Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Your ideal pheasant-with-dogs shotgun ???

I couldn't even freakin' imagine...................... !!!!!!

It’s world class for our times. Perhaps competitive with any other time.

That is great news, indeed !!!

I hunted quail with an A-500 12 gauge with 1 1/4 #9’s, improved cylinder choke.

I miss the days of available hunting territory and abundant birds. My brother and I and our cow dogs used to be able to put up 100 plus birds on any day we went out, once we got the trespassers to stay off of the property. We were usually out 4 days a week minimum during season.

I only wish I could have had this Weatherby Orion O/U 20 ga in those days. As to chokes, we did not have the option of replaceable choke tubes. So we carried full choke guns as they were mandatory late in season when the birds became wary. Early in the season, we often waited for a bird to gain some distance before taking a shot.

Today, I would put an IC and a M in the gun for early season. Then switch out to an IM and full for late season. If we still had any birds to shoot.

I never saw a pheasant which would not die as easily in front of a 20 ga as a 12. I came to prefer #5 shot for pheasant. 6 or 7.5 produced a tighter pattern. But #5 produced fewer wounded birds flying away. They did not run away. If they hit the ground, the dogs WOULD stop them.

LOL, the dogs absolutely did not retrieve. The big heeler pointed better than any GSH I ever saw in the field, and they both would flush any birds out of the cattails and brush. They would run to ground and kill every bird that hit the ground, no matter the cover.

But, then they would stand and wag their tails with that look on their faces. "You have two good legs. Walk your nappy ass over here and pick it up".

We did not care, as long as they got the birds up and caught the runners.

Yes, I do miss those days a lot.

So, in summation, my dream pheasant gun is a nice 20 ga O/U.

I mostly carry my Benelli Legacy 28ga. when hunting over my pointing Lab, using mostly Fiocchi Golden Pheasant 7/8 oz. loads of either #6 or #7.5 shot, and IC choke.

My dogs are goldens. Good hunters great pals, but they are not pointing dogs. So my shots tend to be much longer than the guys with pointers. Most of my roosters have been taken with an old 870 with a modified tube. My favorite load is 3 1/14-
1 1/4 of 5s. I have 20s and a 28, but the 12 is the gun I pick up most of the time.

Wch we think the same. The older 870's a vr 28" modified choke, only I like the 3 3/4 ×1 1/4 oz of 5's. Well my dogs are usually black lol..mb

Beretta Lightweight 12 gauge 2 3/4 chamber screw in chokes. Now called the Ultraleggero. 6.5 pounds.

A straight away shot @ 35yd when I'm expecting it and my gun is partially mounted is my limit. Anything less ideal than this and I'll pass i.e. wild flush, etc. I think the issue with clays is that the clay is decelerating contrasted with an accelerating rooster. One needs an ever increasing lead with the feathered one.

You are overthinking it…..

Wild flushes bring out the subconscious instinctive reactions. Which are the most deadly.

While the premise that a clay bird is decelerating and a game bird is accelerating is true, it’s still going faster than an accelerating pheasant within the yardages most game birds are shot.

Agree… and they can send a clay fast enough to make a Pheasant look to be in slow motion.
Essentially a none issue for the most part.

Would agree and to minimize cripples a 1 1/4 of 5's plus a good retriever which further minimizes loss. Just depends on how you are hunting.mb

Agree, a good retriever is an amazing addition to our shooting skills…..before and after we hit the trigger.

Perhaps I just don't know any better, but my Rizzini Br110 Light in 20 gauge has been nothing short of a dream for pheasant and doves for me.

Love a 20. Grew up on a pump. Skeet choke for everything. If your dogs are worth a darn it's hard for me to see the need for anything larger. No flushing here, points only. We regularly use .410s with improved cyl. and mod chokes. 2 1/2" number 7 1/2s. Even pheasants and chickens. Put the autos and o/us down for good except my great grandpa's 1950s A5. Only malfunction with a good 870 or model 12 is you. Never had an auto that I could trust.
To add, using a .410 in the uplands pretty much does away with dropped legs and or cripples. You either kill them or miss them. People over think it and call it an experts gun for Quail, but we shoot them just as we would with our 20s. It's all in your dog. Most shots are within 20 yards. Slow down and kill the bird.