I'm going to be honest here... and my opinion may not be popular.
Letting an animal suffer for 45 minutes for the sole purpose of not interfering with your buddy's hunt is bullshit.
You should feel bad.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
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2023/2024 Upland Hunting Thread
- Thread starter RDG
- Start date
I'm going to be honest here... and my opinion may not be popular.
Letting an animal suffer for 45 minutes for the sole purpose of not interfering with your buddy's hunt is bullshit.
You should feel bad.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
admcd
NES Member
You're welcome to your opinion. You'll forgive me if I don't give it much credence, though, as you weren't there and don't know all the circumstances.
For example, she dropped where she stood and made no sound at all which is consistent with a good shot. Sitting made perfect sense in the moment and, considering I had more tags to fill and there is an overabundance of deer, was the right call.
Mark from MA
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We all like to dispatch game as quickly as possible, instantly if ever possible.
My feeling is this is probably not much different than hitting a deer in a not so great place and it running off and then having to find it. In other words a liver hit would be minimum 3 hours before I'd take up a track, and likely the deer could still be alive at the end. A gut hit.....6 hours min before I'd consider tracking and the deer probably would be alive at the end. That's why the goal is a double lung....but shit happens. Nothing is controlled other than you practice as much as possible to kill game cleanly.
45 minutes.....not so bad in the grand scheme of things.
Especially in mother natures grand scheme when predators get a hold of a deer they probably eat it stomach first while still alive, and it might not be dead for hours. Or in the case of an owl that is eating a pheasant, pinning its wings down by its tallons to the ground, and pecking out its breast while still alive.
Or your fellow drivers who hit deer every day and leave them to die a slow merciless death in a ditch.
Last Saturday we decided to let the club crowd do their thing and we'd come later to do a clean up hunt vs. the ostensibly smarter and more wiley birds that didn't get bagged early. Still plenty of birds and we had four in less than 50 minutes.
I'm so terrible at skeet that people give me hugs and say, "There, there, you're going to be OK..." LOL maybe an exaggeration but not by much- I really suck. That said, for some odd reason I can make difficult crossing shots on birds with a full head of steam. One of the roosters I bagged Saturday was really hauling ass at quite a distance and I was able to keep most of the pellets on the head and neck. Lights out mid flight. Only picked a couple out of the breast when cleaning. Made similar shots the last two hunts.
Regarding the above discussion, I don't think anybody really wants to cause unnecessary suffering. I switched from high brass #6's to 3" 1-1/4 oz #5's in my 20 ga O/U. I don't notice any extra recoil and the #5's hit the birds like an off switch.
I'm so terrible at skeet that people give me hugs and say, "There, there, you're going to be OK..." LOL maybe an exaggeration but not by much- I really suck. That said, for some odd reason I can make difficult crossing shots on birds with a full head of steam. One of the roosters I bagged Saturday was really hauling ass at quite a distance and I was able to keep most of the pellets on the head and neck. Lights out mid flight. Only picked a couple out of the breast when cleaning. Made similar shots the last two hunts.
Regarding the above discussion, I don't think anybody really wants to cause unnecessary suffering. I switched from high brass #6's to 3" 1-1/4 oz #5's in my 20 ga O/U. I don't notice any extra recoil and the #5's hit the birds like an off switch.
I wounded my first one. I didn't realize you're supposed to shoot it again. I slit it's throat and it died quickly. My buddies all looked at me funny. But in your case that would have been quieter.
MaroonedinMA
NES Member
Meanwhile, in Utica NY, folks were making good use of the new ADA-compliant hunting preserve.
Dennis in MA
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![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
admcd
NES Member
The season is over for me, sadly. Came back with a sinus infection from NC and threw my back out helping my wife move heavy shit around in the basement. Maybe get out after Shotgun deer season if there's anything left/chase some rabbits at my local spot. Maybe treat myself to an Addiville hunt for my birthday later this month.
Personally shot six pheasants, helped friends harvest another 4, flushed 20 over my dog, snagged one rabbit, and 100 miles walked. The dog did in the neighborhood of 300 miles based on the pedometer I stuck on his collar.
Not bad for five weeks.
Personally shot six pheasants, helped friends harvest another 4, flushed 20 over my dog, snagged one rabbit, and 100 miles walked. The dog did in the neighborhood of 300 miles based on the pedometer I stuck on his collar.
Not bad for five weeks.
Just did my first upland hunt yesterday. Did not see a bird but it was a great experience and fun to see the dog work. Now I need to get the right gear. Suggestions on good entry level gun. This is something I could see my self doing maybe a handfull of times a season so I don't need top end.
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boilermaker
NES Member
Great pic!!
Take a look at TriStar over unders. Mine holds its own against my much more expensive Franchi and a Winchester as well. Well made and very affordable. Supposedly black chrome barrels etc. rather than bluing, so they are better for the rain. I'd grab some links for you but am headed out to pheasant hunt myself. My hunting buddy and I will probably use our TriStars today because of the rain.
I think that's another nice value tier O/U shotgun. Also made in Turkey. CZ's maker is Huglu while I think TriStar's is Kral. I don't know what is the finish on the CZ barrels nor if they have chrome lined bores. CZ's do get positive reviews as a value tier gun. As I mentioned, that black chrome on the TriStar is great for nasty weather plus the chrome lined bores are a nice feature usually seen on the $$$$ shotguns.
What I have in 28 ga:
Setter S/T - TriStar Arms
Lightweight O/U-
Trinity LT - TriStar Arms
I'm thinking about the Trinity in a 12 ga. I have a 'vintage' Winchester 96, which is a plain wrapper 101. It's a bit heavy and I do a lot of hiking in rough terrain when bird hunting.
I think the CZ has extractors, as do the TriStars. I actually prefer extractors (push out the shell enough to grab) vs. ejectors (shoots out the empty shells). I don't leave any spent shells and would rather grab them from the gun then have to pick them up off of the ground.
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Another great morning of hunting. Same as last week we waited for the initial morning crowd to do their sweep then went in to get the fast and or smart birds. I need to weigh these roosters before I clean them- they are big. edit- Yep, 4 lb birds. Big for a pheasant.
One was maybe my second longest shot on a pheasant. Thought I missed it as it continued to fly over a small ridge maybe 70 yards away but another group on that side of the ridge brought it to me and said it dropped dead right in front of them. Gave my hunting partner some shit for doubting my shot LOL.
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I found this spot in CT a couple years ago during a turkey hunt. It was early AM and I could hear a few grouse drumming nearby. Marked the spot on ONX and gave it a try in the fall to try and locate some grouse. No luck finding grouse but we flushed a ton of WC that day.
Went back today for the first time this year and the spot didn't disappoint.
One short of a CT limit of WC.. was still a great day and better than dealing with the orange army that would have been at the local pheasant stocked WMA.
Went back today for the first time this year and the spot didn't disappoint.
One short of a CT limit of WC.. was still a great day and better than dealing with the orange army that would have been at the local pheasant stocked WMA.
I was using a 20 ga Ithaca 37 with a fixed IC choke. Got plenty of stocked pheasants, rabbits and woodcock with it. Currently running a Mossberg 12 ga O/U, and miss the light weight and more balanced feel of the 20 ga. Once I get the stock of the Ithaca repaired, I'll likely go back to carrying that.
I (mostly) switched from 12 to 20, but I am using 3" (magnum) shells and number 5 shot in the 20. The recoil is a non-issue even though my 20 o/u is relatively light. I'm not a small person, so that is part of it. Many do not care for the recoil of a 3" 20 ga shell in lighter guns. I could use standard shells and a lower load of shot, but since switching to the 3" shells nearly all the birds I'm hitting are dropping quickly, lights out (quick and humane).
IMHO it is just as effective and cheaper to go 12 ga with standard 2-3/4 high brass shells and no. 5's or no. 6's. The 12 was simply getting heavy because we cover a lot of rough terrain and are moving pretty quickly. If I were hunting mostly flat WMA's the 12 would be no trouble. Worth noting that when things get weird and ammo supply is tight, 20 ga seems to dry up more quickly and 12 ga is way easier to find.
16 ga is great for pheasants, but it can at times be harder to find. Worcester Walmart carries it, however.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
What’s the payload on the 3” 20?
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
That’s a damn heavy load. I shoot 7/8 oz 7 1/2 in the first barrel and 1oz if 6s in the second barrel for those longer shots.
Maybe I need to up my game. Compensate for my lack of wing shooting skills.
If the shots are close, I really try to make a head shot and not turn the meat into burger.
I'm good with 7-1/2's for quail and chukar first shots and 6's for second shots. #6 is the smallest I will use for pheasant.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
The guy who taught me how to hunt uses the same loads I do. He’s an amazing shot. I am not. I really should rethink my loads.
Then again with these stocked birds most of the time they need a swift kick to get them to flush so it’s up close and personal.
The pellet count for 7-1/2's is roughly double that of 5's, ounce for ounce. So the 7-1/2's actually make it easier to hit the bird. Personally I don't think they pack enough juice to cleanly kill a pheasant except for in your face range. If you don't make a head shot, there will be a shit ton of pellets in the meat.
16 gauge.... carries like a 20... hits like a 12.
Mark from MA
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I have used all of them.
12,20,16,and 28. all will work for pheasants/upland game, and if you shoot relatively close birds over a dog and shoot well, there is no problem..
Expect longer shots I'd stick with the 12, but I have made some amazingly long shots with the 28 and killed pheasants.
16 and 28 shells are 1/3 more expensive and much harder to find that needs to be considered especially if the gun might double duty as a skeet/trap gun.
Maybe this isn’t a revelation but, I checked the season dates this morning. My recollection was pheasant season ended prior to shotgun deer opening the Monday after Thanksgiving; turns out it’s now open until the last Saturday in December (12/30) with the stipulation that the seasons is closed during shotgun deer (11/27-12/9).
That's new for this year, as is the need to buy a $4 pheasant stamp. What's funny is that they stop stocking this week (probably tomorrow), same as in the past yet they are charging us more to hunt.
