Various observations....

benelli-banger

Well-known member
Another season has basically ended; while driving home today, various observations came to mind: I can’t get enough bird hunting!; I shoot best alone, not distracted by the whereabouts of others; the dogs are the stars!; my run-of-the-mill 1200 FPS loads of #5 lead are just fine if I do my part; IC is my choke of choice, all season long; I loathe hunting in groups...one buddy is just about perfect, hunting solo is great as well; I can hunt comfortably all day long in muck boots...gotta love dry feet!; dogs recovering cripples is the best!!!!; what the sun does to prairie grasses is better than what any artist can do, especially near sundown!; discerning signals given by the dogs is much fun...almost unfair!!!!; flushing, shooting, retrieving roosters is as exciting as it was 30 years ago!!!; a vest full is just about as good as this life gets!!!! 🤩
 
I agree, I hunt solo most of the time.I think I limited out 8 times, and lots of 2 bird days. I have a great dog, she has a soft mouth, and retrieves to hand. I really can't do any hunting without my dog.I actually thought about leaving her in the car on my recent goose hunt, but she gave me the look, so that was that.She made a 300 yard retrieve on a goose that fell in the Yellowstone river.Now that's impressive!
 
Folks that don't hunt pheasants, will never understand/experience this. Nicely stated BB. I have a hunting buddy, who I do enjoy hunting with. He is still learning, but until he gets things figured-out completely, I will get to help fill his limit. Fun to share the experiences and stories with someone.
 
I have never hunted in a group bigger than 3 in almost 20 years. 75% of the time I hunt by myself. On occasion I invite one other well trusted person. I just simply prefer it that way. Plus the sports that I hunt are not really designed for more than 2. I go when there are good conditions, not because its a Saturday or because its opening day. 1200 fps is too slow for me though, I use 1500. There is a need for speed. IC is the choke of choice for me too.
 
I like hunting with 1 other person but the same person. Sometimes we may hunt side by side and sometimes we may be well spread out. Depends on the location. Nothing better than watching the dogs do their thing. I don’t mind one day of larger group hunting just for a change of pace but that is more than enough for me.
 
I have never hunted in a group bigger than 3 in almost 20 years. 75% of the time I hunt by myself. On occasion I invite one other well trusted person. I just simply prefer it that way. Plus the sports that I hunt are not really designed for more than 2. I go when there are good conditions, not because its a Saturday or because its opening day. 1200 fps is too slow for me though, I use 1500. There is a need for speed. IC is the choke of choice for me too.

I think whatever creates confidence for you is the "right" recipe...I have been using the Cabela's/Herters shells for about 5 years now, and I have great confidence in their efficacy. This season I did shoot a 16 gauge S x S a bit (several), but most of my birds were killed with a 12 gauge using the aforementioned loads. I have a few buddies who are Prairie Storm disciples...good looking load. I didn't tally my #'s this season, but it is well North of 100...I'm sure I went through 12-15 boxes of shells, probably more. I guess paying an extra $5 or $10 per box isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. I will try the Prairie Storms for the heck of it next trip...I wonder how much extra energy that velocity creates???
 
some of the studies done indicate that the extra velocity sometimes decreases pattern uniformity, but that would have been 25 years ago...maybe the current recipes and components mitigate that? Michael McIntosh and maybe Tom Roster seemed more in the camp of the 1100-1200 fps shell...
 
I think whatever creates confidence for you is the "right" recipe.
I agree with this. If you've done well with a slower velocity load and a smaller gauge in various chokes, why would you change things up? If it aint broke, don't fix it. For the longest time I always used Wing Shok. It has 1500 fps and its a Federal load. PS was introduced not that long ago and its almost exactly the same load. The only difference is the saturn-shaped BBs rather than standard round ones of Wing Shok. The reason I prefer a high velocity load is that it helps increase fallen birds. When I miss, I shoot behind the bird. This faster load helps reduce that problem because it gets there quicker. So even when I shoot less than ideal, I still take down roosters. I don't go through near as many boxes of shells that you do so the cost is not an issue. I tried Fiocchi Golden Pheasant one time and I was missing roosters way more often so that was the end of that. I should lastly add that I only use lead because I only hunt on private land and there is no requirement to use non-toxic loads.
 
i love Fiocchi #5's. the trick is to pattern your gun with different loads, you may be surprised!
not all loads/chokes perform the same.
Folks that don't hunt pheasants, will never understand/experience this. Nicely stated BB. I have a hunting buddy, who I do enjoy hunting with. He is still learning, but until he gets things figured-out completely, I will get to help fill his limit. Fun to share the experiences and stories with someone.
Yeah, I used to shoot for this other friend who was a real greenhorn from back east.He knew nothing, but was a good guy.
 
We have done entire shell/load thing. If you are not hitting/killing birds constistantly, pattern your gun and figure-out where you are shooting. If you fellas are missing with one and a quarter oz. loads or even heavier , it is not the shells, get closer or figure out where the shot pattern is actually going. IC choke will do wonders for shots slightly off the sweet spot....it will also not ruin the meat if you just give them a second. IMHO
 
We have done entire shell/load thing. If you are not hitting/killing birds constistantly, pattern your gun and figure-out where you are shooting. If you fellas are missing with one and a quarter oz. loads or even heavier , it is not the shells, get closer or figure out where the shot pattern is actually going. IC choke will do wonders for shots slightly off the sweet spot....it will also not ruin the meat if you just give them a second. IMHO
When I went to ic, I really improved my shooting.I think I could do ok with full, as that's what I learned with. It depends on the gun, as somebody already pointed out.
 
I agree with those that said use what works for you and gives you confidence. That for me, is shooting IC all season long (I used to use modified but been using IC for a long time now) and typically I shoot 6s and 7.5.

Sometimes I run a 7.5 as my first 2 shells and 6s from there. Later in the season I'll switch to 6s and 5s. I rarely ever go larger than a 5 unless 4s are all I have or in stock and I'm in need of shells.

Additionally, for those that are FPS junkies (I somewhat am but I typically aim for the 1300-1500 mark). If you compare a 2.75 and 3 inch shell, a 2.75 shell will be faster every time when you're comparing the same shell. When I noticed that, I switched to 2.75 inch shells and haven't looked back. Fewer pellets but I haven't encountered many issues since I switched.
 
Well said.

I prefer to hunt upland alone (of course, with the Wrecking Crew) or one other proven hunter, and that list is short. Back in grade school when my report card had "doesn't play well with others" on it, I thought it was a good mark until my folks advised otherwise. It's still by & large a cornerstone of my personality...

For my thin & dusty dime, I firmly believe for upland the most under used & underappreciated choke is Light Modified. if I were restricted to one choke for upland in my single barrel shotguns, it would be Light Modified (constriction between IC and Mod). If I were restricted to two chokes for my Citori, they would by Light Modified over Improved Modified (constriction between Mod and Full).

For the first few decades I hunted, no loads did much over 1300FPS and most didn't even do that. With the wide variety of loads available now and a little experimentation at the patterning board, there's no reason a guy can't find one that patterns well and reaches the muzzle velocity he wants.

Back in the 70's into the early 80's BS (Before Steel) when we shot lead at everything, my go-to load for everything but geese (and I even killed a few of those with this load) was a handloaded short mag, 1.5 ounces of 7.5s at about 1250FPS. 90% of the time the Poly-Choke on my silver worn Model 12 was set at Improved Cylinder. With a neck & knob full of 7.5's, a bird doesn't go anywhere but down, stone dead...
 
I have about 6 Spanish doubles, mostly Ugartechea’s, also a few AYA’s, and they are all choked skeet1/skeet2....the former a bit more open than IC, the latter a bit tighter than IC....love that combo, and also, I love fixed chokes...
 
Bet those geese were full of shot! I used to shoot 6s only, maybe 5 years ago start mixing in 5 shot loads, today I only use 5s, waaay less shot remain in the birds. That is in pheasants. I never noticed the difference until last year, I think it might have been a post on this forum that stated this. I really questioned it until I started collecting/keeping the shot recovered from the birds. With 5s, more often that not, there are no shot in the birds, they usually pass-through....makes for a much better eating experience! Back to shells, I reload mine and have never fired a shot-shell through my chrony...scared I will destroy it and not sure it could help anything. The load manual might give a fps estimate, but isn't relevant to me....have a recipe that seems to pattern well and is lethal at what I am shooting at.
 
When I used my montefeltro I had 2 Briley tubes...skeet and light modified. I used to put the LM in late season...then I just kep skeet in til the bitter end, and it didn’t matter...birds fall, no matter! This last trip most of the birds I shot were within 30 yards, probably 20...there is the occasional bird I shoot at that may be 50 yards out, but I probably miss those most times anyway...Michael Macintosh suggested that modern guns, with the constriction that they have, and, modern loads, and how they perform and pattern, make the need for any choke at all almost nil...meaning cylinder is probably fine for most hunting applications...assuming shots are within 35-40 yards or so...
 
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