All of the above (O'Connor; Sell; Zutz et al) had a certain decided mystery/windbag factor to their writing. Sufficient time has passed and technology has advanced to the point where we are now reading empirical findings (e.g., Sherman Bell, Tom Roster and Bob Brister) backed up by enhanced educational status of the authors way beyond the "me and Uncle Fred" delivery of stories brought back from the field by their predecessors. No. 10 and 11 shot were indeed the choice of experienced railbird hunters, who counter-intuitively used the most open choke they could find for this very fine shot. The result was a pattern at 25 yds. that resembled more of a shadow than an image of individual shot holes on a paper. They knew what others only guessed at: dense, uniform patterns of tiny shot virtually blanketed the game without tearing the flesh to pieces, essentially guaranteeing a kill from multiple hits on the quarry.
