I am Looking hunting Pheasant in South Dakota. No dog, just a friend on his nieces land and some public land.

What size shot, and how much of it, 1 1/8 1 1/4

Thanks

AND is Steel shot required for pheasant

Almost impossible to say without knowing real detail.

Birds flushing wild? Tighter chokes and larger shot like 4's. Close flushes, open chokes and 6's.

Remember, sportsmen commonly use 16, 20 and 28 gauge shotguns for pheasants so the birds obviously can be taken cleanly with less than magnum loads.

Steel or at least non toxic would be required on public areas like federal wildlife refuges. Regardless what you're told here, check with local officials.

Were I in your shoes I'd probably not buy ammo til' you got there. Shoot what the locals shoot and buy from the store the locals buy from.

Hey, have a great time. Pheasants are a treat.

when are you going and what part of the state... cant beat fiochi golden pheasant loads in a 5.

When was steel required? I thought it only applies to waterfowl.

In SD you must use nontoxic on refuges and waterfowl production areas. Be sure to check regulations.

1 1/4oz 12ga 4,5 or 6 lead shot will do well on pheasants. Steel use 2 or 4 shot. Doesn't have to be mega velocity. 1200fps will do it well.

quote:

Originally posted by Patricio Gaudiano:
when are you going and what part of the state... cant beat fiochi golden pheasant loads in a 5.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by Patricio Gaudiano:
when are you going and what part of the state... cant beat fiochi golden pheasant loads in a 5.

x2

I buy it by the case from Roger's.

My go to pheasant load for decades has been a 1'1/8 oz of mag 6s with Herco powder, rem power piston wads and fed hulls at 1200fps out of my 20ga

I have had no trouble keeping up with the 12ga,

In SD non tox shot is required on all public lands. For that I use my 12 and Winchester 1550fps steel loads 3s work very well.

I just got back from Montana where I use my 20 and the 12ga users again said I can't believe how far away you were shooting them.

They weren't really that far 40 yards or so and if you are on them it works very well.

I shoot high brass #4s or 5s in my 12 gauge with a modified choke with wild birds. I train at my dogs at a game farm with pen raised birds and shoot 2 3/4 6s, 7 1/2s or 8s, basically any target loads I have available.

It always surprises me at the weight of shells used in the states. I shoot high pheasants here with 28g or English 5's in the RC20's.

I suppose I should get out there some time and see if USA pheasants are as different as may american friends tell me they are.

Rgds,
Kiri

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
It always surprises me at the weight of shells used in the states. I shoot high pheasants here with 28g or English 5's in the RC20's.

I suppose I should get out there some time and see if USA pheasants are as different as may american friends tell me they are.

Rgds,
Kiri

Boss, we shoot .375's at deer, .458's at elk and .505's at bears. Magnum loads at pheasants? Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Tell Ghubert I said hey.

quote:

It always surprises me at the weight of shells used in the states. I shoot high pheasants here with 28g or English 5's in the RC20's

The different is shooting pen raised birds and wild birds.

I have been shooting nothing but Fiocchi Golden pheasant and High velocity 5's and 6's in a 20 and 28 for years, not a prolem killng birds.

The Fiocchi Golden pheasant have far to much recoil in a lite gun for my taste. My go to bird guns are a 16ga at 5 lb 12 oz, and a 12ga at 6lb 3 oz, been using 1oz load of 5's from RST with out problems for years.

I shoot the RST loads as well. Less recoil and they are much easier on my old English SxS guns. I have noticed no difference in killing ability between these lighter loads and the magnum loads.

Kiri, our birds are no tougher than the UK birds. I personally found the local sindicate driven shoots and rough shoots in the UK more challenging.

I didn't mean to sound like I was having a dig at anyone.

I think pheasants here have a bad rep stateside unfortunately because many have not experienced them. However I have shot wild birds here in the fens and found them no tougher to kill than the reared birds.

I shoot guineas in RSA every year which I think are about the most tenacious game bird I have ever come across. 30g of 5's (they break bone better than sixes) is ample and deadly.

Dig uses an ounce of sevens and seems to outshoot most people so I would say it is mostly about where you put the pattern.

K

I didn't take it as a dig at all. A lot of people who have never hunted the UK have a misconception that the hunting is canned.

+1 for RST's. I just returned from SD pheasant hunt shooting 2 1/2 inch 1 oz #5's in high winds and had no problem bagging my limit each day. I shoot a 100 year old Parker 12 gauge. Great hunt and I have used these for 5 years with great results.

What part of South Dakota do you hunt? I have a neice that lives in Wosley.

I think a lot depends how one hunts if by your self or with one other where the birds and shots can be very close.

Most any thing can work if in larger groups where shots can be a lot farther heavier loads can be useful.

Federal 2 3/4 inch copper plated premium #6 lead 1 1/4 ounce high speed has been my go to load for phesants for many years. 3 inch high speed (1550 fps) # 2 steel also work very well. Steel or nontoxic shot loads are becomming more common and work well.

I did a little internet check on the usual pheasant states and found generally speaking that the pheasant hunting forecasts are way off, as in down.

Kansas has a nice site on the net that breaks it down for you by region. The north central area (Salina) and the west region (Sublette) are where I've hunted. Neither are tearing it up this year.

Nebraska is also down. So is Iowa. In Iowa the Spirit Lake area is a favorite of mine. Beautiful place.

Drought conditions are usually blamed along with a lot of other things, mainly economic pressures on farmers to clear up more habitat.

As far as I can tell South Dakota is still the name of the game in pheasants. My take on it however is that they're trying to put a good face on it, but they've got some problems. Read about it here - http://www.pheasantsforever.or...1/2012sdforecast.jsp

Anyway, for shot size I use 5 in 12 gauge or 6 in 20 ga, both in lead where they can be legally used. For steel shot I've "tried" 3 in 12 ga, but got uneven results. I think pheasants generally are harder to knock down than ducks, meaning, the steel 3s won't always do a clean kill on pheasants even at reasonable range whereas they are fine for mallards at similar distances. Ducks being what they were meant for. If you're using steel, use the most possible. I use 3" 1 3/8 oz in 12 ga. It's also my standard duck load. If steel is required I don't use a 20 ga at all.

For whether steel is required, your friend you mentioned might know, but to be sure call these folks - http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/regulations/default.aspx

If you're coming from out of state to a popular area, especially for the season opener, definitely buy the ammo back home. When you get there I've seen pheasant loads in depleted short supply even at big stores.

And if you're flying take a single gun case that's not too valuable. I made the mistake of taking a nice aluminum, but heavy to handle double case for two guns. The airline destroyed it, then promised to fix it, then destroyed it even worse.

Hoping you find this info helpful...

Fallow Buck -

The loads you describe convert to USA loads as follows:

high pheasant with 28g of UK5's = 1oz of USA 6

guineas in RSA with 30g of UK5's = 1-1/16oz of USA 6

And, yes, you are correct. USA pheasant shooters mistakenly think you need to throw massive amounts of lead with big pellets at hyper velocity to successfully take pheasants.

I have never shot driven pheasant but for my pheasant shooting I generally use either a standard 1oz load with #6 or #7.5 shot or light 15/16oz load with #7.5 shot. I have never felt under-gunned and it is rare for me to lose a pheasant. If I had to shoot non-toxic then I guess I would go to something with a little more oomph and bigger pellets. But I can shoot lead because I don't shoot on the state and fed managed sites where regulations set limits of only a few birds. Instead, I go out of state to release operations where there are no bag limits and non-toxic shot is not required.

The average USA pheasant shooter is actually shooting birds flying lower and slower than the birds shooters in a UK driven shoot would encounter. My guess is that USA ammo manufacturers have promoted the need for more powerful shells with more lead so they can create more expensive and competitive products that generate more revenue. After all, how could a big company make selling points and a big promotion out of a simple 1oz load using a standard wad and topped with the same shot you'd use on the clay course?

Old books and articles on shooting discuss the various loads and shot sizes for birds. The general recommendations decades ago for shot size and velocity were far from what is recommended today. Lead is lead and powder is powder. The guns have not changed and the birds have not changed. But, then again, today we know that you need AT LEAST a 338 magnum to hunt elk.

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Yes, now most commonly used for pheasant hunters shot number 5 (USSR/Russia numbers = USA) . On battue hunting. I saw a great shot on the 90 steps to the pheasant hen (200 feet). It was at a few witnesses, and we precisely measured the distance . Yes, indeed, this fraction is breaking bones , but you still have to shoot that bones . Therefore, some hunters who shoot a pheasant from the dogs, are committed to number 7. This fraction is twice lighter , but it charge twice. It's less awesome, but when you have a good dog , there is no danger of losing a wounded bird .
In southern Europe, pheasant hunting coincides with partridge and the woodcock and corncrake span , and the hunters of woodcock often in passing and shooting pheasant - and shot number 7 is working perfectly .



The same goes for a bit north : with woodcock occasionally comes across black grouse, it is similar in size to the pheasant.



Last Sunday, during a battue hunt pheasant were produced simultaneously and two woodcock . One was badly split by shot number 5 .
There is an old rule of thumb for a comfortable firing weight of shot should be about 1/100 of the weight of a gun , at least - 1/ 96. This allows for normal shotgun 12 gauge about 30-32 grams. (1 1/8)
So I used a very long time almost constantly sports ( trap) cartridge with 32 g of the fraction number 7. It was inexpensive , produced in workshops in every major shooting range. It worked almost the entire game, which hunt with a gun dog, and all the ducks .
Unfortunately, after the rules were changed and weight of shot in a sports cartridge became 28 grams . It's not serious to fire a 12-gauge by such weight . Therefore, 32 grams are FOREVER , and in the 20th caliber too.
Fiochchi have good, solid plated shot, but any other quite suitable.