JJoel, $8 is not a lot to spend on pheasant shells. Skimping on the shells when pheasants are tough to consistently bring down is false economy. Hunting without a dog you will probably not even use up a whole box on pheasants and compared to the rest of the expenses involved in hunting it just doesn't make sense to cut corners on your shells. There have been pheasants brought down dead with .410's with 8 shot at long distances. You don't want to try and recreate some rare event though, you need to use what has been proven to take them cleanly time and again. This means 4, 5 or 6 shot in a good patterning load at fairly high velocity. I think 1 1/8 is the minimum and 1 1/4 is usually better. 3 3/4 dram, 1 1/4oz loads are considered the pheasant standard for good reason. The new premium loads with copper or nickle plated shot are even better but are quite expensive. If you're serious about bird hunting you need to pattern your gun with various loads. Shooting a load that your gun patterns well is even more of an advantage than the exact load. If you want instructions on patterning email me. It's not hard but has to be done correctly to get useful info.

If you are in Kansas there's a good chance you will be encountering quail and pheasants in the same hunt. A good load for both is a 1 1/4oz load of number 6 shot which patterns well. I would recommend an IC choke if you have a choice. That's what I shoot the most for quail and pheasant.