You owe it to the bird to shoot it hard with enough shot to kill it at the distance you decide to shoot. I'm sure you can figure out what that distance is, but just remember, pheasants are tough and can carry lead. Unless you want to feed scavengers, make sure you either shoot close with a cylinder bored 20 or not at all. I always count the birds that I knock down and don't find as part of my bag limit. It hurts to cripple a bird as noble as Mr. Rooster.
And I still recommend track shoes and a dog that breaks at the shot.
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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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