I'm late coming in on this, having been out of pocket a few days, but have found that lead #5's is hard to beat for tower shoots just as it is in the field when dealing with wild flushing birds & long shots.
It is presumptive, at least in my experience, to assumme that the persons on adjoining pegs will kill every bird flying in their sector; they will not. And also to expect that somehow tower birds are automatically direct overhead incomers; they often are not, some to many being more on the order of crossers when shooting all comers.
Where we shoot tower birds shot size is not restricted & having the ability to 'poach' an adjacent peg is not considered unsporting, particularly if the bird is borderline within a given peg's propietary area. I realise this was not in the original question, but tower shoots can be a good place to use up any left over lead duck loads one may have on hand.
At the end of the morning's shoot, the bag is divided equally. I am always in hopes of NOT receiving any birds that were felled with a load of #7.5' as their breasts can sometimes resemble a salt shaker's top. #7.5 shot can certainly kill pheasant, but if the bird is well centered, it will always prove less desireable for the table, IMHO. FWIW, lead 5's seldom remain in the bird.
kind regards, tw
