16ga.com ~ View topic

Lloyd3,

Now that is a fine Christmas gift!

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 14 Feb 2017 Posts: 401

After my South Dakota trip this year, I'd say wild birds are a whole different ball game. Tough, and wounded runners are no fun. No smaller than a 16 gauge for me.

hayseed,

I agree Montana wild birds are better off shot with a 16 or even my 12 Gauge L.C. Smith Pigeon Grade. However for planted stuff in the eastern part of the USA the 28 with the right shells gets the job done if you shoot inside 30 yards. Helps to have a good dog also.

38 to 40 yard shots on a tough old wild Pheasant is pushing the 28 gauge double gun a little too far, for constant out right kills IMO. I like the 16 when the birds are sitting for the dog and the 12 if the big birds are busting farther out.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Guest

I have noticed that the term "ditch chicken" is used mostly by east coast guys who only know the big, dumb and slow game farm birds. If they hunted real pheasants in their natural habitat they'd know better.

*Last edited by skeettx on Sun Jan 12, 2020 12:11 pm; edited 1 time in total*

Let us see ....

16 gauge and one ounce of shot

28 gauge and one ounce of shot

16 gauge field gun 6 pounds +

28 gauge field gun 5 pounds +

YUP, I understand, the 28 gauge is useless Shocked

Guest

Not useless at all, it's just not a gun I would ever recommend for wild pheasants. Your mileage may vary.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1377 Location: Denver, Colorado

Skeettx: Uncharacteristically inflammatory statement coming from you (?). You know all-too-well what the differences are here....patterns and pattern density. The 28 will throw a one ounce load , but not as well as a 16 does. And....on wild birds I'd be thowing more and even faster (if I could) and...I would. Ounce and an eighth at minimum and from a light 12 (at a minimum).

He he he
Yes, but good enough for pheasants pointed by a dog Smile

But my original answer was for wj jeffery 16

Y'all do know how they rough hunt in the British isles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiVqHYcGrvE

Not for walk-up pheasants in a 640 acre section of corn in the wind.

Resemble grouse hunting???????

Mike

Guest

Well ya, but then there those dadburn roosters don't always play fair and wait for the gunner.

Nice to see those Brits actually hunting and not simply waiting for birds to get driven over them. Sissies! Very Happy

Gentlemen,

Got to admit I love my modern L.C. Smith 28 gauge double gun, especially for hunting Grouse, Woodcock and Quail. However my 16 gauge guns get used even more than my 28's. The weight and the swing of my old L.C. Smith and J.P Sauer 16 gauge guns makes bird hunting a dream. Having a fantastic bird dog to go along with those guns makes bird hunting the incredible sport the it is. A man should own as many good guns as he needs to hunt both upland and water fowl.

A man can never have enough fine guns, talented gun dogs or great Bamboo Fly rods!

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Hmmmmmmmm! 5/8 oz - 3/4 oz of shot will do any and all that I could ask of a shotgun , with in excess of 5 k of birds with little Ole Sweet Peach .

Well having seen just more than a few birds shot with a little bit of everything .

I have found a wild pheasant at 40 yards is a real good chance of a crippled bird 90+ percent of the time for most of the folks behind the shotguns irregardless of gauge especially when patterns are degraded due to lack of density.

Most folks are better off passing the vast majority of the shots they think they MIGHT HIT , to those that they can be reasonably sure they can kill.

Now mileage may vary ??????

I have pulled enough experiments on folks going to the Dakota's to get a REALLY good grasp on shooting ability in rough country and real wild birds .

The tool you have in hand IS AND ALWAYS will be a compromise .

That said I can kill wild birds with a 28 GA day in and day out , I just remembered I do not have a 10 GA in my hands .

But a 16 is like baby bear says , it's just right !

Regards , Nick

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1377 Location: Denver, Colorado

Good words to live-by Dave. How close to the "grand canyon" are you?

Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 696 Location: WA/AK

The Western Super-X 28-gauge MAGNUM load of one ounce was introduced in the January 1961 Western price list.

The late author Jack O'Connor was a big fan of this load in his 28-gauge Arrizaga. Western continued to offer the one ounce load through the 1967 price list. The Olins also offered the load in their Winchester brand, but Remington and Peters didn't offer such a load during this time period. The load hadn't reappeared by the 1976 price lists.

Joined: 21 Jan 2018 Posts: 18 Location: Kansas

I have been using my cz bobwhite 28ga for quail, woodcock and dove mostly. I plan to start using it for early season prairie grouse and huns also.
When hunting wild pheasant, i prefer to use a 16ga with shells loaded with at least 1oz or more.

Last season i did shoot a few pointed roosters with my 28ga. They were cleanly killed at close range.
I would really like to add a Dickinson sxs 20/28 combo during the offseason. I sounds like dickinson is making some quality shotguns

Lloyd3,

If you start at the Colton Point look out of the Pa Grand Canyon, and drive west on the big logging Road, which is really Painters Run Rd, you will follow it down the mountain to where it passes Powder Horn Lane. My log cabin & property is the last cabin on Powder Horn lane, where it joins the Tioga State Forest and the Pa State Game Lands.

We have Grouse, Woodcock, Squirrels, Rabbit, Turkey, Bear, Deer and Elk in our front yard and Trout in Pine Creek a stones throw away. Potter/Tioga is Gods Country for real.

Pine Creek/Dave
Pine Creek Grouse Dog Trainers