As game has become scarce over the last many years, I have become much more concerned over the ethics of the sport and respect for the game. I try to always use a gun properly matched to the conditions. Enough choke to cleanly kill the animal and not so much to as to destroy it. We are asking the game to die for our benefit and it's demise shouldn't be wasted.
Clays are an entirely different question. I went for years changing chokes for every station, trying to optimize my shots. I then read a long interview with George Digweed. When asked about chokes, he said he shot a Beretta provided by them, but the only chokes he used were F/F which were rusted into place (his words). His reason was that he could tell within a few inches how far off he was on each shot. If he hit the top front section of the bird on a shot, then he would adjust down and back slightly on the next. Probably one of the key methods to him developing into the best wingshot in the world at the time. Once you reach that level there is not a lot of reason to change to a more open choke. However, I don't believe it is a method that is relevant to an ethical hunting situation.
|