#4 vs #5 for short 10 ga

[Milton Starr]

After being really disappointed with #7.5 shot , im going to order probably #5 loads from rst next time for the short 10 ga . I used to hunt #4 with my 10 ga magnm and it hit like thunder , So im wondering how it will perform in the short 10 ga pattern density wise ? Im thinking with it being a lighter load perhaps it will pattern better or maybe I should stay with #5 shot . When im in the woods nothing tears through the leaves and squirrels though like a load of 4s imo . I havnt missed anything with the 7.5s but it just lacks killing power . Should I try 4s or 5s next in my short 10 ?

[CraigThompson]

I've not fired any RST shells I load all my own . But so far I've been having good luck with 1 1/4 ounce loads of #8 and #4 . It's my intention to try a 1 1/2 ounce load of #4's for spring turkeys . Possibly later on I'll try one ounce and ounce and an eighth loads in the ten with #9 for impromptu skeet or dove loads .

[wayne goerres]

I use 1oz light loads in my 10s. Squirle's don't stand a chance with #5 shot.

[Milton Starr]

I use 1 1/8 oz loads . Wayne have you noticed if the 1oz loads shoot dirtier than heavy loads ? The 1 1/8 oz loads shoot while I like them are very dirty even have the 2 shots looks like I been shooting black powder lol . I think if I went with the 1 1/4 oz loads theyd probably burn cleaner though I like the low recoil of the 1 1/8s .
Craig my thinking was when I bought 7.5# loads was I could hunt and use them on skeet but I havnt even shot any skeet with the 10 ga yet . I have seen people fight over using #9s on quail Craig

[scott kittredge]

I found that 6's are the go to shot size for my 10's, 1 to 1 1/8 th oz load should work just fine, 1 1/4 for bigger jobs ,scott

[Milton Starr]

I wish ballistic products had it in stock by the box so I could try different sizes

[charlie cleveland]

milt nothing hammers a squirl or bird like a no4 but for all around use the 6 is the best shot as already stated but there is no satisfaction like the shot you think is best..charlie

[Paul Harm]

Milton, you're probably gonna have some unburnt powder with light loads. I get it with 3/4oz in the 12, but as I've always said it's only in there till the next shot then it gets blown out. Now BP - that stays in there and builds up shot after shot. Try shooting 150 BP shells in a day at clays - now you got something to clean. As well as powder there's lead fouling to get out. Ah, the joy of shooting smoke.

[wayne goerres]

Milton as far as I am concerned all shotgun powder shoot dirty. Just take a bore snake with you. One bull through the barrels and keep on shooting. Me I don't worry about it. I just clean them when I get home.

[Milton Starr]

Good point on the black powder . though I would shoot it in a pinch . My right barrel has moderate pitting so I stay away from bp . Now I cleaned my barrels in white vinegar and they don't foul with powder as bad . Wayne I really should get a bore snake my usual method is using my tipton cleaning rod and I just stuff toilet paper down the barrel and push it through . that works pretty well so far .

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I'm a fan of #5 shot for most game, other than small birds of course. I've killed a lot of squirrels with #5 and ducks too. I've even killed several geese with #5 shot when they showed up on a duck hunt where we weren't really expecting to see any. That being said, here's a limit of squirrels I killed with RST 7 1/2 in the 1 1/4 ounce load just this past fall. One was a bit of a long shot and I had to shoot him twice, the rest were one shot kills.

Destry

[Milton Starr]

I'm a fan of #5 shot for most game, other than small birds of course. I've killed a lot of squirrels with #5 and ducks too. I've even killed several geese with #5 shot when they showed up on a duck hunt where we weren't really expecting to see any. That being said, here's a limit of squirrels I killed with RST 7 1/2 in the 1 1/4 ounce load just this past fall. One was a bit of a long shot and I had to shoot him twice, the rest were one shot kills.

Destry

Those look a little but smaller than our greys But nice photo nonetheless . I love shooting squirrels . I never get more than 2 . My boss told me you cant stalk and shoot squirrels but to sit against a tree and shoot them . I might go with 1 1/4 oz loads next time aswell

[Destry L. Hoffard]

The blacks from that area are actually just a color phase of standard grey squirrels so the size is similar.

I like the heavier loads in case you get into some big fox squirrels or taller timber.

I'm kind of a stand and stalk hunter as far as they go. I walk a bit then stand and listen for a bit. If I hear something that sounds promising I'll move in that direction slowly, stopping to listen occasionally along the way. My eyes aren't tremendous so I usually hear them first, then move closer till I see a limb shake.

If you get on a nut tree that they're using heavy, your boss' prescription works fine. You can just sit there on a log and wait for them to come to you. But if they're scattered then staying on a slow move will put more in your bag normally.


Destry

P.S. I wasn't using the 7 1/2 shot out or preference, I was just out of #5 RST loads at the time. I've got some paper 1 1/4 of #6 that are good but they're 5 dram loads and out of that English gun in the picture they seem pretty hot as it's not real heavy. Figured I'd be easy on the old girl and stick with the RST that day.

[charlie cleveland]

bet them black squirls taste about like the grey squirl too..thanks for the hunt...charlie

[Destry L. Hoffard]

The squirrels from that far north aren't as tasty as ones killed down here. There's no hickory up there to speak of so they're mostly acorn fed that time of year. Later in the season it's all pine feed and they're awful.

DLH

[Milton Starr]

I hunt the same way mostly just walk through the woods . the only time I see fox squirrels down here is in pine woods, I hunt in oak woods so its only greys . I been wanting to shoot some of those small black field birds that pick over the peanut and corn fields . there was 1000s of them out today but I had to go to work :/

[CraigThompson]

I have seen people fight over using #9s on quail Craig

In central Virginia wild birds are a thing of the past .

The last 3 or 4 dozen I killed were preserve birds . I actually had to make myself shoot slower with a 28 gauge loaded with 3/4 ounce of #9's or I'd mince the birds to where they weren't fit to eat .

I used to try to shoot trap birds as soon as I saw them and pen raised birds don't stand a chance when one shoots in that fashion .

[Milton Starr]

All of our clients were pretty wealthy some have been in forbes and they expected to kill quail so the guy running the operation would buy 20,000 quail or so a year and we would release so many in predetermined spots the day before the hunt . None of the hunters were real good shots on game or shooting clays . Cant expect to shoot a gun 1 month out the year and be proficient with it :rotf: . We always hunted with a party of 4 hunters , 2 in field 2 on the carriage . Id say average kill for the day would be 30-40 birds . Now there was these two guys in their 30s killed they 130 birds , it was the owner of the plantations son . Now the owner of the plantation set a limit of 65 birds a day . But his son figured shoot as many as your skill allows in a 8hr period . one guy accidently got a box of 9s somehow and he was getting more kills and the others guys felt cheated he got 9s and all other cases were 8s . So they wanted to argue over who was going to get the 9s :rolleyes: . Id say the quail huntin we did had to be 15-20 yards sometimes less .


Craig my brothers boss is a big farmer locally and just bought a 3000 acre quail reserve he's going to bulldozer for farming land. Our deer land is right across the street and last year I noticed birds been coming across the road living in our deer woods so im hoping the rest will follow when the reserve gets deforested . Makes me a little mad . I didn't hunt quail on our place last year I just feed them milo and corn .

[CraigThompson]

Craig my brothers boss is a big farmer locally and just bought a 3000 acre quail reserve he's going to bulldozer for farming land. Our deer land is right across the street and last year I noticed birds been coming across the road living in our deer woods so im hoping the rest will follow when the reserve gets deforested . Makes me a little mad . I didn't hunt quail on our place last year I just feed them milo and corn .

Milton are you in Carolina or Georgia ?

Perhaps you can hook me up with someone in Carolina so I can pop a deer !

I wanna shoot one on a drive down there with a shotgun and buckshot . I don't care if it's a doe , spike or the new worlds record I'd just like to pop one with a side by side shooting buckshot on a man drive or a hound drive . Do the Archibald Rutledge thing so to speak LOL's !

[Milton Starr]

Craig I am in South Ga , I see your in Virginia I was born in Norfolk .
There are plenty of old school plantations down here that most likely offer the hunt you describe . in fact I heard them countless times during deer season of them chasing deer with dogs and hunting with buck shot probably a few hundred yards from here . Craig everyone hunts in my county . While you can hear guys hunting with dogs to the east I could hear guys shooting ducks to the south and quail hunters to the north I kid you not .

I don't know what type of budget you have but I Know of 2 highly respected plantations locally if your interested .

[CraigThompson]

Craig I am in South Ga , I see your in Virginia I was born in Norfolk .
There are plenty of old school plantations down here that most likely offer the hunt you describe . in fact I heard them countless times during deer season of them chasing deer with dogs and hunting with buck shot probably a few hundred yards from here . Craig everyone hunts in my county . While you can hear guys hunting with dogs to the east I could hear guys shooting ducks to the south and quail hunters to the north I kid you not .

I don't know what type of budget you have but I Know of 2 highly respected plantations locally if your interested .

My budget is meager compared to most on this forum :rotf:

Are you close to Savanah ?
My pop was stationed down there for awhile at Savanah in the 50's . Seems they had an AFB there back then .

I shot skeet a few times with an older gentleman from Macon Georgia . He was a first team All American at one point and when I was shooting I think he made the senior and veteran teams fellows name was TJ Maddox . I suspect he may no longer be with us as he was late 60's I think 25 years ago when I shot with him .

[Milton Starr]

Well im 21 and work part time so I don't really even have a budget lol
Im in Seminole county close to Dothan Al or Tallahassee , Dothan is 50 miles west Tally is about 60 miles southeast . Theres so many hunting plantations down this way you could find someone who would could setup a dog hunt . I have seen quail hunts here go from 300$-2000$ a day just depends .
Deer hunts are cheaper though .

This is a locally place that is pretty big
http://www.huntsouthwind.com/

[Milton Starr]

My budget is meager compared to most on this forum :rotf:

Are you close to Savanah ?
My pop was stationed down there for awhile at Savanah in the 50's . Seems they had an AFB there back then .

I shot skeet a few times with an older gentleman from Macon Georgia . He was a first team All American at one point and when I was shooting I think he made the senior and veteran teams fellows name was TJ Maddox . I suspect he may no longer be with us as he was late 60's I think 25 years ago when I shot with him .

Macon has a amazing basspro shop ! There is a base close to savannah I have a friend who lives on it . Don't remember the name

[CraigThompson]

Macon has a amazing basspro shop ! There is a base close to savannah I have a friend who lives on it . Don't remember the name

You ever go to Albany much ?

If I'm not mistaken thats where the guys that have McWhorter Custom Rifles are located . McWhorter is the one who furnishes all the rifles for the TV show "Brush Country Monsters" . McWhorter uses mostly custom clones of Remington 700 actions (Stiller Borton etc) .

[Milton Starr]

No Its considered in general to be wise by not going to Albany .
It has a pretty bad crime rate .

[Jeff Christie]

Macon has a amazing basspro shop ! There is a base close to savannah I have a friend who lives on it . Don't remember the name

I believe the name remains Hunter. It was first Hunter Air Force Base when my father was stationed there. He was a C-124A pilot. When the USAF left it the US Army took it over to support nearby Camp/Fort Stewart GA and renamed it Hunter Army Airfield.

[Milton Starr]

Fort Stewart is what I was thinking of thanks Jeff