot.
-DellsDucks
 
#26 ·
Bill Herian said:
Practice can only get you so far. The only way to learn your limits, or what shots are marginal, is to take them.
That is terrible advice and bound to create a lot of skybusters out of rookies. Steel can only kill effectively to about 40 yards. Figure out how far 40 yards is. Go to a football field if you have to. Use land marks when you are hunting to judge distance.

Once in a while you will get "the golden bb" and drop a duck that is far out of range so telling someone to figure it out by taking marginal shots will likely create some life long skybusters.

If in question let it go. If you can't decoy enough birds to get close shots where you don't even need to question the range then you really don't deserve them. Find somewhere better to hunt or learn how to be a better hunter. Do not take long or questionable shots that may wound a bird that will not be found.

Skybusters hurt everyones hunting including themselves.

Merlyn you want to teach your grandson how to be a better hunter I suggest teaching him that hunting is not about killing or "stacking" up numbers. It is about the whole experience. Teach him to respect the resource and hunt in ways that will limit the amount of lost birds. ie shooting at birds decoying in range.
 
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