If you're a good shot, you may be able to kill ducks farther away using the new shells. But you still need to be able to tell if birds are within range. And if you aren't better at estimating ranges at 50 or 60 yards than you are at 30 or 40, then these improved loads are only extending your wounding range.

FIRST, IDENTIFY IT
When I was a caretaker at a national wildlife refuge, I was on the water every day and learned to identify many species of ducks well out of anyone's shotgun range. I used my knowledge of where the various species lived, how they rose from the water, their wing beats, their formations and the way they held their necks in flight.

On the other hand, there were times of fog and heavy snow when I couldn't even see the ducks, let alone tell what species they were, until long after they were within range.

The bottom line is, if you can't identify the duck, don't shoot. After all, teal always look small regardless of how far away they are. And Canada geese always look big.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a pamphlet by Bob Hines called Ducks at a Distance: A Waterfowl Identification Guide. It's an excellent aid for learning how to distinguish various species of ducks and geese from one another.

It tells you how to use birds' size, shape, plumage patterns, wingbeats, maneuvers and flock patterns to identify them. View this guide online at www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/duckdist/index.htm.

To become good at identifying birds on the wing, it takes considerable experience in the field -- scrutinizing the distinguishing marks and watching the way they fly. But these days, very few hunters accumulate enough experience to become skilled at it. In fact, a recent report says that the average waterfowler hunts only five or six times a year.

You need to get out in the water and look at birds.

BOUNDARIES HELP
The easiest way to become better at determining if ducks or geese are in range is to establish a "killing zone" -- that is, the area within which you can routinely put a lethal amount of shot into a duck.

For a number of years, I lived on a salt marsh and learned that ducks on the far side of the slough were too far away, but that ones over the oyster bed were within 40 yards.

You can do the same thing at the places you hunt. Mark off all the permanent features in every direction you shoot. Once you have an "atlas" of known distances, you can hold your fire until birds are over one of those landmarks.

Obviously, this is harder to do if you are another hunter's guest, are hunting an area for the first time or if you usually hunt on a public land where you get assigned a blind by lottery. In these situations, you'll often arrive in the dark and never really see your surroundings until moments before legal shooting time.