Wing Shooting Lead - How to Lead a Target

     Hunting Mourning Doves has long been a family tradition here in the South. In fact, at one time, the birds were so numerous here that hunters viewed dove hunts as social events which often included large gatherings of friends and family members as well as barbeques and coolers full of beer at the end of the day. Consequently, because dove hunting does not require long hours of sitting motionless in a tree stand but instead provides young shooters with plenty of fast paced action, it often serves as many a young hunter’s introduction to the sport of hunting. In fact, on a good day on a good dove field with enough hunters to keep the birds flying, it can sound more like a small arms war than a dove shoot!

     However, despite the fact that most dove hunters use a 12 ga. shotgun with either size 7 ½ or size 8 shot combined with an Improved Cylinder or Modified choke, they still have an inordinate amount of trouble hitting their target! In fact, as a general rule, most dove hunters fire four rounds for every bird hit and thus, ammunition manufacturers eagerly anticipate the opening dove season each year as they watch their sales drastically increase! Yet, it never fails that there is that one hunter who has somehow magically figured out the correct amount of lead for every bird and thus, he seems to be able to put down at least two birds with every three shots! But, if you ask them how it is that they are so successful at hitting a target the size of a tennis ball moving at just under the speed of light, all you ever get is a vague answer such as “I just put the barrel in front of the bird and pull the trigger” or “If you are not hitting them, then you are probably shooting behind them”. Unfortunately, that is not particularly helpful to a frustrated wing shooter and thus, what is actually needed is a definitive answer to the question of exactly how much to lead a moving target? However, not everyone has the necessary genius level math skills needed to account for all of the different variables in such an equation such as the distance to the target, the speed at which the target is moving, and the muzzle velocity of the shot load; especially since the shot slows at it travels through the air and thus, its speed is constantly decreasing!

     So, just how much do you lead one of Nature’s little rocket powered aviators? Well, for those of you who are not math geniuses, it should be possible to answer that question using logic. For instance, since the shot load is fired from the muzzle at roughly 1200 ft. per second, then logic would dictate that it can take only a fraction of a second for the shot to cover the 60 ft. to 120 ft. to the dove passing in front of the hunter and thus, it shouldn’t require more than a foot of so of lead. However, mathematics would prove that this assumption is only partially correct in that it does take only a fraction of a second for the shot load to travel that distance but, only leading the bird a foot or so would cause the shot load to arrive long after the bird has passed. So, since this assumption is apparently erroneous, the next logical step to take would be to search the Web. However, you would discover that even after hours of searching the Web and running down dead end leads, you would still not have a definitive answer to the question of exactly how much to lead a dove. But, if you are lucky, you might possibly find an obscure reference to a gentleman named Emmitt J. Nelson and/or something called Lead-O-Tables. For those of you who are not familiar with this gentleman, in addition to being an avid wing shooter, Mr. Nelson was trained and employed as a mechanical engineer and, like many of us, he too missed a lot of shots. Therefore, surely feeling frustration similar to every hunter who has repeatedly missed passing doves, Mr. Nelson decided to employ his facility with mathematics to determine just how much lead a hunter should hold depending on the size and weight of the shot he is shooting, the speed at which that shot exits the muzzle, the fact that the shot slows down over distance traveled and, last but not least, the distance to the target and the speed at which it is traveling. Thus, after somehow magically juggling all of the numerous variables, Emmitt developed an equation that enabled him to create a set of tables which he calls Lead-O-Tables that explicitly display the nearly exact amount of feet in front of the bird the hunter should hold for various sizes of shot traveling at common muzzle velocities for birds flying at different distances and at different speeds!!! In fact, all you have to do to use Emmitt’s Lead-O-Tables is first locate your shot size and the closest muzzle velocity to your round he has listed, and then follow the Miles per Hour column down to the estimated speed of the bird and then follow that row across to the estimated distance to the target and poof; the correct amount of lead is listed in feet! Thus, you would likely be amazed when you discover that a dove passing at a distance of 30 yards and flying at an average speed of 40 mph requires a lead of 5.6 feet when using size 8 shot with a muzzle velocity of 1,250 fps!!! Thus, it is clear that while the old method of “butt, belly, beak” may work when the doves are passing at very close ranges, it’s no wonder that so many hunters have fired enough shotshells at passing doves over the years to make the ammunition manufacturers rich and yet, they have only managed to harvest an average of one in four birds!

     So, thanks to Mr. Nelson, frustrated dove hunters finally have a definitive reference that enables them to determine the correct amount of lead when firing at passing birds in the form of Mr. Nelson’s book titled “Wing Shooting Lead”. So, where can you get your own copy of this magical grimoire of wing shooting prowess? Well, it can be purchased through most any major book seller such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble and, at a cost of only $15.00 or so, it is well worth every penny!

Written by,

Bill Bernhardt

Outdoor Professional

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