Can´t we hit flying ducks?

[Humpenstilzchen]

I had several occasions were I tried to shoot ducks out of the air with the miller shotgun from fairly short distance but it appears like I can´t hit them the moment they take off.

Is it just me or do they become invulnerable super ducks once they fly?

[Hanuman]

I can shoot them down with my 12 gauge birdshot. As a matter of fact, yesterday I used the .22 Klasika to shoot a duck from long range, missed and they all spooked but for some bizarre reason they left the water and flew towards me. I got two with my shotgun as they fly over.

I have killed roe deer with 12 gauge buckshot at 100+ meters, shotguns are actually really fun to hunt with imo

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by Dream Master:

I can shoot them down with my 12 gauge birdshot. As a matter of fact, yesterday I used the .22 Klasika to shoot a duck from long range, missed and they all spooked but for some bizarre reason they left the water and flew towards me. I got two with my shotgun as they fly over.

I have killed roe deer with 12 gauge buckshot at 100+ meters, shotguns are actually really fun to hunt with imo

Oh well then I´m doing something wrong. I even shot down a turkey out of the air with a compound bow yesterday, which is why i was wondering why I didn´t hit the ducks. Must have missed them somehow. Thanks for your reply.

[Lenny Rat]

Check you range, make sure you are using birdshot, and lead them a little like you would in real life. 20ga birdshot is plenty for ducks. I only use my 12ga on geese.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Check you range, make sure you are using birdshot, and lead them a little like you would in real life. 20ga birdshot is plenty for ducks. I only use my 12ga on geese.

Ok thanks for the advice! I used the 10ga miller with birdshot, the distance was about 15 meters.
I think my mistake was thinking I could aim dead on at this distance and the spread of the pellets does the job, but I probably need to aim more infront of where they are going to.

[Lenny Rat]

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Check you range, make sure you are using birdshot, and lead them a little like you would in real life. 20ga birdshot is plenty for ducks. I only use my 12ga on geese.

Ok thanks for the advice! I used the 10ga miller with birdshot, the distance was about 15 meters.
I think my mistake was thinking I could aim dead on at this distance and the spread of the pellets does the job, but I probably need to aim more infront of where they are going to.

I've found that you miss more at super close range...no time for the spread to occur, so you may as well be shooting a slug.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

I've found that you miss more at super close range...no time for the spread to occur, so you may as well be shooting a slug.

Hmm..might be..I didn´t think this way, but you could be right.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Yeah you can take them down from flight with .22 rifle rapid fire.

[CaptainNebulous]

With a shotgun you need to use a significant amount of lead (as in, aiming in front of their trajectory) to hit them at any significant range at all... unless they are flying directly towards or away from you, then you can use a bit less lead.

The same goes for the 22 although it is more accurate for a bit further of a range, but then has fairly substantial bullet drop.

For both, the combination of the animal's movement and bullet drop/inaccuracies means you need to learn to place your shots accordingly

Most of the time aiming right at a flying bird with these ammo classes won't result in hits unless they are very close. You gotta interpret where the duck will be by the time the bullet gets there, and if/how much bullet drop there will be at that range.

It is actually quite satisfying once you get the hang of it, though!

[Mr. Ed]

I've taken a couple turkeys, several ducks and a whole lot of geese on the wing using the .22 rifle so yes, it's possible to take any of the those birds while they are in flight. It takes a bit of experimentation to learn how much to lead them. (My accuracy rate suffered miserably in the process.) The first few times I managed to score left me feeling elated, like I'd really done something. Still does now that I think about it.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Thanks for all the replies. Now I know that it is just an user error, which is good, because I can work on that.

Cheers

[jimco]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1885449252