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BarryC Offline OP
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Will 7 1/2s completely penetrate a pheasant at, say, 35 yards?


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Not completely but the bird will drop assuming pellets hit the front half of the bird.

I mostly shoot 5's with some 6's thrown in and it's common to find pellets in birds.

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Completely? Head perhaps, body unlikely. As mentioned even 5&6's for the most part, don't completely penetrate at that range on a Pheasant.

And again, it will kill them with enough up front hits from accumulated shock and disruption of vitals. 7.5's wouldn't be my first choice for all round use. Up close? Deadly.


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35 yards would be a very long shot for me with 7 1/2s on pheasant... I use 5s as my primary shot size.


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Originally Posted by BarryC
Will 7 1/2s completely penetrate a pheasant at, say, 35 yards?


No.

4,5, and 6 shot are usually preferred. I like 6's early when the shots are closer and birds have fewer feathers. The 4's are great for late season birds.

Although you might be able to throw a bunch in my pocket and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.



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BarryC Offline OP
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Thanks guys.
I've shot a lot of squirrels and never cared for the penetration of 7 1/2s. 6s do fine on gray squirrels but I move to 5s if I think I might see some reds.

Just wondering how comparable a pheasant is. I'm new to bird hunting.


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Originally Posted by BarryC
Thanks guys.
I've shot a lot of squirrels and never cared for the penetration of 7 1/2s. 6s do fine on gray squirrels but I move to 5s if I think I might see some reds.

Just wondering how comparable a pheasant is. I'm new to bird hunting.


Roosters are pretty tough on the gamebird spectrum. It's no big trick to knock down a limit of grouse with 7.5 or 8 shot. Even if you get a cripple the dog will almost always find the bird because they wimp out with a pellet or two in them. If you don't kill or break a pheasants legs, they hit the ground running and you'd better have a dog with that gets after them or you'll lose the bird.


Originally Posted by shrapnel
I probably hit more elk with a pickup than you have with a rifle.


Originally Posted by JohnBurns
I have yet to see anyone claim Leupold has never had to fix an optic. I know I have sent a few back. 2 MK 6s, a VX-6, and 3 VX-111s.
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If you want to try 7-1/2's on pheasants, good hard shot is the way to go. It doesn't have to be plated (though that helps a little), but does have to be high-antimony shot.

I've killed a bunch of wild roosters with high-antimony #7 shot from a 28-gauge, and only 7/8 of an ounce drops them real well out to 40 yards. There are around 300 7's in an ounce of shot, so they're somewhere between 7-1/2's (@350 per ounce) and 6's (@225) in size. They're also the same size as the British #6, which is most popular over there for pheasant shooting--which is usually done on driven birds, so not as many are flying directly away, like flushed pheasants.

In fact I prefer 7's to American 6's for pheasants in the 28, because they penetrate pretty well but pattern density is higher. But don't see any real reason for them in a larger gauge, where a heavier shot charge can be used.


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Anybody I've seen shooting COCK with 7 1/2's has walked away not happy.





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My favorite for all upland is 7.5's. I use a SxS 12 and pointing dogs tho.. No i'm not a snob.

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Bah! I think I'll just stick with 6s. They seem to work well on pheasant.
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I think you would like 5's a bit better. Find some 3 1/4-1 1/4-5's .. No need for magnums ..


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Originally Posted by rosco1
My favorite for all upland is 7.5's. I use a SxS 12 and pointing dogs tho.. No i'm not a snob.




No reason for any to think you would be. Unless you prove otherwise in other ways. All my Bird hunting pards use a SxS or O/U and run with pointers. I slum with flushers and sometimes use a pump; they even put up with me. grin

Last edited by battue; 11/04/16.

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Originally Posted by WyoCoyoteHunter
I think you would like 5's a bit better. Find some 3 1/4-1 1/4-5's .. No need for magnums ..


Shot a couple Pheasants with 7.5's out of a 16-thought I was out of 6's, then found some later in my bag-today at around real close and another at perhaps 25. Hit them hard. Bud used 6's. One at around 20 and then made an excellent shot at around 45. It just collapsed. The one at 20 turned into a runner that Toby brought back after being gone for 15 minutes. Center them and most everything works at normal ranges. However, 5&6's gives one some room for error when they get out a bit.


A good retriever saves many days no matter what size shot we use.

Last edited by battue; 11/04/16.

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Battue glad you got into some birds.. Be the middle of next week before we get into roosters.. Most of my big hunting is behind me this season.. Maybe a try for elk, but for the next three months the dogs and I will be out for birds.. Hopefully my gal will get some photos.. Our time of year! Enjoy and best of luck!


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Yes, 4 nice Roosters. Photobucket is down right now. GameLand Birds, but in jungle thick Goldenrod and switch grass. You couldn't see your feet and had to push yourself thru, but the Birds were in there. Without the Dogs we may not have been able to flush or find three, even with a good mark.

Great day.

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Excellent!


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I grew up in northwest Kansas and shot many pheasants with 7 1/2 shot. It is deadly IF you take your lead off of the head. To answer your question though, 7 1/2 will not penetrate the body much more than just under the skin at that range. Many hunters are fooled due to the long tail and aim at the center of the bird which is really more towards the back of the body. A benefit of hitting the head is most of the time when the bird hits the ground, it stays put where it fell or flops a lot and is easy to find.

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Grew up on a farm in northern Iowa, back in the 60's and early 70's when we had some birds. Early season 6's out of a Marlin 90 O/U in 16 ga. latter on, 5's, and some times 4's. & 1/2 work, but not good on going away birds. Now in South dakota, and Minnesota, always 5's.

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[quote=BarryC]Will 7 1/2s completely penetrate a pheasant at, say, 35 yards? [/quot]

I doubt if any of the more commonly used sizes -- 6's, 5's, or even 4's -- would completely penetrate the body on a rooster on a straight-away at that range. I can't ever remember seeing and noting exit wounds on a rooster with any of 'em and I've shot hundreds or more of them in my life and with every available gun with the exception of a 10 ga. I suppose it's possible through the relative thin chest area right behind the big breast muscle on a crossing shot with 4's at that range but certainly not probable.

I would not choose 71/2's for pheasants even when using a 28. 3/4 to 7/8 oz of 6's provide a dense enough pattern even out of a 28 to thirty or so yards to be consistently effective. For the bigger gauges there is even less reason to use the smaller shot on pheasants IMO unless it's all you have for whatever reason.

Last edited by George_De_Vries_3rd; 12/03/16.
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