I'm in the Bruce/Bill camp. For the last 40 years I've hunted pheasants from Kansas to California. I see no reason to bring a 28ga other than to shoot preserve birds. I guess if you're were willing to pass on most flushes I could see bringing one as a novelty. I love my 28's and will hunt with them this fall... but certainly not for wild pheasants.

My experience with a 28ga is that they were seldom dead in the air and I had to use the dog, and they'd run and sometimes we would find the cripple and sometimes not.
I think respect the game and use either choose your shots with a 28 very carefully or move to a bigger gauge. Parker never intended the 28 to be an all around gun.

You can kill a deer with a 22 cal bullet also, but should you?

Save the 28 for what it was meant for; quail, doves, snipe, rail, etc, or use it around Winner or Mitchell at those places where they release the birds early in the morning. At least that's what we used to do when I helped out on a preserve. If you put them out the previous night, the coyotes, foxes and bobcats got them.

The 28 gauge has over late years benefited much from improved components.It took awhile for the manufactures to include these improvements in the 28 gauge.Many think in terms of these older 28 gauge shells.Do not sell the 28 gauge 1 ounce load short.In the 28 gauges I have tried it in the one ounce load patterns well.


Have been using the 28 gauge in the field for over forty years and with the right load the 28 gauge is capable of doing many things.Just my opinion.

Pheasants should be hunted with a 12 ga, 5 shot, and a spaniel! There, that should make for some lively "differences of opinion."

As Bill elegantly says, lightning has indeed struck the forum. I agree with Bruce/Bill overall. I'd add that the better the shot you are, the smaller gauge you can get away with using on wild pheasants. Afterall, you're sending the same size shot out at the same velocity; there's just less of it in a small gauge gun so you have to be good. My neighbors hunt geese up here with 20ga guns exclusively, mom, dad, and the kids, and they rarely fail to limit out. They're just good shots and don't skybust. I feel that I personally need a 10ga with 2oz of #5 shot to bring wild flushing wild roosters down; I'm just not that good a wingshot to reliably get good head shots. I do however use my 28ga w/3/4oz loads on preserve birds with devastating effect because our preserve birds up here mostly hold tight and are just not strong fliers at all. Even I could likely do just fine on them with a .410. I'd not argue with Dave's post on ga. and #5 shot, but I much prefer a pointer to a spaniel, but Trigg's GSP Dodger would spoil any bird hunter in short order, I assure you. I really hope to participate in Bruce's late season midwest pheasant hunt someday and will most definitely not bring a 28ga along.

I do most of my hunting on preserve birds, there aren't too many places to find wild birds here in southern New England. The birds are pretty dumb and hold tight, I'll give it a try and bring a 12 ga. along with me. Richard, I bought this gun from Trigg, and I believe he mentioned in passing you had shot some pheasant with it on a visit a while back. Thanks for the advice, I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Chris

That would be the 28" BTFE SST gun? I shot shortly after my shoulder surgery and before I had my own 28ga. Very nice gun if I remember right. I wore a down parka for padding and had to carefully get the gun all the way up before they kicked the birds up. Don't remember that I missed any.

Chris, where are going to be hunting? State and county or town?

If its out here on the plains, people from other areas often don't realize wind is almost a constant out here, and we hunt in 10-15mph winds frequently and up to 20-25mph. The birds get even more skittish in the wind, and you have flushes at 25-35 yards despite a pointing dog trying to hold them. Within ten feet of flight, they are going 40mph with the wind and you are trying to make a 40-50 yard shot.

Not for nothing do we have the world's largest concentration of wind farms out here for power generation.

If there is a good guy who want to hunt north of the SoDak Glacial Lakes along the NoDak border in early December, let me know. It will be cold and windy with the Alberta Clipper. All wild, lots of walking. Rolling hills, sloughs, cattails and heavy cover.

need?
 

I know I don't need a SSS.....They are bored special to give good patterns with steel, bores are .740 with IC/MOD chokes......Good excuse for me...(-: Im a collector, shooter, investor or somthing like that?! I guess I just want one...All the 12ga repro's are scarce with PG-DT 14 3/8 pull, other wants would be the same specs in a sporting clays special...(-: That should finish the DHE part of my repro shooter collection. thanks all, Kenny Graft SXS ohio....(-:

Bruce,
I usually stick around CT and southern MA. There aren't alot of choices around here and the hunting is real easy, but it's nice to get out. I would love to go on a real trip hunting wild birds, but it's tough to get away.