Clark, Stan is a .410 wizard on his beloved dove, so heed his advice. As he mentioned, I also see the need to increase shot size on our wild Bobwhites later in the season as they tend to flush further and seem to carry more shot. We start the season with 8s in the right barrel and 7.5s in the left and move to 7.5/7 later in the season. This is for 20 and 28 gauge (I’m not a good enough shot to not wound too many birds with a .410). For pheasants I like 6s and tighter chokes and a 12 gauge— they are tough and will “carry lots of shot” as the guys out here like to say. All of this is what I use in my vintage guns, so 3/4 oz. in 28 gauge, 7/8 oz in 20/16, and 1 - 1 1/8 oz in 12.
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"Doubtless the good Lord could have made a better game bird than bobwhite, and better country to hunt him in...but equally doubtless, he never did." -- Guy de la Valdene (from A Handful of Feathers )
"'I promise you,' he said, 'on my word of honor, I won't die on the opening of the bird season.'" -- Robert Ruark (from The Old Man and the Boy)
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