Quail: 8 shot, or 6 shot???

[PoorRichRichard]

Quail hunting for my first time tomorrow morning with an H&R 12 gauge in a farly open chapperel area of southern California. Using simple cheap Federal wallmart ammo. Which size shot is best, 8 or 6, and why? I have found they both work for dove- seem to get longer kill shots (further distance) with the 6 shot. Plan on bringing both with me in the field, but I'd like all the imput I can get.

 

[JerryM]

For Western Quail I have found #8 a little light. I prefer 71/2, but my buddies prefer #6. Between 8 and 6 I would go for the #6.

Jerry

 

[PoorRichRichard]

Thanx Jerry

 

[Art Eatman]

In the southeast, hunting bob whites with a dog means closer shots, so folks generally use #8. Improved cylinder or modified for choke.

Blues in my desert country won't hold for a dog, so shots are commonly longer, as well as having a larger bird as a target. Blues average about half-again the size of a bob white. I use high-brass 7-1/2, and full choke.

#6 will carry killing energy farther than #8, of course.

Patterning a shotgun helps a lot. Evenness of the spread of the shot will vary from one brand to another, for the same size of shot. One brand might be evenly spread across the circle; another might have "holidays" which are large enough to let a bird fly through. One source of paper for testing is your local newspaper, getting the last few feet of a roll of newsprint.

 

[Daryl]

I use #7 1/2 or #6 shot for southern Az quail, with preference falling to the #6's. Shots are sometimes on the long side, and #8's don't seem to do it very well on our larger quail like gambels and scaled.

I use 7 1/2 for our little Mearns quail. Shots are generally close, and they're not quite as big.

Daryl

 

[Deja vu]

When I hunt quail in Southern Idaho I use 3 inch 6 shot and a full choke. I all so use this for pheasants.

p.s. I need to note that my wife will not eat Quail shot with lead (even though its fine to hunt with in Idaho). So my experience comes from steal shot.

 

[nice shot]

no pro here

Im no pro but I hunt more than a normal person. I would recommend you buy 7 shot. I know you said 8 or 6 but for some quail 6 may be a bit big, same for dove. You should be most successful with 7 shot.

Its perfect for all quail, dove, sporting clays. Make sure you use an appropriate choke tube in your gun.

 

[Hunter Customs]

Patterning a shotgun helps a lot. Evenness of the spread of the shot will vary from one brand to another, for the same size of shot. One brand might be evenly spread across the circle; another might have "holidays" which are large enough to let a bird fly through. One source of paper for testing is your local newspaper, getting the last few feet of a roll of newsprint.

Very wise information in the words above.

I always patterned all my shotguns with shells that had different shot size so I could see which patterned the best.

I had an A5 Browning that would pattern 6's and 5's as pretty and even a pattern as one could ever want.
That same A5 would not pattern 7&1/2's or 8's of any brand of shell, the patterns had holes in them big enough I could throw my cowboy hat thru them.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

 

[fatwhiteboy]

I also hunt quail in So Cal. For Valley Quail I use 7 1/2's, for Gambel's Quail, I use high base 6's(Those little prixxs run like hell) and for Mountain Quail, I use 4's(Bigger birds, longer shots).