what caliber and what choke do y'all select when hunting the following birds...

Turkey

Quail

Dove

Pheasant

Chucker

Duck

thanks

dave

Turkey 5/6 M or F 2-3/4" I don't shoot beyond 30 yards.

Quail 8 IC

Dove 8 M or F depending on phase of season

Pheasant 5/6 F

Chucker Not a lot of experience there but 8's and IC on pen birds.

Duck Okay, now what? Sorry, I dont do a lot of ducks. One time only for Woodies and a little later some scaup. Used #6 F 12 Ga with good results. Woodies going to or leaving the roost at twilight...lots of lead, they haul ass.

All 12 ga 2 3/4" shells (unless noted), except dove is 12 and 20 as the mood strikes...

Turkey-X-F, 4x6 duplex 3" mag

Quail- IC, 7 1/2

Dove- M(20) and M or IC(12), 7 1/2

Pheasant-N/A

Chucker-N/A

Duck-IC, #2-BB steel 3" mag
add Geese IC-M, BB-T steel, 3 1/2" steel

Turkey- 12 gauge with Extra-Full choke, shooting 2 oz of copper-plated and buffered 5's

Quail- 20 gauge with skeet in the bottom and IC in the top, shooting 7/8-1 oz of 7 1/2 shot

Pheasant- 12 gauge with IC/IC, shooting 1 1/4 oz of copper-plated 6's or 20 gauge MOD/IC, shooting 1 oz of copper-plated 6's

Chukar- I use the same chokes and loads for chukar as I do for pheasants, but sometimes I switch to copper-plated 7 1/2's if the birds are holding for the dogs and we are finding valley quail.

Turkey, 10ga 3 1/2" 5 or 6's imp/mod
Quail, 7 1/2's 20 2 3/4"
Dove same as Quail
Pheasant, 7 1/2's eary in the season, and 6's later both 12 ga 2 3/4" laods
Chucker,never hunted them but would lean toward the same as Pheasant
Duck,over decoys,I used to use 2's in 12 ga mod/full,, pass shooting 2's or BB in 3 1/2" 10ga Imp/mod

Turkey: I don't hunt them, but a .223 works fine.

Quail: One choke guns, IC, 7 1/2s. 2 chokes, Skeet and modified, 8s or 9s in skeet, 7 1/2s in mod.

Dove: Depends on type of shooting, but in general, one choke Modified 6s or 7 1/2s. 2 chokes, IC/Mod, same shot sizes.

Pheasants: Depends on both type of hunting and time of year, but in general, 1 choke, Mod 4s, 5s, or 6s. 2 chokes, IC/IM same shot sizes, usually 6s in open barrel and larger in tighter.

Chukar: 1 choke, Modified, 6s. 2 chokes IC/IM 6s.

Ducks: Depends on type of hunting (decoying, pass shooting, etc?) but in general for NON-STEEL shot, 1 choke Mod or Full. 2 chokes, IC/IM. Shot size is too variable depending on hunting conditions and type of shot. Larger is generally better, within reason.

Thanks: No season on them in my area.

Dave: I'd tend towards 00.

Turkey: don't hunt them

Quail: 1 oz of 7's, IC

Dove: 1 oz of 7's, IC

Pheasant: 1 1/4 oz of 5's, 1 1/2 oz of 4's, IC

Chukar: 1 1/4 oz of 6's, IC

Duck: don't hunt them.

FWIW, Dutch.

All assuming a 12 guage:

Turkey: I used 3" Remington #4s great load patterned really well in improved modified (3/4) choke

Quail: 7/8 or 1 oz. of 7 -1/2. skeet and improved, or spreaer loads with tighter chokes.

Dove: Not sure not hunted them yet... Though 1 to 1-1/8oz of 7-1/2 hard shot should be good. Improved and mod.

Pheasant: 1-1/8 to 1-1/4oz of #6 in first barrel, then #5 in second barrel. Improved and mod chokes in a double gun.

Chukar: 1-1/8oz of #6 for those pesky, hard flying little b*stards...

Duck: 1-1/8 oz of #4 bismuth, imporved and mod.

All 12 gauge;
Turkey- 3 inch 1&1/2oz #4 X-Full

Quail- 2 3/4- 1 1/8oz #7 1/2 shot improved

Dove- 2 3/4- 1 1/8oz #8 shot modified choke (and be quick)

Pheasant- 2 3/4- 1 1/4oz #5 (more broken bones, less runners) modified

Duck- sorry , haven't hunted them since steel was mandatory.

Sorry again, never hunted chucker....yet!

Here is my 2 bits worth.
Turkey, full or xtra full, 3" 1-3/4oz #5's
Pheasant, if holding tight use your mod or ic, and a 1-1/8oz of 5's or 6's, if they are flushing wild IM, or full and 1-1/4oz of #5's
Duck, use what ever choke gives you the best pattern with the load you use, I use my Mod with a 2-3/4" 1-1/8oz load of steel 2's doing 1475fps. But if I use BB's I have to use my IC choke to get full choke patterns.
Geese I use a 3" load of 1-1/4oz of steel B's and my Mod. choke

WOW! Looks like there is a wide range of "opinions" when it comes to this subject. I always kinda thought of Dove/quail as birds you would want a "wider spread" to have a better chance of hitting the bird and less chance of having to pick pellets out of your teeth. Then as the birds get bigger the choke gets tighter in general...
interesting

Thank y'all for the replies

Dave

Turkey: .22 Centerfire with FMJ's. Shotguns are for wingshooting. I think that bowling over a magnificent ground-dwelling animal with a wingshooting device is unappealing. Do you think it sporting to "groundshoot" anything else on your list? That's what I thought; so why would you hunt turkeys with a shotgun? Actually, I don't have any problem with anyone who does, it's just that it doesn't appeal to me.

Quail: 20 auto, (five shots are nice sometimes ), IC choke w/1 oz #8 or 8.5's

Dove: 28 O/U IC/Mod w/3/4 oz #8 or #9 is my personal favorite , but 20's are fine, too. With a 20, 7/8 oz of shot is plenty. I prefer higher velocity to more shot.

Pheasant: 12 Auto (Modified) or O/U mod/full, 1 1/4 or 1 3/8 oz #5's (#5's are hard to find, so I would compromise with 6's as my second choice and 4's as my third)

Chucker: Whatever I'm shooting at pheasants, because that's the only time I've ever come across a chukar (released, of course), but if I were actually hunting them, I would think that 6's or 7 1/2's would be about right.

Duck: Don't hunt them, but in 90% of the habitat where they are found (at least in my area), lead shot contamination is a non-issue, therefore I'm not about to mess with scrubbing out my barrel with little ball bearings that won't effectively fly as far as you can throw gravel.

Other observations:

1. I've never found a need for a 3" shell in any gauge, much less a 3 1/2 inch shell.

2. Twelve gauge is large enough for anything, and larger than necessary for most.

3. The difference in effective range between the small gauges and the large gauges on birds the size of dove and quail is five yards or less.

4. It's a lot more important that you shoot where the bird is than what you shoot it with.