How tough IS a pheasant ????

[John Mazza]

I know some people hunt grouse with # 8 shot...so I was wondering - would I be insane to hunt pheasant (stocked birds, not the wiley wild ones) with # 7 shot (vs. my usual # 6) ????

I am using a light ( 1 1/2 dram) black powder 16 gauge load (fiber wads, no plastic shot cup) with only 3/4 ounces of shot. I am considering the # 7 shot in an effort to improve pattern density, since I lose a lot of pellets with the fiber wads & over-shot card. (...and with only 3/4 ounces of shot, there's only about 165 # 6 pellets to begin with.)

Any experience with this odd size (# 7) ?

Thanks !

John

[james van blaricum]

John: I am not sure I can answer your question but out here in Kansas land we use # 5 for both released birds and wild. jvb

[Don Kaas]

Over pointing dogs you can kill preserve pheasants with #7 shot but I would not choose to hunt these birds with only 3/4 oz of them at what I suspect will be a rather low velocity. I have hunted them successfully with an 1885 16ga Parker hammergun choked .020/.020 using 2 1/2 drams of FFG, fibre wads and 7/8oz of #6 in a Magtech brass case which I suspect would be closer to the original owner of the gun's choice of load.

[C Roger Giles]

My magic ammo is 1&1/4 oz of #5's pushed by 23gr of PB in a Double AA hull. Works wonders in any high wind conditions and on home grown of wild pheasants. I do not like #4's as the break bones and I like my phesants bones all in one piece, ie tiny bone fragments to get in the way of eating. 7&1/2's will kill if you are up close and a good shot.

PTG Roger

[Bruce Day]

I have seen people kill pheasant, wild or released, with #6 shot out of a 410 or a 28ga, when they pick their shots carefully for close in head shots. If you can't limit yourself to less than 20 yards and crossing head shots, use something with more punch. A 20ga is about as low as I go when the birds hold tight and my usual pheasant guns are 16's for early season and 12's for later. #5 shot is the prefered pheasant load.

I hunted pheasant for a while with a 28ga D. It was a crippler and I gave up and sold the gun.

[John Mazza]

Thank you all !

I think I'll stay with # 6 shot & only use this gun when hunting over dogs (hunting preserve). The shots are usually close.

For my other hunting, I have some nice parkers that I'm not afraid to load up.

(This 16 gauge is an old German drilling that has quite a bit of pitting, and it's on a very small-frame receiver. Hence the light 28 gauge load...)


(I'm a better shot with my Parkers anyway !)

Thanks again !

[Joe Bernfeld]

John, while I use 7/8 oz #6 in a 20 ga to hunt both wild and released pheasants, I think 3/4 oz #7 would be fine if you don't take straight-away shots and try to limit yourself to 30 yards or so. I like #7 for Sharptails, Chukars and Huns and I'm sure it would kill pheasants fine if you're careful!
Joe

[John Mazza]

Thanks Joe !



John

[Bill Murphy]

I would not use black powder in a pitted barrel. I would trust my barrels enough to load an ounce of #6 shot at 1150 feet per second ahead of a smokeless powder load that would produce about 8000 psi or less, a common combination. If you don't trust your gun with that type of load, you shouldn't be shooting it.

[Doug Helton]

I have shot a lot of release birds with my 28ga VHE and 3/4 oz's of B & P # 7's , the advice to keep the shots undr 25 yards and shoot for the head is sound

Doug Helton

[Dave Fuller]

In my experience, most shots at wild pheasants are going away... straight away... in a hurry! Wild birds start this going away business at 20 or 30 yards if you're lucky. Crossing shots, like you get on quail and grouse are not so common. Further, a pheasant can absorb a lot of lead in his back. Shooting small bores with small shot only wounds birds and wastes game. In my opinion 1-1/4 oz of 5 shot in a 12 ga is ideal for wild pheasants... if you can huck a 10 guage for 8 hours, even better. Pheasants also run, so leave the setter and the 20 ga at home, get yourself a springer spaniel and a F/F 12 with some 5 shot. Its the best!!

My Springer has approved this message.

[nick balzano]

I've used my 28 ga. o/u with winchester AA trap loads 71/2 shot with good success provided the shots were kept at 35 yds. and under. By the way I also always take my Brittany to use him on pointed birds.

[Phil Yearout]

While I have no factual date to back this up, here's some opinions from a group of old Kansas boys who have shot nothing but wild pheasants for 40 years or so: 1) #6 shot patterns better than #5, 2) 1-1/4oz in a 12 gauge is preferred, 3) one of us prefers 1oz of 6's in a 16 gauge, but I won't say who :cool:.

[scott kittredge]

I shoot, all my "stocked" phez with 7/8ths oz of 7's in a 12 ga ,at 1100 fps and with open choke from .010 to .000. kills them dead out to 30 yds if I hit them.:) scott

[Harold Lee Pickens]

I used #7's in my 16 gauges for stocked pheasants this year without any problems. Used both 7/8 and 1 oz loads, and really didnt care which I used. The shots were pointed birds over my setters, so were all relatively close.
Side note: used #7's, 7/8 oz for grouse this year, thinking I would have fewer cripples, and more dead in the air birds, really couldnt say they were more lethal than 7 1/2's.

[Bill Anderson]

All depends on how old it is and how you cook it. :rotf:

Bill

[William Davis]

It depends

Dog training, (Spaniels) on Chukar's last week the bird supplier threw in some Pheasants. 3/4 oz 7 1/2 out of my 20 G Parker Trojan is not a Pheasant load. If I had known about the Pheasants in advance would have put more and larger pellets on the job. Flushing dog you lose at least 10 yards before the bird gets up. Sometimes more.

William

[Richard White]

Hunting and living in Ks. for over 45 yrs. with Brittany dogs, my hunting partner and I predominantly hunted quail where pheasants were abundant (north central and northeast Ks.). We both used handloaded 1 1/8 oz. 7 1/2 shot, at 1255 fps. We killed an awful lot of pheasants and I don't believe we wounded any more than anyone using bigger shot. We took reasonable shots and were decent shots. When I hunted only pheasants I would generally use 1 1/4 oz. of 6's and can't say the wound ratio was any different, but I preferred a little more oomph. I would not have any worries about shooting stocked pheasants with 7's.

[John Dallas]

Years ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to gun Springer Field Trials. We all shot 1 1/4 oz loads with tight choked guns. Obviously, we were shooting for the dogs, but our job was to kill the birds cleanly as far from the dogs as possible so the dog's marking and retrieving could be evaluated. Many of us had our own handload recipes and shot different loads in the first and second barrels.

[William Davis]

2nd that. Training with my Boykin few weeks ago all Chukkas one shot kills 3/4 oz of 7 1/2. Two Phesants the bird supplier threw in unexpectedly, hit on the first shot feathers flying headed for thick cover hundreds of yards away. Hunted both down both flew off again in a swamp. one killed one lost. If I had used more gun would have had clean kills better for the bird and dog.

I think it's the angle plus distance that makes them hard to kill. Only answer to that is pellet size and weight.

William

[Bill Bates]

After trying 4s, 5s, and 6 shot over the years; my hunting buddy and I have settle on shooting 7 1/2 shot at pheasant, wild or pen raised. What we have found is that 7 1/2 shot seems to penetrate better collecting less feather. I mostly hunt pheasant with an English 12 gauge box lock and my favorite load is B&Ps Competition One 1 oz. load of 7 1/2s. They patterns very well in my gun (choked IC & M) and kills pheasant very dead. Even on late season wild pheasant I've found 7 1/2s work very well. Late in the season when hunting wild birds I switch to either my Parker GH or a Belgian Guild gun both with tighter chokes ( at least in one barrel the Belgian gun is choked cylinder and full) but the shot size used is still 7 1/2.

We do hunt over very good pointing dogs and we don't take that many 45 plus yard. Even in that 40 to 50 yards range 7 1/2s seem to kill well.

http://m2.i.pbase.com/o9/10/209910/1/161923522.AilF1ezs.IMG_1645.jpg

[Daryl Corona]

I agree with Mr. Bates on 7 1/2's. I work very hard to be the best shot I can be with a shotgun. We owe that to these birds. I treat a flying bird much the same I do with hunting deer. If I don't have a good , clean shot I won't take it. I don't count on large shot (4's or 5's) to punch through to to vitals. Head shots are the only way (for me) to cleanly kill a rooster. With practice on focusing on the head it can be done. I use tight chokes in my 28's, 20's and 16's and rarely use more than 1oz. of shot. I don't like picking large shot out of the breast and cutting out damaged portions of breast meat. That being said, a good dog or two is essential.

To everyone, have a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

[Bob Brown]

Would the effectiveness of 7 1/2 shot have anything to do with a higher antimony content of the shot often used in the smaller shot sizes? It would be harder and penetrate better? Also pattern better with the harder shot?

[John Dallas]

My PERSONAL opinion is that softer shot is a more effective killer, once it is on game. Harder shot will pattern better, but I think there is a phenomenon called the "Splat Factor", which means that the energy is transferred better to the game, and the shot, if it stays in the game, transfers all it's energy to the target. In my experience, I rarely find steel shot in my ducks - the pellets went through the bird, and came out the other side - therefore not transferring all their energy to the bird. The concept with highly alloyed lead shot would not be as dramatic as with steel, but I think the concept is valid

[Alfred Greeson]

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing your experiences, guns, etc. Keep enjoying, sharing and have a great New Year!

[Patrick Hanna]

What Bill Bates said on Christmas Eve. By far, the most important factor is to be able to hit where you are pointing. If you can do that, you can't go far wrong. Point at the bird's head.