need help with shot

[PaBowhunter29]

hi,
i have a single shot 20 guage, and i use 8 shot. i mostly hunt rabbits, which i have no problem put'in them down. but next week me and a couple buddys are going on a hunt, theres rabbits,grouse,squirrels, and pheasants. i haven't really hunted pheasants before ( i shot 2 ever ) do you think my shot should be fine for pheasant and grouse?

[jessejmc1979]

I shoot 6 or 4 shot for pheasants. But I have killed a lot of pheasants with 8 shot. There are a lot of variables like if you are going to be shooting over dogs that are very close hunting (very close shots) or if you are going to be blocking you might have longer shots. As for grouse all I ever shoot at them is 8 shot heavy trap loads. They go down a lot easier than pheasants. I hope I was a little help, and good luck

[Beretta686]

Unfortunately #8's are too light. If you plan on hunting pheasant & grouse, Irecommend youstep upyour shot size to 7 1/2 or even #6's. Most often, you will want to shoot the densest pattern (smallest pellets) that is capable of delivering sufficient energy for clean kills. Lead shot hits harder, penetrates deeper, and kills better than steel shot.

One last note: it is a very good idea to pattern your shotgun with whatever load you have selected before you go hunting. Shooting a few test patterns can prevent a lot of grief. Few shotguns shoot all shot sizes equally well. Shot placement is key to putting game on the table.

[Cessna Flyer]

I usually use 6 shot in the 20 gauge, but this year we are using #4 steel shot.

[gselkhunter]

Killing pheasants isn't hard if you place the shot in the right place. With that being said the part that gets people is the distance that they try to kill pheasants at. I never shoot 8s at game. And even though I have killed pheasants with 7.5s I do not consider the size to be enough for distance over 25yds. I shoot 6s and 5s out of my 28ga and will shoot up to 4s out of my 20ga if the need occurs.
The bottom line is a pheasant has thick feathers that take some energy to get through. And they provide many bad angles to shoot at. So you either waitfor a better shot angle or beef up your load. I do both plus add in a pointing dog to up my odds. I have personally seen pheasant hit hard[or appeared to be] and bounce off a dirt road and not be there dead when we got there, cause they weren't hit hard enough.
Gselkhunter