doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com so what does it take to kill a grouse or pheasant?

My experience with grouse is 7/8 oz loads from 20,16 or 12ga works well. I prefer 7s or 7 1/2s. Wild pheasant is a lot different. My experience there is a 1oz load will work if you restrain yourself on longer shots. But I prefer 6s for pheasants. If it is late season with much longer ranges then the 12ga with 1 1/4oz of 5s is carried.

Marc,

One well placed pellet. hehehe.....

In the last two seasons in SoDak, I have used a variety of guns/gauges on wild phez.

In '05, I shot a 1905 12g Parker Full/Skt choked with 1 oz of #5's at 1150 fps. I was able to connect well at about 40 yds with the Full choke but there's just not much #5 shot count in a 1 ounce Skt pattern much past 25 yds. The #5 shot seemed to make up for the low initial velocity.

I also used a modern 20g with some fairly hot Rem Nitro Pheasant 1 oz, #5, at 1300 fps. I used this load in both '05 and '06 in SoDak on wild phez. I have nothing but praise for that load.

I shot several SoDak wild phez with a 12g modern gun using the "standard" 1 1/4 oz of #6 promo loads. They knock them down hard but sometimes the ones that get tailpipe shot will get up and run.

Wild pheasants are very different than preserve birds. Last December, I killed 27 preserve birds straight with a 28 choked IC/M and either 3/4 oz 7's (reloads) or 7/8 oz 7 1/2's (Fiocchi Golden Pheasants). This was over experienced pointing dogs, either mine or the preserve's.

I would never hunt wild roosters with a 28 unless I were prepared to pass up a lot of legitimate chances--not even with my own dogs, all 3 of which have seen a lot of pheasants. But you don't need to overdo it either. If you're hunting over good dogs in good pheasant country, you don't need really heavy loads. I shot over 60 wild roosters this year with a couple of 2 1/2" Army & Navy 12 bores. Right barrel choked 005 on both; left choked either 015 or 025. I switched to the #2 gun with tighter L barrel late in the season, but on reviewing my notes, I probably didn't need to. Never changed my loads throughout the season. 1 1/16 oz Brit 6's (slightly larger than American 7's) in the R barrel. Factory stuff, either Eley Grand Prix or Kent Pure Gold. L barrel, my own reloads of 1 1/8 oz American 6's at 1200 fps. Shot as well last season as I ever have on pheasants. But I am hunting good pheasant country with experienced pointing dogs. Not very many shots longer than 30 yards.

My pheasant load for my 16g LC is also the 2 1/2" Eley Grand Prix Brit 5s (about 6s) 15/16 oz at 1225 fps BUT the Eley website has been down for some time and it looks like they've loaded up the Grand Prix to 1380 fps! No way those'll be low pressure nor low recoil. I've been checking the website to see if the lighter loading will still be available.
If I was using a bit less...uh...delicate gun, I'd use the B&P F2 Classic 1 1/16 at 1280 but by actual testing they run about 10,500 psi and I thought the recoil was like 1 1/8 oz 16g loads.

Marc & All: Worrying over gauge, choke, shot size and type, payload, pressure, etc. is partly just a great excuse for needing to own and experiment with lots of shotguns, right? That's how it is with me, anyway. We all know from experience that what really matters most is 1) hitting what we aim at and 2) not taking shots at ranges where success is as much a matter of luck as of skill. I'll be the first to admit that I have trouble with both when a rooster is rocketing away and I still have an unused barrel. My experience does not extend to woods grouse, but I, for one, believe that an ounce of sixes will handle just about any bird under appropriate conditions. Even so, I have been known to get out my A5 and load three 4-shot 1 1/4-ouncers late in the season, when my mojo needed a boost. Happy hunting. TT

Marc,
Congatulations. We live in a beautiful state not only for hunting, but, fishing, as well. I can't believe how blessed we are. Let me know if there is any direction you need for any Minnesota outdoor pastime, and I'll help as I can.

I've shot half a lifetime at the resident birds, and will note the following. Grouse put up less of a fight then pheasants do.
A pellet, or two in a grouse is usually enough to get them on the ground, where the dog takes over. A few of them have tried to hide over the years, but, it is never the track meet that you can get with a pheasant, and a dog makes all the difference, anyway. In my experience, ruffed grouse don't run as fast, fly as far, or cling as tenaciously to life as a wild pheasant.

Having said that, you might find it odd that I often use the same gun (a Tobin 16, with IC and MOD chokes) and, the same load (Eley fibre wad 1 oz low pressure English 5s and 6s) interchangably on grouse and pheasants, particularly early in either season. But, the truth is, the combination simply works. I'm not a 40 yard shooter on wild birds of any sort, typically, so I suppose any of the big three (12, 16, or 20) would be fine for my use.

And, I have used all three for same. Usually, good quality, store bought 1 1/8 in the 12 will be all one needs for either bird, if that is the gauge you are using. You said the gun was 'kinda heavy, so recoil won't be an issue.

Carrying it all day might be, but, thats a different story.

Welcome to God's country. Enjoy.
Best,
Ted