Yes and no, Stan. Slow, with large pellets works better than small pellets are slightly higher initial velocity. And large pellets retain down range energy better than smaller pellets. The real key is multiple trips to a pattern board at different ranges. Give me several large shot hits, in the vital areas rather than many more non lethal hits by smaller pellets. Speed does not kill as well as retained energy.
Late season doves are fully feather, mature birds and much harder to kill than the "virgins" of opening day. On top of that they flying fast, with winds at their backs and with fully season of experience of staying alive. Kill a limit of late season birds and you have done something. I am happy with large(r) pellets, which pattern well for me in tight choked guns. I find faster loads seem to rarely pattern better than slower loads for me. My mentor use to tell me drive a load too fast and all you do is blow the patterns. So I work to find the tightest, most even patterning loads for hunting use. If that is 1150 or 1250 I do not care. But more times than naught my experience has been 1150-1225 seems to be the sweet spot. For hunting I load for single purpose and do not care if the hull is used up after just a single use, unlike when I am shooting clays when I try to find a load which I can use multiple times in the same hull.
