Finding out for myself.

[Dollar]

Nice pictures Phil got get out there one season.
Like the nail tool,looks like it could clean a pecan also.

[Phil C]

Bob you need to make the time some year. I know it’s hard to break away as you are busy guiding but well worth a trip.
The tool works pretty good and only cost a few pennies.

[SXS OHIO]

I am a fan of bigger shot....When we hunt Kansas for wild roosters we also get into some bob whites. No time to change loads! So we shoot the load that's in the gun. I kill my bobs outright unless wing tipped. I miss very few wild quail but I shoot sporting clays regular. I love the HV-5 shot from Fiocci. I have only lost one bob to being shot up and it flu right at me and I shot as it passed....big poof!!, nothing to eat left. That has not happened since, I let them get out there, normally they fly away from the shooter and 5-s do not shoot-M-up. I also like 5-s they are easy to find when cleaning the birds. When hunting grouse I like standard field load of 7-s but don't have any factory loads except for some 2-9/16th B&P modern vintage load or Polywad spred-R. I use mostly 7 1/2 field loads for grouse and cock. SXS Ohio

[Phil C]

For our Desert birds, Scale, and Gambles I do like 7 1/2 shot. I even bought a case of RST #6 copper plated for when we hunt the late season birds on the reservation. Lots of long shots in wide open country. It really depends on the type of country and the birds.

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by Harold Lee Pickens

Dean, one year I decided to try #9's on grouse and woodcock, as I had been given a couple cases of 20 ga AA 9's by the widow of a friend. I had to basically just throw away alot of birds as they were so shot up as to be inedible. I have since gone back to 7 1/2 and 8's, or even straight 7's. I use the rest of the 9's on clays.

I’ve used 9’s on grouse since I was 13 years old and rarely had a bird that was too shot up to eat. It all depends on where you hunt them. My coverts are very thick with shots averaging 15 to 20 yards. The thick cover absorbs a lot of the shot and you hope to get a few through to the bird. It’s all instinctive point shooting. You rarely get a clear shot. I use 9’s because of the larger number of shot in the shell. It increases the odds that some will get through to the bird.

I’ve also hunted them in Saskatchewan incidental to sharptail and hun shooting. The woods around the fields are loaded with grouse but the cover is much more open than at home and the shots longer. They are not concentrated like they are at home and you have to walk more for each flush. I use 6’s for them there since that’s what I use for the sharptails and huns. I suppose that if I used shells for that specific cover, it would probably be 8’s since the shots are more open and the range longer. However, if I was chewing up the birds, I don’t imagine that 8’s vs. 9’s would make much difference. I would probably go to 7 1/2 ‘s.

[Phil C]

I went out last week and shot some pigeons with my new Parker SBT gun. Used RST 12 gauge 2 1/2” Woodcock spreaders 10 shot 7/8 oz.
I picked 14 birds randomly from the pigeons I shot. Rough cleaned only pulled out the breast . There was a total of 29 holes from the #10’s. Some birds did have zero pellets in the breast. If a pellet went in and out I counted this as 2 holes. I did not attempt to remove shot and feathers from the holes.
Birds shot between 15 and 50 yards.Not scientific but these are the results.
I am not advocating using #10’s but I was given the 10’s by a friend and after reading pros and cons of 10 shot I wanted to do check the performance myself.
Based on what I have experienced the 10 shot is very effective and did not seem to damage the breast meat any more than if I was using other size shot.
Birds hunted, distances shot, bird presentations and shells used all effect our individual results.
This is the reason I suppose we all have our preferred shells we like to shoot.
I do not doubt for a minute the poor results others have experienced due to the many variables.
I will post pictures later this evening when I get home and have faster internet speed.

[Phil C]

[Phil C]

[Phil C]

[Phil C]