• Determine the effective range where their shots will reliably hit and ethically harvest game
• See if the shot pattern is evenly distributed or has gaps that could lead to missed shots
• Verify that their chosen choke and ammunition combination produces the desired spread pattern
• Confirm if the gun is shooting where they aim (point of impact matches point of aim)
• Test different loads and chokes to find what works best for their specific hunting situation

That's an excellent summary of why patterning is so incredibly important! It really highlights the ethical responsibility we have as hunters to ensure clean, humane kills. For those of you who regularly pattern your shotguns, what are some of your personal best practices? Do you have a preferred distance you always start at, or does it vary depending on the game you're targeting? I'm always curious to hear what kind of targets others find most effective for really visualizing that spread!

That's a great question! It's super helpful to hear how others approach patterning. For me, I usually start at 25 yards for most of my waterfowl loads. It gives a good baseline to see the core pattern. If that looks good, I'll then stretch it out to 35 or 40 yards, which is usually my maximum ethical range for ducks and geese. For turkeys, it's a completely different ball game – I'm typically starting at 30 yards and testing out to 50 or even 60 yards depending on the setup. As for targets, I find that large sheets of butcher paper work wonders for visualizing the entire spread, especially for seeing those "holes" people mentioned. But I also like using actual turkey head targets for my turkey gun to really see where the densest part of the pattern is hitting. What about everyone else? Do you change your approach for different gauges or specific types of ammunition (like buckshot vs. birdshot)?