What is a good 12-gauge pheasant load?

For wild pheasants, I prefer 12-gauge, 2¾-inch shotshells with mid-weight to heavyweight payloads propelled to high velocities—1300 to 1500 fps. Those containing 1¼ to 1⅝ ozs.

Is 2 shot too big for pheasant?

However, if you can catch the birds in roosting or resting areas like CRP, shelterbelts, small waterway edges, or fencerows, you can have some very close shooting on birds that will hold very tight. An improved cylinder is ideal with a smaller shot size. No. 6 to 7 1/2 shot is great early in the season.

What size shot should I use for pheasant hunting?

A size 4 is usually best for pheasants and a size 2 should be used for bigger birds such as ducks or geese, Burd said. Even larger shot is BB and BBB, then a range of buckshot. “Your pellets are really big by that time, like up to a third of an inch. People hunt deer back East with buckshot.

Is 4 shot too big for pheasant?

From experience, steel 3’s and 4’s in 12 or 20 gauges seem to do the job quite well on pheasants and steel 6’s or 7’s are good for quail and woodcock hunting. Extra speed in steel loads is generally necessary to impart greater striking force on the game being shot because steel is lighter than lead.

What is best load for pheasant?

5 shot is the most common size of load for pheasant hunting. It is a great load that will carry you through the year. It be something that you can use from September, when are season starts, through the winter, and clear until the end of March when our season wraps up.

Do I need a choke for pheasant hunting?

Thirty-to-forty-yard shots are common, so you will need a choke and shot selection that can reach out and knock them down. A modified choke with No. 5 or 6 lead shot will keep you in the game when the pheasants flush early.

What is a good pheasant load?

Can you use 3 shot for pheasant?

Despite his fondness for dense-like-lead shot, Bourjaily does shoot steel — often, because that’s what most of his readers shoot. He prefers slower loads with bigger pellets. “The best, most efficient way to boost pellet energy is to shoot bigger shot,” he says. “I usually shoot 2s and 3s.”

What is the best choke for pheasant?

A modified choke with No. 5 or 6 lead shot will keep you in the game when the pheasants flush early.

What is pheasant load?

Ammunition labeled as “pheasant loads” come in velocities ranging from 1200 to 1500 feet-per-second (fps). That’s quite a range. It’s easy to assume faster must be better for dropping tough-as-nails wild roosters and speed does in fact kill.

What is the best pheasant load?

Which choke tube is best for pheasant hunting?