THE GOLDEN RATIO

In a piece published in this week’s Shooting Times (27th February 2019) I hinted that the universally applicable test through which we can assess whether we are shooting well, and therefore as humanely as possible, might be through looking at our cartridge to kill ratio in any given situation. There is a curious intersection of lines between peak performance, minimising wounding, and testing one's ability. Some may say that different forms of shooting vary in their degree of difficulty and that different weather conditions can exacerbate those differences. I would agree but for one constant in the equation - our self-control. If you find yourself wounding more than you normally do you have it within yourself to adjust your approach. Anybody shooting live quarry should really be aiming at a cartridge to kill ratio of at least 3 to 1.

Why 3 to 1? Why do we pick that ratio? At 3 to 1, as lower percentage as it is, it is still about the end product - the bird on the table. As the ratio increases on high bird shooting estates, some of which have in the past been proud of their ratios of 7 to 1 or bigger, it ceases to become about the end product and starts becoming about entertainment on its own. When the bottom line of an entertainment industry matters more than the welfare of the bird it may have crossed the Rubicon into indefensible.

Not all steeply-sided, heavily-contoured shooting estates brag about their high ratios it has to be said. There are plenty of highly professional gamekeepers who will evaluate the team on the first drive – one that will typically be of average height for the estate. After this initial evaluation, a team of guns will then be moved to a different drive that is either more difficult or less difficult based on their previous performance.

3 to 1 is 33.3% of what you shoot at. If you can't hit 3 to 1 you need to do one of several things. 

Firstly: rein in your ego. 

Secondly: get better equipped for the task in hand. The set up that might work well on high pheasants is not suitable for East Anglian partridges and vice versa. 

If that doesn’t work then you need to seek out a lesson from a good game shooting instructor. 

3 to 1 might be the minimum, but what is the maximum. What is the zenith of performance with a shot gun?

Clearly if we were shooting clays in a competition we are looking for 100% but this is not clayshooting. We are looking for a sporting shot that will result in a clean kill but isn't so easy or so close as to guarantee to be spoilt for the table.

As we gain experience our ability increases. So does our desire to
test ourselves.  This leads us to another problem: where does testing one's ability at the limit of our skill become an unsporting shot which is highly unlikely to result in a clean kill? What is the
perfect ratio when game shooting whether East Anglian partridges
bursting over hedges or high pheasants in the West Country?

I believe it is 1.618 to 1. Let me explain why.

1.618 to 1 is otherwise known as The Golden Ratio. It is a term that has been given to a particular sequence of numbers that can be found in many discussions about perfect proportions. It has been used in painting composition, architecture, and is frequently found in the natural world. For example if you look at the way a plant grows leaves on its stem there is a chance that if it gets it wrong the leaf growing above will gather more light for photosynthesis than the one below. This is inefficient and therefore leaves the plant at a disadvantage in the race to reproduce. Those plants that grow more efficiently have the advantage, and those that don’t are bred out of existence over time. This is natural selection in operation. The curious thing is that the most efficient ratio for leaves to grow in this scenario is a spiral rotating at 1.618 to 1. 

It is not the only instance that nature employs this ratio. If you look at the base of a pine cone as the pattern of the nodes flows out in a spiral. That spiral conforms to 1.618 to 1. The mathematical sequence that gives this perfect ratio was brought to our attention in the 12th century by the son of a customs officer from Pisa. Arguably Fibonachi, as he is known to us, is responsible for bringing to Europe the mathematical system we still use today.

The sequence itself is relatively simple. It is adding numbers
together consecutively to arrive at the next number in the sequence. Thus 1+1 = 2; 2+1 = 3; 3+2 = 5; 5+3 = 8; and so on: 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377. These early numbers in the sequence, although they don’t equate to exactly 1.618:1, if plotted on a graph they are on the curve towards The Golden Ratio. For our purposes I believe the early numbers are relevant to walk round days, rough shooting days, and wildfowling. Arguably it is some of the best sport around, but chances may be fewer and further between so we try to make every one count. 8 shots for 5 birds is a cracking couple of hours walking round with dog and gun.

When 1.618 to 1 (which roughly equates to 62%) is applied to driven game shooting the numbers are illuminating. 

8 guns shooting 13 birds for 21 shots each would have a bag total of 104. Similarly 8 guns shooting 21 birds for 34 shots each would have 168. The faster mathematical brains will have already discerned that ironically you can only achieve 1.618 to 1 exactly if you fire 55 shots and kill 34 head of game. That is a very good days shooting. In fact 8 guns in a team all shooting to that ratio would have a bag of 272, an excellent day without being gratuitous. The fact that it is extremely difficult to land exactly on 1.618 to 1 is actually rather fitting as it is a guide and should not become the sole target of our effort. That should always be a bird cleanly killed that ends up on the table. It must be clearly understood that I am not advocating anyone should pass up a second shot at a bird they have wounded in an effort to preserve their ratio. I am advocating that we should practice and seek out the best advice and equipment for our chosen quarry and look to shoot our best and minimise wounding wherever possible. It is a ratio we could aim for even if it is hard to hit.

 “Ideals are like stars. We never reach them but, like the mariners on the sea, we chart our course by them.” 

Carl SCHURZ, (1829 - 1906) Union Army General, American CIvil War

The further you go along the sequence the numbers are more relevant to pigeon shooters involved in crop protection rather than shooting driven game. I have absolutely no desire to shoot 100 head of game to my own gun on a driven day. As we know, pulling the trigger is not the sole aim of accepting an invitation to shoot, and there is far more to the enjoyment of a days’ driven game shooting than killing pheasants. However, a century in pigeon shooting is seen by many of us as the magic number. It is a reflection not only of the planning and effort one has put in to setting the day up but also to the very necessity of the act in the first place. If there are enough to shoot 100 they are probably doing considerable damage to a crop.

It’s not easy to shoot 100 pigeons in a day to your own gun having
done all of the work yourself. It is down to your skill in reconnaissance and as a decoyer to bring the birds within range of your ability with a shotgun. Shooting 4 to 1 in a pigeon hide means you are not doing the job well. You are educating three quarters of what you are shooting at and making it harder to protect the crops next time you or anyone else is out. It usually means you are shooting beyond your ability, probably at birds that are passing and not decoying. 

It is down to you to adjust your approach. Try to work out why they are not coming in. Maybe you are 100 yards off the true flightline or maybe one upturned dead pigeon is acting as a flare. It might be that many of the birds have switched off the field and nothing you do will change that. If that is the case shoot only at birds that are within your ability and get back down to 2 to 1. As Archie Coates, the father of modern decoying used to say “You are doing well if you get half price”.

We all have off days, no one I know is immune to that, but it is within our power to wound as few birds as possible, and shoot to the best of our ability at the same time as challenging ourselves with sporting shots.