I was younger in my ruff years, but wild pheasant have been a challenge for me (probably all in my head), where wild quail these days have been a pleasure and remain above 70%. Preserve birds are so easy I think I keep record on them only to make myself feel competent, where wild pheasant leave me humble.
Every year I practice the pheasant shots on the clays course and look great only to humbled all over again. I only get about 4 to 6 days of wild pheasant every year compared to 20-30 days a year on quail
Note my percentages are based on birds engaged and retrieved which include a large number of two shots to bag one bird engagements. On ruffs I almost always put two shells into the bird to be sure. On quail more often than not I shot at only one bird on a covey rise. Sometimes I take no shot at all if it is a small rise
