Quail

[ammo.crafter]

I'll be using a 20 ga SXS for quail in South Carolina and was wondering if any one has a suggestion as regards ammo both store bought and reloads.

[Art Eatman]

Whatever 8s or 7-1/2s pattern good. Quail are "hard to hit, easy to kill." You don't need any sort of magnum loads.

They tend to be rising birds; a lot of misses are from shooting under the lil critter...

Art

[fisherman66]

I miss with 7 1/2 mostly (in a 12G pump). I think I'm going to get a single shot 20G next season. At least it wont weigh as much and the results couldn't get any worse.

[Clayfish]

I would go with a 7 or 7 1/2 load if I were you. Any hunting load will be fine. The last time I hunted quail I was shooting win XX #8 from my 20 ga and it just wasn't killing the little tasty critters. I had to ring almost every birds neck I shot. I will hunt with a little heavier shell next time.

[Fat White Boy]

I don't know about quail South Carolina. Just what I have seen on TV. It seems to be a gentleman's sport there. I do hunt them in California and the birds can be tough. For Valley Quail I use 7 1/2 shot, for Gambel's Quail and Scaled Quail out in the desert, I use #6 Shot. The shots tend to be longer and the birds tougher to bring down. For Mearns Quail- 7 1/2, these guys come down a little easier. For Mountain Quail and Chukar- #4 Shot. Definitely bigger, tougher birds and a lot of 40+ yard shots...

[Art Eatman]

Blues (scaled quail) are about half again the size of the little bobwhite. They won't hold for a point, so hunting with dogs is a waste except as retrievers. Shots tend to be beyond 30 yards, so a tight choke and 7-1/2 high brass make for a better success rate.

But, patterning is the most important part of the deal. If you have holes in your pattern and you therefore miss the birds, it doesn't matter what size of shot you use.

Easy enough to get some old 1/2" PVC pipe and some fittings and make a target frame. Wire and clothespins to hold a 3'-square target. Shoot and look for an even, uniform spread of the shot. Keep trying different brands and types until you get it right.

Art

[roy reali]

Use a full load 10 gauge. Nothing smaller then two shot. Keep the range at nothing more then three yards.

[cuate]

In the 11 years I have lived on this farm the quail have gone from plentiful to almost none due to fire ant infestion. Although they are my favorite bird for the table I can't bring myself to hunt and shoot the very few I encounter hoping always for a real fire ant total eradication and a comeback of our bob white quail. Seems like fire ants and Islamic terrorists aren't getting the Govt. attention they deserve.

[Death from Afar]

I have shot a lot of quail oiver the years, use a 12 bore, middle of the road choke, use #8 skeet loads with the softest shot you can buy. But pattern the gun first, at close ranges you will pulverise the little fellas. Great sport, and good eating. Skin them , dont pluck them, wrap in the fattiest bacon you can find, and roast them in a pan with cloves of garlic. Yum, yum.

[nutty ned]

use 7 1/2 shot

[ibfestus]

... to say I can tell the difference between 8's and 71/2's out of my 870. I also have a few quail on my 60 acres but without a dog finding the downed bird is so problamatical that I don't bother hunting them.

Now doves are another matter. A friend of mine plants winter wheat the week before the dove season starts. The fields are disked and the wheat is broadcast from a crop duster. There will be 1,000 doves killed opening morning. Both the Feds and the State Game and Fish have tried to get this hunt stopped but what he is doing (farming) is quite legal. You can be assured however that everybody's license and gun will be checked in the field. It usually takes me about a box and 1/2 of either 71/2 or 8's to get my 10 birds.

just my $.02.

[davlandrum]

I can miss them with a bb gun as well as with a 12 ga.....

[ammo.crafter]

Thanks for the info and the laughs, guys.