Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game 20ga and pheasants

Just wondering what your thoughts/experiences are on using a 20ga with high brass #4's and #5s for SD pheasants. Thanks

I've found I don't have to walk as far to get a limit in Sd. than I do in Mn. so a lighter gun isn't always needed. #4's will stop them if need be, and usually not leave cripplers sailing away. Obviously, that's bad. I often carry my 20g Citori when I hunt late season Mn. birds behind a good pointer or very close working flusher, but them late ones don't tend to want to sit around and wait for my dogs to pin them. I do most upland with a 16 or 12.

Although I've never hunted SD pheasants I've shot a fair number of WA, ID and OR pheasants. I have found that 4s and 5s don't pattern very well. If you are shooting over pointing dogs you shouldn't need that kind of artillery anyway. I've found a 1 0z load of 6s is going to kill any pheasant at any range that it is practical to shoot a 20 ga. If you need 4s or 5s to kill them - you are likely shooting too far for a 20 ga to be really effective and should go to a 12 ga.

i live and hunt in sd. i hunt pheasants over labs, and i have found that high-brass 6's in a 20 gauge is an excellent choice.<P>fwiw i use low-brass exclusively on opening weekend. less meat damage, and, since the birds usually sit tight for the opener, there's a lower of chance of blowing a bird completely apart.

I stick with a 12ga and 4's or 5's. It allows you to take those long shots when you have to. But a good bud of mine that hunts with me back home in KS uses a 20ga. On close birds it does okay, but the second shot is usually too far out. Put 4's in a 20ga and I don't think you have much of a pattern past about 25yds. -al

Hello there, I used a 20 gauge single shot when I first started hunting. The 6 shot will bag your pheasants. The "king" of upland game is a hardy bird but not bullet proof although I wonder sometimes. I would stick to the 6 shot and if you would like more performance you may look at buffered shot or copper plated pellets like the ones used for turkey hunting but made for pheasant. Good hunting.

A guy I knew grew up in Montana and killed lots of pheasants with .410 because that was all he had. But that doesn't mean it is a good pheasant cartridge and the same holds true for a 20. It will certainly kill the close ones but in my experience there are lots of ones that you or someone has crippled and due to the distance they need all that you can squeeze out of a 12 guage. If you must or decide to hunt with a 20, you should restrict your shots to a very reasonable distance, say 35 yards, maximum, depending on the patterning ability of your gun and the loads you are using. The commonly available "hi-brass" duck and pheasant promotional loads are very poor examples of the shotgun shell making art and if you don't reload, you should buy the better factory loads, meaning higher priced, of the same power and shot weight. I almost always hunt with a 12 guage over and under and load heavy sixes in the first barrel and heavier premium quality 4s or 5s in the second depending on the cover and time of year. Sometimes if it is really late I use just 5s. But then, I absolutely hate lost or crippled birds so I do my best to try to minimize that possibility. <P>To repeat myself from other posts, the ONLY advantage a 20 has over a comparable 12 is the weight of the gun, and if that is a consideration, then you have to do what you have to do. I'd look for a lighter 12 myself.

I've been hunting wild pheasants since I was 12 years old in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. I always used to use a 12 gauge with either 4 or 6 shot on high brass. Several years ago, I changed over to a 20 ga. Beretta Silver Pigeon O/U and, now, very rarely carry a 12 ga. unless its windy, or the birds have been overly jumpy in the late season. I have been pleased with the performance of 5 shot, but usually prefer 6 shot unless I am shooting 3 inch mags.<P>The 20 ga. has evolved into a fine upland bird gun that doesn't give up anything to the 16 ga. It may give up something to the 12 gauge, however, I have found that I enjoy hunting with a lighter 20 gauge and good dogs. As with any shooting situation, discretion is always adviseable. Shoot within your means and the capabilities of the gun. However, the quicker handling of the 20, and faster follow-ups have never left me wanting.

I have used a 20 gauge Orion ( Upland model,plain but very nice)the last two years. I hunt a club, planted birds, with dogs, not good dogs either,ha. I tried several loads, and chose the Federal Premium "High Velocity" 2 3/4" , 1 oz copper plated 6's. I use an IC over a Modified choke. I usually shoot completely through the birds, very little,if any shot stays in until I get past 30 yards. I have taken many, many with the Modified at 40 yards plus. It is an excellent load/shotgun combo. I take a few 3 inch # 5 "Turkey" loads for late season "runners", and it is just a devastating load also. Some say a 20 gauge won't pattern any 3 inch load, but hey, mine does! I just seldom have a need for any three inch load when using the Federals. Try them, and have fun! Jim.

The 1 oz copper plated load is my first barrel and I've successfully used the 1 1/4 rem nitro 3", #6 copper plated for the second long shot. If you use the nitro's, you don't need 4 or 5 shot and get a much better pattern. I've made some long 12ga. shots with the 20 nitros<BR>and they really perform.

20ga, is our main fare for wild pheasant. One in a while we drop to a 28ga but watch our distances and shot selection.<P>IMHO 12 gages with the larger frames including O/Us or doubles are overkill and a slower gun througout the entire sequence of shooting. Not to mention a drain on the arms over long hunts or in any terrain other than flat and short.<P>Again, IMHO

My experience with the 20ga on pheasants has been limited to birds raised on a preserve.The SKB 20ga that I use has not let me down yet.In fact, four of my friends have recently purchased 20ga.The little SKB has been used on a variety of game from quail,chukar,hares and even ducks.As here in Victoria,Australia, we can still use lead shot in the smaller gauges.On a recent trip to hunt pheasants ,my friend steve,also using a 20ga, and I accounted for 23 pheasants. We used size 4 shot .

I've got a great little flusher /retriever, an American water spaniel and have dropped back to a 20 ga with #5 Bismuth shells for jump shooting ducks, along creeks and ponds. We see a few pheasants, most of my flushes are close, only have killed a half dozen, and a bunch of ducks but haven't lost any and haven't had any wild chases yet.
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<br>erich

My vote is for the 1 1/8 oz short magnum load of #6's in the 20 ga. I use the Federal pheasant loads in # 7 1/2 (copper plated) for spring turkey quite often. If you are experiencing cripple birds lead them a little more and hit them up front. Doves and quail can sail away cripple too if you shoot them in the tail.
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<br>A 1 1/8 oz load of # 6's will have about 240 pellets. A 1 1/4 oz load of # 4's will have about 162 pellets. Looking at it from that angle I don't see that I am giving up all that much by using a 20 ga.
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<br>Of course every gun, choke, and shot size combination will tend to patteren differently. A little time invested at the pattern board can pay dividends. Generally speaking, when I go to a smaller gauge gun I drop a shot size or two and shorten my range. Many will also go to a tighter choke as well. As always, considering all the variables, your results may vary.

Can't speak for SD, can speak for IL.

The Federal 1-5/16 oz. 3" load of #5 shot is the best pheasant load made, IMO, in 20 ga. It takes 30-35 wild birds a year through primarlily a Beretta 303 or a Browning B2000.

The balance falls to an A-5 Sweet Sixteen.

The first time I hunted pheasant in the Texas panhandle I used a 20 ga. As soon as I got back home I bought 12 ga.

I was using #6 high brass and it was like trying to bring down a Huey helicopter. I prefer the extra reach and killing power of the 12 ga. I still use #6 high brass in it though.

I'm not saying this to start a fight, because I think everyone should hunt with what trips their trigger, if that's a .410 on pheasants, so be it. But I can tell you this from long experience, both personal and as an observer. Anyone hunting pheasants, in all types of pheasant hunting situations, with a 20 ga next to a man of equal ability with a 12 ga will soon wish he had picked a different gun. And that is a fact. In heavy cover, or, for instance, fresh snow, when the birds are holding tight, the choice of gauge doesn't make much difference, but stretch it out and it damn sure does.

BTW, preserve pen-raised pheasants are, with a very few exceptions, not even a good imitation of wild birds, and a 20, 28 or .410 is entirely adequate for most of them, if it isn't too windy.

Don't mention pen-raised birds to me. I hunted them once. Never again. You can hunt pen-raised birds with just a pair of Rocky's or Danners. I used a size 10. You walk up slowly and stand on their tails.

The dogs caught most of them and brought them to us before we had a chance to shoot them.

Pretty pathetic. Doesn't qualify as hunting.

That's why they call them "kick-birds." <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> -al