I don't know how many of you guys on here are bird hunters, but I have a question regarding what kind of shells to get. I'm going to be going out Thanksgiving morning and the day or two after Thanksgiving, and I have very little knowledge about what loads I should use and what shells are good because I only hunt deer/turkey primarily. We'll be hunting quail/pheasant, and I'll be using a 12 gauge. If any of you have any recommendations or info it would be greatly appreciated because I'll probably be going tomorrow to get a box or two of shells.
A good shot size for Quail is 8 shot. A good shot size for Pheasant is 6 shot. So if you are looking to only buy shells that will kill both of those birds then I would buy 7-1/2 shot. Otherwise I would buy a box of each of the shells listed above and load up what you intend to hunt. Remember to check what choke you have in your gun to make sure you have the correct choke in for the distance you intend to shoot at. Modified choke is a good happy medium for those birds. Unless you plan on hunting pheasant and they will be getting out there a ways, you might want to put a full choke in. But then your pattern will be real tight at short distances. Use 2-3/4" length shells. Any other questions let me know.
My uncle shoots birds all over the world... He shoots heavy load 7 1/2 and modified for pretty much everything except waterfowl. If a pheasant or chukar is too far away he just doesn't shoot at it. I killed a turkey with 8 shot once during the fall season. My brother shoots 9 shot on quail and chukars. I think the advice to just stay with 7 1/2 is perfect and don't shoot beyond your range (35 yards or so is probably beginning to push it on pheasant). Hope you have a great time hunting.
+1, I would go with 7-1/2, it will kill both. Make sure that wherever you go, you check whether or not lead shot is allowed. I know there are a decent number of public pheasant grounds where lead shot isn't legal. Make sure you wear a pair of comfortable boots and two pairs of socks too. It will help keep your feet from getting blisters.
If your hunting behind dogs enjoy...........the most enjoyable part of bird hunting to me is watching the dogs work.
Thanks for all of the info guys! It's been helpful and I really appreciate it. I will be hunting behind dogs, and I'm pretty excited to watch them work. My girlfriends dad has 3 German Wirehairs that are pretty good bird dogs from what I hear and it will be pretty cool to watch.
If the dogs end up being bad....drop her. The only thing worse than a girl with no bird dogs, is a girl with bad bird dogs. Promise.
I always buy Federal "Pheasant's Forever" loads. I like that a portion of the proceeds goes back to a great cause. Plus they are great loads for upland game birds.
Fiochi markets a brrand of shells called pheasant max. They run $10 a box and are really good shells.
