# What gauge do you use?



## Shorthair.On.Point (Nov 28, 2006)

*What gauge do you use for pheasants?*​
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## Shorthair.On.Point (Nov 28, 2006)

I am a 12 ga guy. It is what I am use to. It is what all my reload recipes are for. It is what all my hunting partners use so I won't mess with a good thing.


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## coltin01 (Dec 7, 2006)

20 ga. its all i got right now, stoeger condor o/u 20 ga.


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## ShineRunner (Sep 11, 2002)

Benelli 20 ga M1, I also bring a Benelli 12 ga M1 pre ban that is like shooting a bazooka after using the 20 for a few days. :beer:


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

I used a 28 gauge until the birds started bunching up in the later season. When they're feathered up and flushing at forty yards, nothing beats the 12. Well maybe a ten gauge would, but I'm just not ornery enough to carry a ten pound shotgun! Burl


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## fishless (Aug 2, 2005)

20, 16, or 12, depends on what I feel like driving that day. They all work equally well. :beer:


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## Nate (Sep 11, 2003)

20 ga early season

12 ga late season


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

only have 1 shotgun so 12


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## varminthuntr (Jan 5, 2007)

i use a good old fashioned remington double barreled(side by side) 12 gauge. i have a 20 gauge 870 wingmaster but i like my double barrel 12


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## hunter9494 (Jan 21, 2007)

my favorite gun is a 20 ga. O/U......stoked with Fiocchi Golden Pheasant shells........most of my birds are shot over a point, but these shells will kill birds stone cold dead at 45 yards.....they are just awesome, buy mine at Cabela's........and love carrying the 20


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## 1littlefeather (Mar 5, 2003)

20 gauge o/u with 3" #6's. By the end of the day the weight of the gun tells on the guys carrying the 12 gauge, slower with getting the gun to the shoulder. :beer:


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## dogdoc (Oct 31, 2004)

I use a 28. It does a great job on roosters. But with a bag limit of 3 and I only shoot birds my Pointers have handled correctly,( they are broke to wing and shot) all my shots are under 35 yards even if I wait on them.


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## Desertrat (Oct 16, 2004)

28's with my pointers. All shots around 30 yards or under.


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## Striper Tom (Jan 21, 2006)

I shoot a S&W 1000 auto 12 23/4 chamber skeet choke. Got at a used dealer for $275. Is an awesome upland gun, 26" and dependable. Similiar to 1100 but lighter. This is true for the aluminum receiver models. I would pay for something better but haven't found it. Ain't broke so don't fix it. May end up with a citori superlight feather 12 gauge. around 61/4lbs, if my shoulder can handle the stomp.

In heavy cover with the dog or possible quail point, AA 71/2 trap load. If windy open field the 13/8 phez forever 5's is the best medicine. I can make long shots with that open choke with this ammo. Had a good day with those loads recently, 4/5 and they were all dead, no chasin. Actually better than that, the one I missed was a long shot with the 71/2s, I flip shells some.

Really funny about loads, the first time I used the gun, was a triple on cocks, haven't ever had that exact chance before or since. I dropped one right off, was a 1 bird limit in that county then, so held off on the other two. Dang, couldn't find him. Thought it was the gun, but it was the shells. Didn't know I had the best quail/phez combo possible.

About the gauge, if you want to make a solid kill on a long shot, go with the 12. You can always put a light load in it, but you can't get as much shot and velocity combo in the smaller gauges, when you may need it most and especially driving 1000 miles to get there.


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## big_al_09 (Feb 26, 2007)

12 guage 870


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## pheasantfanatic (Jan 20, 2007)

big_al_09 said:


> 12 guage 870


The only way to go!!! (unless you can get a Benelli and I can't afford that right now  )


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## big_al_09 (Feb 26, 2007)

pheasantfanatic said:


> big_al_09 said:
> 
> 
> > 12 guage 870
> ...


who can?


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## pheasantfanatic (Jan 20, 2007)

big_al_09 said:


> pheasantfanatic said:
> 
> 
> > big_al_09 said:
> ...


Not me!!!


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## big_al_09 (Feb 26, 2007)

me either :beer:


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## saskcoyote (Dec 30, 2006)

big_al_09

Glad to see you're on the pheasant hunting forum. After reading your post on the predator hunting forum about whether you should eat a coyote, I was kind of wonderin' about you. I've never eaten a yote -- can't imagine I ever will -- but I've eaten plenty of pheasants and they're delicious (LOL).

As for my pheasant-hunting firearms, Shorthair, I'm a Beretta fan. My favorite is my 12 gauge OU but my 20 gauge auto is a close second.


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## big_al_09 (Feb 26, 2007)

saskcoyote said:


> big_al_09
> 
> but I've eaten plenty of pheasants and they're delicious (LOL).
> 
> ...


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## Desertrat (Oct 16, 2004)

Back when I hunted pheasants, I used 20 and 28ga....cuz it was close shots, walking the fence rows on my grand dad's farm in Kansas.


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## mod1220ga (Mar 15, 2007)

Check out my screen name and that will answer your question.


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## neb_bo (Feb 3, 2007)

i do almost all my hunting with a 20 ga 870. never had a malfunction, and ive dropped chickens at 55+ yards. it doesnt matter what you shoot, as long as you know how to shoot it. i also shoot a franchi al 48 12 ga with a 28" full choke barrel sometimes, and a 20 ga a-5. wouldnt mind having a citori featherweight in 20, when i win the lotto.


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