casts_by_fly Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Hi All, With all of the recent threads about how much lead and the like, everyone is talking about the lead being dependant on the height/distance to the bird (as well as the bird's speed). Of course all of that requires that you are able to estimate the bird's distance from you in the field. So as a corrolary to the other threads: How do YOU determine the bird's height? What estimation methods do you use? What do you do to determine if the bird is within your shooting range (height and distance)? For me, I have a couple things. For shooting range, I first like to find a couple trees or landmarks (even decoys) that mark around 35 yards (about 85% of my self imposed range limit and about the point where my choke/shot combo starts to loose punch). I know anything inside of that limit is worth shooting at. If I'm roost shooting I like to range the tops of the trees and figure how high a bird would be at a given point. As far as looking at the birds (with no reference points around) I defer to the duck hunters method of seeing the eyes. if I can clearly see the eyes of the bird, I am confident that they are inside a 40 yard range. What about you? Thanks, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbart Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Dont have a system so to speak and just play it by ear.Get it right most of the time but occasionaly fire and then curse myself and realise straight away that that bird was out of range.Its another one of those things that the more you shoot the more you can accurately judge.When you are new to it you want to have a go at everything(like an italian on a driven day).I do however use the same idea when decoying and set a decoy 35-40 yards out and this is the edge of my kill zone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Keep both eyes open and judge from experience. You lose your ability to judge distances when you close an eye. In the BASC shooting book it has a scale for pheasants, done by silhouette sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 its just down to experience as height isn't the only variable, the speed they are flying also matters and it can vary a lot depending on wind and whether they have just taken off or are slowing looking to land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Experiance is the only answer i can give you. As for seeing a ducks eyes , I doubt if I could see a mallard drakes eye at more than 20 yards off !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikee Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 from many years of experience i now use only one method of judging height, if you need to stand on tip toes shes too tall mikee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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