there was a contagious disease about, killng hogs. It's spread by starling scat. So whenever he had a clear shot at a gaggle of birds on the ground, he'd fire a blast of #8 birdshot (I think it was) into them. Once he did so (on an inch of snow) at abot 60 yds, killing and wounding 14 of them with one shot. The snow showed that the pattern was SEVERAL yds wide. I ran down and shot the cripples with my .22 pistol. Pellets bouncing along the ground (or on water) really have a 'fan-like" effect!