Many graduates of the Poke-'n-Shoot School were absent the day that Rising Bird Targets was taught and have been faking it with varying degrees of success ever since. You know who you are. And how, over the years your dog has come to envy those whose masters know the Rising Bird Secret. Wise men seek their counsel. They walk more erectly. Their voices seem a notch lower. Commands are firmer. Others defer to their wishes. Beautiful women (sometimes even their wives) are attracted to them. Rising Bird knowledge confers this kind of power. Is it not worth having? Your call.

The social trade-off here is that hunting partners may start to pull away from someone who can command and put such knowledge to use in the field. If it's true that knowledge is power -- and this is demonstrably provable -- then what follows has the power to change your life, change the way in which family, friends, your dog and society perceive you. Such knowledge is not to be bandied about or commonly flaunted. It's to be savored like a single malt whisky. It's a talisman to keep you safe from occasional moments of self doubt. In a society awash in mediocrity, you will stand out as a pinnacle of excellence. Will you accept this responsibility? Do you promise to use this power only for good? If you wish to be initiated into the realm of Rising Bird Technology -- if you are ready to accept the responsibilities that society imposes on such power, read on.

The Rising Bird Secret
This knowledge has been artfully concealed from you by a generation of rifle-shooting writers who would have you believe that rifle marksmanship technology is transferable to shotgun use. It is not. Those who gaze at shotgun patterning boards and pretend to be gathering wisdom therefrom have day jobs composing astrology charts, casting horoscopes and designing place mats for Chinese restaurants. Rifle and pistol shooting are two-dimensional activities. Shotgun marksmanship is a three-dimensional sport. The projectile (and referred to hereafter as the shot string) that comes out of the end ot your shotgun muzzle has length and breadth and depth. If you are shooting a 12 or 20 gauge or .410 -- and measured from the first pellet to the last -- the shot string is from 12 to 15 feet long. If it is a 16 or 28 gauge, the shot string is 8 to 10 feet long. You take targets by positioning the shot string where the target is most likely to fly into it. In the case of the rising bird you must shoot above the target. Western quail, grouse, pheasant, woodcock and the low house on the skeet field are rising targets for the first 15 - 20 yards of flight. Bobs don't usually rise as high or as fast, but the same rules apply.

Hie yourself off to the skeet field for a practice round. Stand on Station 7 (where the bird comes out at 60 mph from under your right arm). Ask to see a bird. Note its upward line of flight. To consistently break this target you must cover it with the end of the muzzle and fire. Blot and shoot. Clank, Bang! Speed kills. You will break this target (and game birds as well) consistently because you are positioning the shot string above the line of flight.

As you walk triumphantly across the infield to Station 1, visualize now a dove passing overhead going away from you -- and that bird is coming out of the high house and departing your neighborhood at 60 miles an hour. This is a falling target despite what your eye is telling you. To break this target you must position the shot string beneath the target. You will consistently take this target (and departing doves, in like fashion) by aiming 6 or 8 inches under the target. You've learned to make it easy for the target to fly into your shot string. Put your gun away and on the drive home, celebrate the knowledge that you know more about practical shotshell ballistics than 98.6% of all outdoor writers. You know why you hit and you know why you miss. And remember -- Never practice shooting -- always practice hitting.

Gilding the lily
Now that you know that the shot string is cylindrical in shape, you may wish to consider the dynamics of its diameter, density and length. Shot string diameter is controlled by the choke constriction at the end of the muzzle. At 15 yards the pattern diameter of Improved Cylinder, Modified and Full chokes will be about: 20", 15" and 11". About the size of a Large, Medium or Small pizza. Always order the Extra Large -- Cylinder or Skeet -- if you like to dine on game birds. Get the biggest pattern you can get for short-range targets. Shot string density and length are pretty much a factor of shotshell quality, shot size and gauge. Generally speaking, bargain ammunition has poor cushioning material and chilled (soft) shot, 20% of which deforms on discharge and never gets to the target area. Magnum (overloaded) ammunition increases shot sting length, recoil and changes patterns -- seldom for the better. Smaller shot sizes take more game because it increases the chance of head/neck hits. The best off-the-shelf shotshell choice is name brand skeet ammunition in #9 shot which give you hard (high antimony=minimum deformation) shot with moderate loads and superior patterns.

You may well ask why everyone does not shoot 16 or 28 gauge guns for the shorter and more desirable shot string lengths that their moderate loads produce. Beats me.

A 28 gauge 3/4 oz. skeet load has 439 #9 hard pellets in a short shot string. A 20 gauge bargain-bought 7/8 oz. load has 358 #8 cheap shot which offers lots of deformity plus less density in a longer shot string. Pretend you're a quail. Which would you rather fly against? On the other wing, if you have to fly against a 16 gauge 1 oz. hard shot load of 585 #9's in a short shot string, don't be a quail or a dove. Be an out-of-season 80-yard hen pheasant or a Cessna. Live to rise another day.