Interesting thoughts

J

jshfb004

New member
Why is it that as men generally we consider some rounds as good for kids or our wives and have no issue with them hunting with them but we are not confident in the round for ourselves? with regards to our kids we say they can grow into a larger round... if the round isn't capable for hunting for a "man" why is it capable for a lady, or a kid up until he is able "to grow into something bigger"?
Just something to ponder...
 
I'm not an expert, but 50 years a shotgunner has instilled some opinions on gauges. For me It was just a recoil issue. I started my grandsons shooting (not hunting) with a .410. My opinion is the smaller the gauges the better you should be at determining distance. In my opinion a .410 is not a kid's gun, it's an expert's gun. The reason I never let them hunt with it is I didn't want them to be discouraged by wounding something or traumatized by seeing me club a crippled squirrel!! As far as men go, I think it's a challenge thing. I hunt everything except wild pheasants with sub-gauges. If I lived where wild pheasants flourished, I would probably hunt them with the 20 or 28, only shooting birds that get up at my feet. I've even pondered why some men would never hunt with anything but a 12. Two of my best friends shoot only 12s, Both perfect gentlemen in the field. Another one shoots a 12 because he wants to kill every bird that gets up. For the 1st two, maybe a confidence thing. the latter it's a competition thing. There may be an element of snobbery involved because at the end of the day, when talking about the number of birds taken, I can't help thinking Yeah but I got mine with a 28!!
 
Its interesting. Like many, I started out upland game hunting (mostly pheasants) with a 12ga. My dad handed me a Winchester Model 97 and off we went. By the end of the day my knuckles were dragging on the ground carrying that gun, but I seemed to hit a few birds. Finally I graduated to a Mossberg 12ga. Swung like a club, couldn't hit a barn unless I was inside it. Finally, graduated from college, made enough money to buy a "good" gun, a Beretta A303 semi-auto 12ga. Sweet, forgiving gun. Suddenly I could shoot and birds started dropping. Didn't really think about the gauge, but as I started shooting skeet and sporting clays the recoil of the 12ga started bothering me so I acquired a 20ga Beretta O/U then a 28ga. Suddenly things started to click. I didn't need to fill the sky with lead, I just needed to shoot better and the smaller gauges allowed me to do that. I now hunt exclusively with a 20ga for wild pheasants unless I'm really feeling "on" at which point I switch to a 28ga. The only thing different between the gauges is the amount of shot in the pattern. If you center the bird with a 28ga it will die, but distance is a factor as the smaller number of pellets thin out farther away, so I put up with the "cannon" - a 20ga. Shoot the gun and gauge you shoot best and don't worry about anything else.
 
As some have stated, a significant factor in deciding gauge and choke is pattern density. I've killed quite a few wild pheasants here at home with a 20 gauge, 1 ounce of #5 or #6 with IC/mod chokes. I had flushing dogs and the birds, many at that time, got up relatively close. The 20 is not my favorite gauge for pheasants, especially in Iowa or South Dakota where the size of the unfamiliar cover (plenty of cover means plenty of places for birds to be, and lots of hiking) and the strong winds can make shooting challenging. I like the 16 gauge because my 16's are light (Merkel 1620 and A5 Sweet) and with IC or Mod chokes and 1 1/8 ounces of 5's or 6's I can hit them hard with a dense pattern of shot and kill them. I HATE crippling and losing birds, so normally I don't take 40 yard shots, especially straightaways. Nowadays the ringneck resource isn't always plentiful and I can't stand to waste even one if it can possibly be avoided. The 12 is a hard hitter but it's heavy and often overkill on pheasants---but a great gauge for ducks, geese and turkeys.
 
I am in the above philosophy for 20ga upland and 12ga waterfowl. I find myself quick and not tired with a heavy gun. Hunt quail, huns or ruffed grouse and phez will appear much slower in comparison. Only thing the birds have is Surprise and the dog helps by minimizing that element.
One ounce of #6 hard lead for phez, #7.5 for prairie birds and ruffed grouse and #8 for quail. Almost always IC/M, works well for me. For #6 shot, I blacked out the primer with a magic marker and can visually tell what is in my shell belt when hunting mixed species. be safe
 
Some of its a flusher pointer thing , and steel shot thing too. I’d say more guys shooting 12’s are doing it over flushers, and most guys shooting nontoxic subs are shooting alternative-tox
 
Last edited:
I hate all this touchy feely.🤣 It’s even gone as far as changing the name of my redman to America’s best chew. Try saying that with a big chaw in🤣
 
I'm a 20 gauge guy, and the numbers are on my side.
 
My bad, I really haven't been keeping up.
I bought my share of Redman when I was younger.
 
Started off with 12 gauge now thats my goose and duck gun, my upland gun was a 20 gauge but recently purchased a new A5 Sweet 16 that I will be using for pheasant hunting.
 
jshfb004 said:
Why is it that as men generally we consider some rounds as good for kids or our wives and have no issue with them hunting with them but we are not confident in the round for ourselves? with regards to our kids we say they can grow into a larger round... if the round isn't capable for hunting for a "man" why is it capable for a lady, or a kid up until he is able "to grow into something bigger"?
Just something to ponder...
Click to expand...
I actually went from a 12 gauge Citori to a Franchi Affinity 3 20 gauge this year. The 20 is much lighter and just as deadly as the 12, and the ammo is actually a bit cheaper, too.

That said, my kids all started with 20s and "advanced" to 12s as they got older. I think that the reason behind that was that they wanted a bigger load for waterfowl, and the 12 is a pretty good journeyman load that will cover everything from doves to geese.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top