more pheasant hunting questions

[batalha_com.308]

i just went up for my first pheasant hunt on sat. My friend, his son, dog, and i bought 8 hens jumped 6 and shot four. along with a rabbit and a squirrl. i was pretty happy. so much so that we are all going up again on wed.

my question is regarding my firearms. i brought but did not use my winchester 24 with 30" barrel mod. and full choke. and my brand new benelli m2 20" barrel, yea i know not the most regarded field gun but hey the first shot i fired brought down a hen on the wing. and nailed the squirrel with one shot. d.r.t. at 30 yards. does any one have any suggestions for what choke i should lean toward. i started with mod then moved to i/c but i think maybe i should be using full. im shooting high brass 2 3/4 #5 rem express long range
please advise.

[Tomcat088]

Well, typically with a longer barrel, I prefer a modified choke. With that short 20" barrel, it kind of makes it tough to use a more opened up choke. I wouldn't consider it much of a hunting rifle personally. You will get a bit more range if you're shooting a full choke, but if you catch a bird up close with the full pattern, it's gonna chew them up pretty bad. I'm just curious, is it legal to shoot hents in PA? Here in Texas there is NO TIME when you can shoot hens, so that's why I'm curious. Best of luck.

[Feddog82]

Yes you can shoot hens in PA but only in certain areas. Nobody really says anything if you bought your own birds and still have your receipt. But I still wouldn't shoot them in a no-hen zone. That's why I ussually get chukars, you can shoot them where ever and when ever you want. Plus the chukars are ussually plump and good eatin around now.

Also, I agree with Tomcat: Long Barrel = Mod Choke, Short Barrel = tighter choke IM or F (Full Choke may make pheasant in to "ground pheasant" @ close range)

You said that you changed your choke from Mod. to Imp Cyl.? That is not a tighter choke, the correct step would have been to tighten up to an Improved Modified choke if you wanted a tighter pattern.

Shotgun Chokes Graduating From Loose Patterns to Tight Patterns
Cylinder
Skeet
Improved Cylinder
Light Modified
Modified
Improved Modified
Light Full
Full
Extra Full
Super Full


I shoot a 24" SxS 20ga with a Mod in the 1st chamber and a Imp Mod in the 2nd and I take 'em down quite often. My O/U citori is setup the same I think.

Hope that helps

Where did you go out hunting? There are some good areas around this SE corner of PA. Where did you get the birds and how much are they running right now?