We don't have any down here in Florida. I don't have much knowledge of shotguns and loads If a fellow were to go elsewhere to hunt them. I have a nice 20 GA Ithaca SxS choked modified and full. The other one I could take is a Browning A5 12 GA Magnum. Barrel is a 26 inch Hastings with choke tubes.
Suggestions, other than buying a better shotgun? lol

That A5 is a pheasant killing machine. Load her up with some #5 1 1/4 oz. copper plated loads and kill some birds.

Really depends on which you like to shoot and hunting conditions. Here early in the season and in conditions where the birds are holding tight we'd go with the A-5 with a more open choke. Bigger pattern and you can put only so much shot through a bird before it becomes inedible. The A-5 is never wrong but some people find they shoot better and would just rather carry a 20 ga. SxS. With modified/full you would not be undergunned if birds aren't holding and shots are longer. (Or be like me and take both and decide when you get there.)

Same with shells. The standard was #6 early season and #4 for late season (lead). That or steel equivalent still works. Or take #5, not as critical as some make it. Hunted with a guy that used nothing but steel BB so he was ready for waterfowl if the opportunity came up. Shot a cheap South American semiauto, selected because it was the one on the rack that fit him perfectly. He was deadly with it, no more cripples than any other combination, probably fewer as he needed for only one pellet to connect.

I don't always use a 12 gauge for pheasants but when I do it's a black powder cartridge gun!
if i shoot smokeless it is normally a 20 gauge hammer double, but i have a good hunting buddy who loves his A5 for pheasants.
If the conditions warrant I run 1 1/4 oz of shot in the 12 but most times I use a 1oz load of 6's.
The 20 gauge is almost always 1oz of 6's .

The very best advice I can give you is to try each one and see which one you shoot better- that is the gun you should use.
Cat

My son shoots an a5 and I suggest it would serve you well on your pheasant hunt. Take your ic and modified chokes. The ic should be ideal for early season birds. Good hunting.

For wild open country birds I would never use anything less than a modified. IM and full is all I use specially if the wind is blowing. If they flush close just wait a second and smoke em. My dad and I filled truck loads of birds with his fixed choke full A5. Nowadays I use my Cyenergy with IM and full. They drop and don't run.

I'd use that SxS 20 and throw that other newfangled contraption off yonder way inta tha pond. But I'm thataway inclined.

98% of the pheasants I kill are with a 20 ga, #6 shot with the Imp. barrel....................................

Of course I have GREAT dogs;-)

Either will work fine. I shoot an A5 Sweet Sixteen most days but used a Citori in 16 the past two.

shoot sixes and some fives but never fours. Most people (almost all really) can't shoot well enough at the ranges where fours have an advantage to overcome the disadvantage of fewer pellets. Factor in the unsafety of such large pellets while hunting in groups and they're a net disadvantage.

Said another way, the shots you can actually make will be within ranges where the sixes are plenty big enough to get the job done, and if you accidentally hit someone with the sixes, they won't be hurt nearly as bad.

" if you accidentally hit someone"

Don't think we had one this year, at least didn't see it on the news. Some of the yahoos we get just don't seem to care what's downrange and shoot flat instead of up. Or swing past parallel to a line of walkers and get the next guy over. Don't be that guy, and wear shooting glasses. Ordinary sunglasses don't work and can shatter into sharp splinters and make things worse. Obviously orange hats are de regueur.

We actually check out guys we don't know to be sure they're safe before we invite them to join our party. If they're unsafe word gets around fast.

Ever see #6 bounce off the back of a bird on a late season long shot? Usta be you couldn't get #5 except maybe in rich man's brands we couldn't afford.

Yup, Plenty of times. That's why I use copper plated shot and lots of choke. I want them DEAD when they hit the ground otherwise they run and hide. I've killed a lot of birds that had their tail and back feathers blown off and a few little BB's just under the shin. Wild open country birds are tough.

Ha, you guys crack me up.

Either will work fine. I'm assuming you have patterned your guns and checked POA and POI. 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 ounces of #5 shot is kind of the standard. Choke depends on the hunting conditions. Modified 60% choke would be kind of the standard.

I've hunted wildbirds for close to 60 yrs, WA, MT, ND,SD, MN, WI and have never needed more than an ounce 5's and usually hunt with an ounce of 6's(12ga, 16ga and 20ga same load). Some of the longest shots I've taken were with a 20ga shooting cleanup on corporate hunts, you know when everyone else is done shooting dropping the cripples. When gunning for hunt tests 7 1/2 trap loads. I do usually hunt over good pointers or close working flushing dogs.

I'm comfortable with light weight short barreled shotguns and they can give me a 10 yd advantage over someone with a long heavy shotgun, I did shoot true low gun international skeet for years.

Shoot the gun you shoot best from a low gun position, nobody walks through the fields with the gun mounted on their shoulder. Practice on trap or skeet with the gun as your going to carry it in the field.

12ga SxS light at 5 lb 15 oz shooting 1 oz 6's in 2.5" hulls, MT wild birds, The white and brown guy was a hunting machine Pheasants, sharpies, ruffs, woodcock ducks and geese were what he lived for. I took this picture because of the variety of bird coloring , burgundy, gold and black hues.

I agree... I another guy who has hunted wild pheasants for more decades than I care to count.
I would only add a couple things:
Lots of guys take very long shots at birds that are going pretty much straight away... hard to kill a pheasant and recover it that way. (This is where the shot bouncing off the bird stories come from.) The closer you are to a bird when it flushes, the easier it is to hit a vital area such has head, neck, and to break wings. Much of a going-away pheasant's profile is tail, and shooting that won't help you at all! Another important aspect of this is learning to anticipate a flush (good dogs!) and being fast on the draw. I've seen so many guys shoot at pheasants at 50 yards that could have been killed at 25 yards if they were ready and quick to mount their gun. A number of times I killed limits of roosters with a .410 side by side by limiting myself to only shoot birds that were pointed and flushed at very close range.

I killed my first pheasant in 1964, and have only missed 3-4 seasons since then.

I've killed a couple wild roosters with #9's when I was a kid, but I still advocate 4's (nickel plated) as the best overall, as I want them dead in the air.

With a good dog, just get the rooster on the ground and the dog will do the rest.

Without a dog, a bird takes 10 steps to the side and you may never find him, which is why I need them dead in the air.

I've killed them the last few years with a 28 ga and 5's or 6's in a 5 pound double IC and Mod. I haven't shot a bird other than waterfowl with a 12 ga in 20 years.