jerseyhunter

I shot my first Pheasant with a single shot .410. It teaches you to make the shot count. Its light and fast, Perfect for begginners and us old folk. Although I,m in my 40' s. I still like using the old Harrington & Richards. When my son is not using it.Some times we trade off. I recommend number 5 shot. Good Luck to you and have fun. After all thats what the .410 was made for. Learning and Harvesting and as Chukarbuster said and so did Clint Eastwood You got to know your Limitations. Good Luck and Go For It. Ps I' ve never crippled one with the .410 although my son did once. Just stick to shots 25 yds and under and you should do fine.

trkymercanary

I have to agree with most everyone. a 4/10 may be too lite. You can shoot and maybe kill a few, but you wont crippel too many. My cousin used a 4/10 once and saw a whole bunch of feathers fly but also saw them run away on the ground.

neweboarhunter

You can use a .410 bore on pheasant or grouse. As you should do always aim for the head. The .410 is limited by at least three factors:
1.) Users abillity to hit the head/neck
2.) Users abilility to judge distance
3.) Going away shots

My advice 12 gauge for pheasant or 20 gauge 3" mags.
I use 2 1/2" 12 gauge mostly #4,#5,#6 shot. 16 gauge works fine if you want to be a little different. I have no experiance with a 28 gauge.

snowdog2

Best time for finding pheasants:

When I can, I go out when it is legal shooting time and stay until I get some. Here that usually means 9:00 a.m., but I also go out in the late afternoon, after work. To me, the " best time" is that afternoon after work time, because there are few hunters around and I can unwind from work. I think there is no " better" time of the day to hunt--if there are birds, the birds are there all day long.
As far as time of year, I think the opening weekend and following week is usually most productive/best, if the majority of the crops have been harvested, otherwise, it generally get better as the crops are harvested and the available cover diminishes.

Best surroundings:

Really the best place and time to hunt, around here, on public lands, is when the farmer in the field next to the public land harvests his corn. The birds move into the public cover. Whammo!!

Pheasants are found in grassy fields around here, mostly. CRP grasses, cattail sloughs, filter strips hold birds.

Using a .410:

Not a good idea in the hands of a novice hunter/marksman/wingshooter.