NEBHNTR

i have to disagree a little bit with you rawhide. i have never been very impressed with 20's for pheasants. seem like you always knock them down but they tend to run a lot. if you don't have dogs thenit isa real headache to find birds some times. i think they are good starter guns though. it does seem like just yesterday that i shot my first rooster with my old 20 though, but that is a story for another day.

waltwittman

my uncle owns a pheasant resort outside of peire south dakato and most of the uppies are shooting silver pigeons in 20 gauge... the balistics are the same as a 12 guage only less pellets which equates to nock-down power.... but if you shoot 3" 20 guage you can nail them from a ways out... another uncle who grew up on the property in peire where the rest is shoot a 4-10 and get more birds than anybody else... nevertheless, silver pigeon... light & bretta quality!

Rammer

walt - if you don't mind me asking, who is your uncle? I own a farm right outside of pierre. Just was wondering which resort was his. There are tons of 'em in that area.

Rammer

I have to disagree with those guys knockin the effectiveness of a 20 gauge. If you are crippling/wounding birds it is not the guns fault, it is the shooter. I shoot a 20 almost exclusively on pheasants, and I don't seem to have that problem. I also know about 40 percent of our hunters carry 20s, 16s, or 28s and they don't have a problem crippling birds. I would imagine a guy would have problems if he didn't pick the proper shell, or didn't follow thru during the shot.

NEBHNTR

okay 20's will work for pheasant but not my favorite choice. now on your pheasant resort are we talking about real wild birds or planted birds that you have to kick up? i'm not trying to start a big argument here, but i do think there is a big difference. i do agree with rammer that the person shooting the gun has a lot of responablity for the shot.

Rammer

100% wild birds on my place. I don't run hundreds of guys thru my place every year like alot of other guide services. I'd rather show my hunters a great time that they won't forget, rather than make a million dollars off 'em. This year I took on 2 more groups than usual, that means every single weekend this year is booked, and a few groups are coming during the weeks. Don't do any advertising, as the same groups come back every year on the same weekends, etc. The new groups I add in are guys that didn't get invited back with a group and they call and ask if they can bring their own group out, to which I usually say yes. On a usual year we usually take 1500-2000 birds off our land.

goos_blues

Has anyone ever use the federal wingshock high velocity pheasant. I was thinking about getting some they were, 2 3/4 #5's 1 3/8 ounce. they were copper plated shot at 1500 fps.

mathewsconquest2

goos blues,

Just bought a case of the Federal Wing-Shok Hi Velocity in 2 3/4 ,1 3/8 Ounce, #6's.

I patterned them last year and they performed slighly better than the Fiochii Golden Pheasant loads I was using.

You won'y be disappointed.

-MC2

Rammer

Alot of my hunters shoot that Federal load and are very satisfied with it. If I decide to pick up my 12 gauge an bang roosters I usually shoot the cheap ($4.97 a box at Walmart) Winchester 2 3/4" 1 1/4 ounce of 5s. Later in the season I start with the Winchester Supremes 1 7/8 ounce 3" mags, they do a great job

putyourheadthere

Waltwittman has got it right. If you want to get serious about www.uplandbirdhunting.cathen it's got to be 20 gauge. I shoot a 20 gauge beretta silver pigeon o/u, 28 " barrels, with 3" chamber and mobile chokes (usually stick to cylinder and improv. cyl. early in the season, then impr. cyl., and mod later on). It's a dream. It weighs less than 6.5 lbs, which is important if you want to shoulder it quick ( I love ruffed grouse hunting), and plan on hunting all day long. But more important than the make or gauge is the fit - make sure it fits right! Shoulder plenty of guns before you buy one.