Can you upland game guys recommend a good scatter gun for Chukars? Something that works well for pheasants would be nice too. I'm thinking 20 gauge. Does anyone even shoot 16 gauge any more? TIA

I know and hunt with a lot of chukar hunters.

Favorite gauge is 20 with #6 shot, modified or improved choke.

If you are wanting to buy a new semi-auto then the Benelli M2 is a very good choice. Light weight and reliable.

Most of the guys I hunt chukar with are shooting older A-5 20 ga. I also use an A-5 but the Benelli M2 is much lighter and easier to carry when chasing chukar.

I assume you have great pointing dogs?

Right now I am in Mountain Home and have a great GSP, F250 and travel trailer. I have been hunting birds since the 5th of September in Wyoming and Montana. Will be out until at least Thanksgiving. If we meet up I'll let you shoot the M2.

I pretty much agree with Reba regarding guns though I prefer a heavier gun and would lean toward the A-5 over the Benelli in 20 ga. Something in the 7# range to a max of 7.5# or so would be preferred if it balanced as I would like. I would look at a 12 ga over a 20 ga too as I would like a few more pellets in the pattern as the birds I found were longer than I would like to take with an ounce of shot.

Gun/load choice would also depend on the country being hunted. My lone hunt was on a rather rocky set of ridges with sparse cover. The birds ran like blue quail or pheasants in a cornfield. They did not stop until the came to some edge to contain them and then they would flush a ways away. The dogs did have points but it would be 30 yards out and typically out of sight from the birds. I don't know if these birds were heavily hunted or if it was the norm but I'm glad I had a few very experienced dogs with.

The gun I used on that hunt was a Browning Citori Upland Special in 16 ga. It was the right weight over all but too light up front for good shooting. If going out today I would use a 16 ga Citori with 28" barrels or one of my synthetic stocked Mossberg 930s in 12 ga.

I would chose them for the ability to use a heavier payload and lean toward the Mossberg's as being synthetics I would not mind the dings, scratches, and other stock damage one eventually seems to get scrambling over rocky country. If I were more sure footed I might think differently but my mountain goat days never seemed to catch up.

As for 16 ga guns, I have not only the two mentioned but a pre-WWII A-5, a Savage 311, and an Iver Johnson single shot in 16 ga. Over the years I've owned two other 311s, a BPS Upland Special, and a half dozen A-5s all in 16 ga. I use the Citoris the most followed by the 311. They get the nod as it is easy to collect the empties for reloading. The A-5 has mainly been a back up as empties are lost. The IJ isn't used as much as it was at least my grandfather's gun and has been used so much the forearm often comes off when fired. It is safe to shoot but has its quirks.

This thread makes me think back to my friend Don who went to Idaho to hunt them around 20 years ago. He rigged up a 12 gauge riot Benelli with chokes. He wanted maximum firepower so he could get multiple birds on covey rise as he hated to chase them up or down slopes. He got 6 on the rise one time and was put out that he was bending over to pick up one bird and there was a late riser. He could have gotten 7 from that covey!

I hunt chukar quite a bit and prefer a lightweight auto in 12 or 20 gauge.

I personally fall down quite a bit trying to navigate steep basalt slides while side hilling in chukar areas.

So I usually take a beater

Thanks guys.

You, sir, are living the dream.

Yep.
round here it's rock slides, cliffs, brush and cacti.
I don't carry the safe queens.
#6
20 or 12

Pick the gun you like. what's good for me or someone else don't mean squat! My gun these days iis 28GA SxS. Never shot a pheasant with if but no doubt it would work. 16ga shells still seem easy to find but I only buy them when I need shells, pretty inexpensive. Have two 16's. SxS and a mod 37 Ithica. Buying a shotgun is a pretty personal thing for me, I like what I like!

Any gun that shoots like a 10 and weighs like a .410! "Guns don't kill chukars, legs and lungs kill chukars".... (A great GSP don't hurt, tho.)

I use a 28 gauge SxS for everything. My buddy hunts a 12 gauge semi auto of some kind and we typically get about the same number of birds.

Seems most guys who shoot 16 reload it too. It's availability is lower and it's price generally higher.

It is a really nice step between 12 and twenty. You really don't give up much except recoil...