Quail and Pheasant Shot Size

[EaternDeerHunter]

What size shot do you shoot quail with? I shoot seven and a half but ive been told that it is a bit heavy. Is it? I shoot the pheasant with five but I am bein sent mixed messages. What do you say?

[wranglerdude]

I use 7 1/2s or 8s on quail. Have not shot too many pheasants but 5, 6 or 71/2s should be fine at close to medium range.

[RenderMan]

For pheasant, 5 seems to be the most popular, followed by 6. 4 is a bit heavy and might not pattern tight enough.

[Flatcoat1]

I might shoot 4's during late season when the birds are a little tougher. I like 5's for pheasants. For quail I would go with 7.5's Just an all-around good load for these birds. (Had a friend who shot 9's for quail and 6's for squirrel. Got them mixed up one day and shot a big old fox squirrel with the 9's. It ran all the way to the end of the limb and fell off. OOps!) Flatcoat

[CHAVEZ CHAVEZ]

for thr ol scatter gun myself i like 71/2 for quail and 6 for pheasant, man that openeris just around the
corner!!!

[Brent]

I shot 5 or 6 shots for pheasants, but if I know quail are in the area I usually use 6 shot, as long as you dont shoot them close you'll be alright on the quail. Better that then try to take down a pheasant with 7.5 shot, which is not very likely unless its a close shot.

Me and my dad took down 3 roosters yesturday morning, on opening day.

[rodo4223]

Just got back from South Dakota on a pheasant hunt, and we mainly shot 6's, but there were a few 71/2 's mixed in...wasn't many birds that got past us.

[NYHunter]

I like 5's followed by 4's for pheasants because the birds don't seem to run when they hit the ground like the do with 6's or 7.5's. No native quail here in NY so I don't know. Would probably go with 7.5's and with an imp. cyl. choke.

[Brent]

Yeah the private land I have access to upland hunt has the mix bag, and pretty much anywhere throughout the land, so at any point you don't know what is going to flush up so we have to pick a shot in the middle to try to compensate for both. The different birds just this saturday flushed up about 40 yards away from each other, first a rooster then the quail 40 yards up ahead. You just never know.

[HAIKU_RODNEY]

I am trying a different load this year. 1-1/4 oz shot with 35.4 grains of Hodgdon Long Shot with a Winchester Wad. Muzzle velocity is supposed to be 1495 fps. I shot 6's this past weekend and they worked well on the chukars. The recoil did not seem any worse than any other game load.