Pass Along RJ
October 08

Pheasants and 20s
by Steve Smith

Are your pheasants not staying put when they're hit?

There are a few reasons, of course, even if your dog is hunting within range. For one thing, a dog hot on a rooster's trail is often running the bird straight away from you, which is the direction the bird's going to fly when he tires of the entire enterprise, which gives you a going-away shot, often at 30 yards or better. And a pheasant at that angle and that range takes some knocking down.

But maybe it's your gun and load. This is no place for dainty loads and open chokes; you need to center the bird with a lot of big shot that can penetrate up into the vitals. If you are a 20-gauge shooter, maybe you should take a new look at some of the 3" magnum loads on the market. I shot one -- Federal Premium Wingshok HV Pheasant in No. 5, 1-1/4 ounces. It's rated at 1350 fps, and I hesitate to tell you how far I killed a pheasant lightly hit by my hunting partner because you'll think I'm lying.

We were hunting behind Labs, there were a lot of birds, but they were skittish in the South Dakota wind. We were filming a TV show, and when you do that, you have to hold off shooting so the camera guys can get on the bird and focus, so the shots are normally longer anyway. I was shooting M/F in an over-under. I have never -- never -- been a fan of the 3" 20, but this load performed like a HV 12-gauge load.

If you are a 20-gauge shooter, or if you put your 20 aside in favor of a 12 or 16 but you really like your little gun, I suggest you try this load.

Please do us a tremendous favor and forward this e-mail on to your retriever-owning friends!

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