Originally Posted by 4ager
Sorry, but 60-70 yards out in a field is a dead bird here. The pattern is .224" in diameter at the muzzle, 30 yards, or 130 yards.

Unless I feel like being completely humbled and I take the bow...

First, I said he was 60-70 yards away, headed for a field. I don't know if he ever got to the field or not, and I never said I saw him in the field. If I had, I might have had a chance of calling him.

Second, a .224 pattern (or .177, or .244, or .257, or...) is illegal in many states, including where I hunt. With a shotgun I've only ever taken two shots beyond 35 yards, and usually I like them at 30. They fall down dead every time.

Besides, when I saw that bird at 60-70 yards, I don't think you could have shot him. He was one the move and I got only glimpses of him as he moved through the leafed-out vegetation.

But carry on.
Steve.

"I was a deerhunter long before I was a man." ~Gene Wensel's Come November (2000)
"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." ~Theodore Roosevelt