Wingshooting lessons set stage for future
JOHNSON CREEK - With the mercury at 92 degrees and the fields around Milford Hills Hunt Club nearing their lush, green height of glory, there was no doubt we were neck-deep in the Wisconsin summer.
But there was a hint of fall, too. A skiffs worth of waterfowl decoys spilled out on the lawn at Milford Hills. Birds flew, too, and shotguns sounded.
Hunting season was still weeks away. But for a group of students, this late July day was high time to prepare for what autumn would bring.
The occasion was a Wisconsin Wingshooting clinic organized and led by Mark Kakatsch of Oconomowoc. He was assisted by Jennifer Wirth Kakatsch, Tom Pluess, Al Shook and Doug Ziehen.
The students, who ranged in age from 24 to 60-something, were Laura Beckel, Allissa Kakatsch, Rachel Samerdyke, Jane Schmittinger and Janel Statz.
The all-female class included a range of hunting experience, but had a common goal of wanting to improve their shotgun skills.
It’s something all hunters should strive for.
The motivations for hunting are many – including to spend time with friends and family, to contribute to conservation, to connect with nature, to acquire wild, locally-sourced food – but each is enhanced by proficient shooting.
Not only does shotgunning skill help you bring home more game, but it helps avoid wounding losses, something every ethical hunter wants to avoid.
The women assembled at Milford Hills were immersed in an intensive 6hour class to raise their scattergun games. Also called “Advanced Shotgun” in the DNR’s GoWild registration system, the course cost is $25.
Portions were held in an air-conditioned classroom as well as outdoors on the lawn and at a five-stand clay target site. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, physical distancing measures and masks were employed.
The class has been offered since 2013 in Wisconsin, and is based on one run by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
It is led by volunteers who were trained and certified by the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources. Kakatsch is an avid waterfowl hunter who has led about a dozen of the courses. Ziehen, a retired DNR conservation warden, has run or assisted with more than 20.
The goal of the class is to improve shooting, improve distance estimation, increase awareness of effective shooting ranges and assist with selection of shotgun choke and ammunition for hunting situations.
It draws off research on nontoxic shot and performance with various loads and chokes, as well as studies of hunters.
Even if they don’t take a class, with fall on the near horizon all Wisconsin wingshooters would do well to incorporate the teachings of the course into their preparations for the coming hunting seasons.
One of the primary faults of waterfowl hunters is a tendency to shoot at targets beyond their effective range, Zeihen said.
According to a study cited in the course, hunters on average took their first shot at ducks at 53 yards. Goose hunters took their first shot at 67 yards.
Such a habit can result in wounded, unrecovered birds. Studies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1965 to 2001 show that duck hunters report a wounding loss rate of about 17%, while trained observers put the figure closer to 30% for ducks and 36% for geese.
Shook said he was well aware of some hunters who took pokes at birds that were “a $12 cab ride away.”
“When I mentor new hunters and we’re field hunting for geese, I tell them I don’t want them to shoot until they see dirty toe-nails,” Shook said.
Among the aspects to taking good shots, one is being able to accurately estimate distances.
To help test and teach this skill to the wingshooting students, duck and goose decoys were placed on poles at various distances. The participants looked with their “bare eyes” at the dekes, but were also asked to get a sight picture of the forms against their shotgun barrels.
This principle, called subtending, uses a fixed, known object (the end of the barrel) as a reference and can help hunters better estimate distance and guide shot selection, Ziehen said.
Perhaps most importantly, the course helped the hunters understand their abilities.
The first shooting test was on a leftto-right crossing target at 20 yards.
The exercise helped underscore the importance of leading a moving target.
The instructors implored the students to swing through and keep the barrel moving even after the shot. And if they miss, to miss in front.
As all waterfowl hunters should, the students also learned how their shotguns performed with steel or other nontoxic shot. Although they may predominantly or entirely shoot lead at the practice range, such non-lead alternative are required by law when hunting waterfowl and some other bird species, depending on location.
So as part of the class the students shot into paper at a known distance and studied the pellet patterns.
For most waterfowl hunters, Ziehen said a good goal is to take shots at birds within 30 yards.
And at such a range, it is often advisable to use a modified or improved cylinder choke, as documented in the work by shotgunning expert Tom Roster. A copy of Roster’s 2016 lethality table is posted on the DNR’s website.
Waiting for ducks or geese to work into that range is another test for hunters.
“One thing that has always been eyeopening to me is how close 30 yards is,” Wirth Kakatsch said. “It takes a lot of patience to let birds come in that close.”
After lunch, the students were presented with a variety of clay pigeons at one of Milford’s five-stand facilities. Most of the targets were far easier to hit than the left-to-right crossing birds they had been tested on earlier in the day.
That was true even though wind gusts occasionally made the clay pigeons look like “a Phil Niekro knuckleball,” Kakatsch said.
“That is definitely a lot more fun to see the targets break,” said Samerdyke, who is looking forward to hunting with her husband Paul Samerdyke this fall. “It helps my confidence, too.”
The road to self-improvement goes through a valley called self-awareness.
It was clear the students all learned a ton about their equipment and their shooting abilities.
They all improved over the course of the day, too.
“We don’t expect you to remember everything, or become an expert wingshooter today,” Ziehen said. “This is one step in the process. If you can retain these fundamentals, you’ll be way ahead and enjoy your experiences in the field that much more.”