I concluded long ago that when I cripple game, as all hunters will, I need to believe that I at least used enough gun. It's little consolation to the game, but I prefer a mangled, but very dead, bird to the disconcerting thought that I may have used too little shot and/or too little choke.
Well said, Mike.
With a lifetime (well, not
quite a lifetime I hope
) of upland and waterfowl gunning in my rear view mirror, and all that using choked guns, I have had very few mangled birds beyond use. If we all agree that it is unethical to take a shot at a bird that is too long, especially when a cripple may be unrecoverable, why can we not agree that it is also the trigger-man's responsibility to also refrain from taking a point blank shot? I often wait a second until the bird has put a slight distance between itself and me when using very tight chokes.
I control my trigger finger, the amount of choke in my barrel doesn't.
SRH
