Late season pheasants - Full choke? Modified?

[hunter94]

Would shortening the stock a little help in mounting the gun easier?

The reason I ask is sometimes a perfectly fitting stock when in shirt sleeves can become a little long when adding extra clothing or a coat and it can snag on the clothing. Not sure that is your issue or not, just a thought.

Regarding choke. If you are finding yourself slow to the mount I would most certainly move up to at least a Modified choke which will extend your effective range out another 10-15 yards from an IC.

modified, number 5#s.

[waterdog09]

I use IC in my 12's & 20 and over opener in MN this past wknd shot a couple with my 20 at 40-45yds using new Hevi-X non-tox and stoned them at that distance. I really have never felt the need to change from a IC choke all season long, if it kills at 40-50yds that is plenty far of a shot to be taking especially in heavy cover where the dogs might not see it go down.

[davidtodd]

One of our crew bought a very old 20 light A5 two years ago with a fixed full barrel and he does well with the birds .
He doesn't Mount fast .
I loaded some fast 1oz #6 loads for him and they perform perfectly .
DT

[BRITTMAN]

cylinder
skeet
improved cylinder
light modified
modified
improved modified
light full
full
extra full

[Bob Peters]

i shoot skeet out of my auto's all season...I shoot
sk1/sk2 out of all my doubles...o/u and s x s...1 1/4 oz of #5 lead out of my 12 ga auto...from opener to the close...skeet choke...birds fall...

Reading your recent post it looks like your rethinking this one....

[benelli-banger]

Perhaps I will go IC in both of my auto's...one of them has that in it, the other is SK....I have been shooting SK all season long out of my older Benelli for many years...when I got my newer Benelli (ultra light), I guess I have been shooting IC from it...big difference? probably not. I also have a LM tube for the older Benelli, may put that in for my last hurrah, which I leave for on Wed...the shots that have been the most frustrating are the straight-aways...tough to kill those birds, maybe a bit tighter choke will help. Or, shooting #4's perhaps. My last trip (returned 12/16) was a good trip, killed many birds, shot pretty well...I find that my shooting suffers the longer I am walking, and a degree of sloppiness may set in due to fatigue. I have hunted more days this season for pheasants than I ever have, and consequently have shot more birds than I have in a long time...over a 100 by a fair margin. Most presentations that expose the vitals are fine...SK or tighter, it seems that if you're on them, they fall...not always dead, but typically they end up in the vest. It's the darn straight aways that are pretty tough to kill...lots of bone to contend with...probably break a wing or two, but tough to kill.

I have shot tighter chokes in the past, and it seems my shooting suffers a bit. About a month ago I shot a Parker 16 gauge that belonged to a great friend, who passed 5 years ago...F/F, and I have patterned that gun, and it is TIGHT!!!!! I hunted for an hour and a half or so, killed 3 (none moved, though not all were dead), but I missed LOTS before getting my limit...I was OK with that, I was carrying that gun just to amuse my buddy, who NEVER hunted with that gun for some reason....F/F??? probably why.

Bottom line, I think missing a few more birds is preferable to wounding a bird, so it probably makes sense to tighten the pattern up a bit. I will leave the IC tube in the ultra light, and shift from SK to LM in the Montefeltro and report back next Monday on the result. With the snow that has fallen in SD, I suspect shots will either be at 5 yards or 45 yards! I recall last January how the birds were holed up in the snow, and the dogs pointed close to 70+ birds in one field alone...mostly hens, but it was fun having both dogs on point simultaneously on different birds...happened about 3-4 times.

[Ranger Rick]

Perhaps I will go IC in both of my auto's...one of them has that in it, the other is SK....I have been shooting SK all season long out of my older Benelli for many years...when I got my newer Benelli (ultra light), I guess I have been shooting IC from it...big difference? probably not. I also have a LM tube for the older Benelli, may put that in for my last hurrah, which I leave for on Wed...the shots that have been the most frustrating are the straight-aways...tough to kill those birds, maybe a bit tighter choke will help. Or, shooting #4's perhaps. My last trip (returned 12/16) was a good trip, killed many birds, shot pretty well...I find that my shooting suffers the longer I am walking, and a degree of sloppiness may set in due to fatigue. I have hunted more days this season for pheasants than I ever have, and consequently have shot more birds than I have in a long time...over a 100 by a fair margin. Most presentations that expose the vitals are fine...SK or tighter, it seems that if you're on them, they fall...not always dead, but typically they end up in the vest. It's the darn straight aways that are pretty tough to kill...lots of bone to contend with...probably break a wing or two, but tough to kill.

I have shot tighter chokes in the past, and it seems my shooting suffers a bit. About a month ago I shot a Parker 16 gauge that belonged to a great friend, who passed 5 years ago...F/F, and I have patterned that gun, and it is TIGHT!!!!! I hunted for an hour and a half or so, killed 3 (none moved, though not all were dead), but I missed LOTS before getting my limit...I was OK with that, I was carrying that gun just to amuse my buddy, who NEVER hunted with that gun for some reason....F/F??? probably why.

Bottom line, I think missing a few more birds is preferable to wounding a bird, so it probably makes sense to tighten the pattern up a bit. I will leave the IC tube in the ultra light, and shift from SK to LM in the Montefeltro and report back next Monday on the result. With the snow that has fallen in SD, I suspect shots will either be at 5 yards or 45 yards! I recall last January how the birds were holed up in the snow, and the dogs pointed close to 70+ birds in one field alone...mostly hens, but it was fun having both dogs on point simultaneously on different birds...happened about 3-4 times.

I think back in the day, with paper wads and dirty burning powder the shot patterns weren't as good as they are today with the modern powder and plastic wads. Maybe we needed tighter chokes to hold a pattern? I remember having to use a lot of Hoppe's solvent and scrubbing like crazy with the brass brush to get the barrels clean. My first shotgun was an old square-backed Stevens 12 gauge pump, 30" barrel, with a full choke. My dad bought a semi-auto 20 gauge and he was too quick with it. He'd miss 3 shots and then my 12 would bark and down came the rooster. Being a skinny kid it was tough for me to shoulder that long gun, I was slower on the draw, but the full choke meant I could reach out and touch them.

[birdshooter]

I think back in the day, with paper wads and dirty burning powder the shot patterns weren't as good as they are today with the modern powder and plastic wads. Maybe we needed tighter chokes to hold a pattern?

I think it's safe to say that if you were to pattern and compare those old time loads with modern day ammo you would see a stark difference, even the older plastic wads used in the 60's and 70's. IMO tighter chokes were needed with the old stuff. Now... granted skeet or even IC were rare in those days except maybe target guns. I remember my Grand dad always used a Model 12 with a fixed Full choke, my father had a fixed Modified in his Remington 878 Automaster and both were deadly when it came to dropping birds with the older ammo from back in the day.

With modern day ammo a factory or aftermarket choke that is stamped for example "Mod" doesn't guarantee a 60% pattern at 40 yards which is the standard for a modified. Ammo quality plays a HUGE factor in pattern percentages, sometimes just switching to a different brand can make a big difference. As an example a Modified choke using soft chilled shot or "promotional" loads as their effectively called may not pattern as efficient or as dense as an IC with a premium load using hard plated lead. With the right premium ammo that Modified may deliver Full choke patterns at 40 yards. Unfortunately only a trip to the pattern board will reveal that.