Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire I Won!!!!

Woo-hoo and congrats! The few opportunities I've had were absolutely wonderful! There's really nothing like it and great fun!

Pictures!

Oh, and pheasant breasts soaked in milk, cooked on a grill and then rolled in a red sauce is to die for!

Bob

Congratulations Marty! Please post pics of the event.

Well guys, from the looks of things i will be having a volunteer photographer for the day

Mark, i would be honored to use the shells. I think i have a box of lead #6s here at the house, and will have to pick up a box of #5s as well and take the two guns out for a day of exercise to see which one i will be taking.

I have a Remington Sportsman 58 with a 30" Full barrel choke, and a Remington 870 with removable chokes. I have a modified, full and XX full choke for the 870.

I know that my 870 with the XX full and #5s is DEADLY out to 60 yards on turkeys... Sounds like a day at the range is in order though.

^^

What he said.

Congratulations and remember not to shoot low flying birds.

Marty, your shots, when using dogs and ESPECIALLY on a preserve, are going to be short. Take it from a guy who has killed a couple of truckloads of them that improved cylinder will bag you more birds than any other under those conditions. I/C is a much undderated and undderused choke setting. I even use it 90% of the time on waterfowl! Todays modern shotgun shells - and the ones I plan to send you are wonderfully set up, pattern much nicer and tighter than the shells of yesterday.

PM me your address and I will try to get those out to you right away.

MARK

Over dogs you won't need a lot of range and tight cokes. Modified will work great.

Mark, i may have to borrow my Dad's Wingmaster which has the modified barrel choke, but is a gun i am EXTREMELY familiar with...

I just need to find my choke wrench now...

PM inbound.

Your removeable choke 870 will be perfect. Screw in the IC chocke, go shoot a couple of rounds of Sporting Clays, then go kill a pile of peasants.

OOPS! Did I say that again? I really mean PHEASANTS!

Congratulations!!! You're going to love it.

I'll cast a vote for IC choke as well, especially if, as others have postulated, these are "put-and-take" birds. In that situation, I've used 1 oz of 7 1/2 shot to good effect. If I need a tighter pattern, I just go with harder shot out of the IC.

Suggest you take the other chokes with you, though. If you end up out on a wing pushing early release birds, you might want full choke and the Fiocchi 5's. As previously mentioned, check with the guide/outfitter to determine how they conduct the hunt and what ammo and chokes you'll need.

As an aside, you might want to be prepared to tip the guide. On a 3-day hunt I won in So. Dakota similar to yours, it was more or less expected. The ranch had donated the lodging and the hunt, and was paying the guides something, but the guides do depend on tips. Just a thought FWIW.

Good hunting and good eating!! Post pictures for sure.

FWIW, the hunt normally runs $160 for the one i got.

I believe the guide and dog are $25 extra normally, so would $20 be a fair tip? Or should it be a bit more? I dont think this trip will be more than a couple hours. They divide their hunting days up into the AM and PM hunts.

Tip what you like, but you got the hunt for nothing so what is the tip worry?Leave the full chokes at home ,only time one of those might be in any of my bird guns anymore is when it's an o/u and then sees damn little use. In the 870 IC, SK 2,Lt mod or mod will get it done. They maybe pen raised but by this time of the year they are full sized and well feathered which means 5-6's save the 7.5's for clays. good luck and have a good time. Magnum Man

MM, The tip worry is only in that this is my first ever guided hunt. I just want to be fair to the guide.

Neat thread, and full of sound advice as well.

Hope you have a great hunt, and wear your photographer completely out.

As to tipping, it's like any other service industry, with one major exception - outcome. While a guide can't control critters, they can either make every effort to succeed, or they can have you plod the same tracks, over and over. If the guide works at trying to make your hunt a great one - tip, and determine the amount based on effort.

If the guide displays apathy, or "typical stupid-asz hunter" mentality, and simply doesn't try to make YOU succesful, you're well within your right, and being reasonable to leave very little (or nothing).

I've left tips to deckhands or dog handlers that rivaled the cost of the trip. I've also walked off boats, or out of the field without so much as a good-bye. It's not based on game either - but effort.

+1 (in 16 gauge, of course.)
Funny thing, I've shot those Golden Pheasant loads for years, with great results....tried their 3.5 inch steel one year for waterfowl, a complete disaster. Crimps were terrible, shot ran out....wad pressure must have been erratic, bloopers were not uncommon...I'd bought a case...called them up, they said they'd fix it, send me a case of good loads. All they did was send me a case of #1's instead of the #2's I'd first bought. I guess they figured not as many #1's would run out the hole left at the crimp. That's true, not as many #1's ran out, but some did. Also got bloopers....what a waste of time and money! Still like their Golden Pheasant loads though and would recommend them to the OP. Also congratulations. Apologies for HJ the thread with a rant....

I have tried a lot of different pheasant loads. My personal favorite when hunting wild birds is the WW Super Pigeon. (6s). The Fiocchi is pretty good too. For preserve birds I like 6s and IC. Super Pigeons are overkill for this but certainly work. Definitely want IC though.

The preserve might require steel shot - a lot of them do.

Screw in the IC choke and use a standard load of 6s. That will be great plenty. If ya had a 28, I'd tell ya to take that.



Since the poohbah ain't been here yet, I fell it only appropriate, in his stead, but not by his command to tell you that --- you suck!

SWEET!

I have a photographer and the day is set to go smoothly. This is gonna be FUN!!!

Yep, open choke #6 will be fine. Give them a some time to get up and straighten out their flight. Makes them easier to shoot, and it is safer as well.

When I hunted with my GF over her pooch I used my modified choke with Federal Game Shok 6 shot. Dropped all of my three birds.