Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Headed out for my first pheasant hunt, any pointers?

So, I just started hunting last year and have never hunted pheasants or any other birds for that matter, but my wife (wonderful as she is) bought me a pheasant hunting trip on a preserve in PA for my birthday this year. I'm scheduled to go on the 18th of this month, and while I've shot sporting clays and a few rounds of trap before, I just don't know how that compares to live birds.

I'll be using Rio upland game loads (#6 2-3/4") and will be using my old Riverside Arms SxS which has fixed full chokes on both barrels. I'm pretty proficient with it, so I'm not too worried about misses from the pattern constriction.

Any pointers from regular wing shooters for the hunt? They're pen raised birds, so I know they won't be as wily as wild birds, but didn't know if there was anything that might surprise me.

Thanks in advance!

Headed out for my first pheasant hunt, any pointers?

Yes, I would take a pointer.

I legitimately laughed out loud. Got some weird looks from my co-workers.

Hopefully your pheasant hunt will include a guide and a dog.
The enjoyment of any bird hunt is watching the dog work.

Let the dog do the work and don't shot the dog in your excitement. I am not being sarcastic but preserve dogs get shot and killed every year. Most of the dog handlers work for tips to enable their dog do what they are bred to do.

Doc

I think you have the right gun and the right load. Enjoy.

PS: You've got the right woman too.

Dont be too quick to shoot when the bird gets. Take your time. Newbies have a tendency to rush shot and shoot behind birds and you do not want to blow the crap out of your bird.Make sure the bird is far away from the dogs when you shoot. Dont shoot birds running on the ground.


Be aware of other hunting parties in the area when you shot (back drop) on the preserve.

Can think of a few others but safety is the primary concern. If a bird gets up and no safe shot just let it go. Watch the dogs and handler ; you'll learn a lot.

THe birds are good eating. I like to gut and pluck them, put the carcasses in salted water, get to boiling temp, then simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool them down. Pick meat off bones, place on a plate. Cut up a few onions, carrots, celery, garlic mushrooms -saute. Throw in a pot or crock pot. Add a can of beef or chicken stock or just mushroom soup. 1/2 cup white wine. Add rice, barley if you like. I like wild rice and slow cook about an hour.

have fun and you;ll probably be planning a trip to the Dakotas for wild birds after your first hunt.

If you end up liking pheasant hunting, I expect you will be in the market for something that accomodates more open chokes- a centered pheasant at 15-20 yards, with full choke, gets torn up pretty bad.
I do most of my wild bird pheasant hunting with improved cylinder, at most modified, chokes in place. 2 3/4 in. 12 ga. loads with #5 shot are my preferred shells, copper or nickel plated for better penetration. For the pen-raised birds, it's usually #7.5 shot, and over my dog, sometimes even skeet choke.

It does indeed include a dog and guide. It was suggested with more than a little subtlety to my wife that I should make sure to bring a tip for the guide. Nothing over the top, but the owner wants to make sure his folks get taken care of I'm sure



That I do! She's not a firearms enthusiast herself, but she does understand what I see in shooting and hunting and figures there are worse things that people spend money on.



A gentleman I shot trap with the other week said something similar in regards to hitting the birds too early and there not being anything left. I have a basic Mossberg 500 with bird barrel and a full set of chokes I'm going to bring along as well. Will likely see what the guide suggests with me being a new shooter.

As for cooking what I catch, I'm actually a chef by profession and spent several years at a restaurant that specialized in "wild" game on the menu. I put the wild in quotes because here in the US, market hunting is illegal anymore, so it was all actually farm raised, but it was still fantastic stuff! I'm going to brine and cure at least two of them and then hot smoke 'em to cool down and pull later for a nice salad I do with dried berries, candied nuts, mixed greens, granny smith apples, chevre cheese, and warm boar bacon cider-molasses vinaigrette. I think the ratio of pulled pheasant to greens is about 1:1, so using the term salad is playing it fast and loose.



Yeah, that's a bit of a concern for me, so as I said before this particular reply, I'm going to take along the mossberg just to be safe and see what the guide suggest.


Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm super stoked and will make sure to reply back with photos of the hunt and (hopefully) my catch for the day!

All I can add is you don't realize how much money you're getting ready to spend for the rest of your life.

Be sure you yell COCK every time a COCK flushes.





Travis

Precisely why I named my lab Rooster. It's frickin hilarious when I make my buddies do that.

This is a pheasant hunting tradition that is in danger of getting lost completely as people do it less and less each year. Plus it will let the guide and other hunters know that you are a serious pheasant hunter.

I caught myself yelling "cock" hunting with buddies in SD this past year. Thirty years of pheasant hunting yelling rooster then for some reason started yelling "cock"

beginning to wonder

Yes! Sometimes I yell it randomly with not birds flushing just because it's fun.

I can hear the guide once I've left the farm now:

Guide: I had the weirdest client today honey.
Guide's Wife: How so dear?
G: Well, I think he had something wrong with him.
GW: In what way?
G: Well, he just kept screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs every time he saw a rooster get flushed by the dog.
GW: It's called tourette's dear, that poor young man!

If you don't want to tear up close shot birds as much, switch to a heavier shot size. #4 or #2 if you can find it. Fewer pellets with full penetration will bring them down well and not have the bird full of lead when it's time to eat.

I was going to say something similar....funny.

If the OP is hunting pen-raised birds, most folks who run those facilities don't want you using shot larger than #7.5 or 6, due to the hazard of hitting other hunters in the area.
Check before you go!

^^^This is probably pretty true.^^^ And remember to aim where the bird will be, not where the bird is at.

So, yesterday turned out to be the worst possible day to do my first ever upland bird hunt. 30mph winds on top of a 11*F ambient temperature meant a BIG challenge. The guide I had even said it would likely be the worst hunting experience I'll ever have, but since I'd already driven 2.5 hours to get there, I said "screw it, let's do this thing!"

Bird #1: Stupid cross-bolt safety on the Mossberg
Bird #2: Lead him by a bit more than I would have on a calm day, apparently it wasn't enough
Bird #3: Lead her by even more than bird #2, still not enough
Bird #4: Chuckars are frikken wily little bastards aren't they?!
Bird #5: He's not going to be flashing those tailfeathers much, but apparently you need 5' of lead on a bird in 30 mph winds to get the shot to land where it needs to.
Bird #6: Apparently this chuckar has watched a little too much top gun. I'm pretty sure he was inverted over me at some point flippin' me the bird.

I got SKUNKED and I'm not afraid to admit it. I still had a great time though and the preserve I hunted was really great. It wasn't their fault so much as mine and the weather. Hoping to go back again later this spring when I don't have to contend with gale force winds.

I see your hunt has come and gone but practical advice Im still gonna share is dress In layers and wear comfortable boots.

That's exactly what I did. Glad for it too.

Sythetic wicking long underwear and t-shirt as the base layer, flannel lined cargo pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt as the second layer, the camo bibbs and another short-sleeved t-shirt as the third layer with a wind-proof fleece-lined jacket as the outer shell. Waterproof insulated hunting boots with wicking sock liners and synthetic hiking socks under those and a sweat-wicking winter had for the top of my chrome dome. I did glove liners and flip-up mitten-gloves for my hands too. Left the trigger finger out on the right hand and tucked the other four fingers into the mitten part. Left hand stayed in the mitten unless I was having to grab something (like shells for reloading)

Only thing that took a beating was my pride and my face. I threw a shemagh around my neck which helped cut the wind a bit too. I also had a blaze orange vest on, but just a thin one. I was perfectly warm the whole time, but the extra bulk made the length of pull on my Mossberg a bit long which didn't help either. I think I would have done much better with my SxS, but was told full choke wouldn't be good for a windy day.

Bird hunting in that kind of wind just sucks, done it many times in Nebraska. I used 1 3/8 oz of magnum #4's at 1350 (reloaded)which did fine until the birds turned with the wind and they were gone....like a F-16.

Doc