[fabsroman]

Everything I shoot can change the first shell just as easily as you can change that single shell.

My Benelli and Beretta autos do not feed the second shell when the bolt is pulled back, so I could just drop a different load in there without too much hassle, but that little bit of hassle is just enough. Same goes for the o/u's I shoot.

In the 2 to 3 seconds it takes to reach into your pocket and swap the shell out of the gun, that coyote will be long gone if you spooked him. Have you ever jumped a coyote while walking around squirrel hunting and tried to change shells?

I believe it can be done if you are hunting out of a blind or something (i.e., standing still), but pheasant hunting involves a lot of walking in the open. Jumping a coyote in range isn't very probable when you are doing pheasant hunting. Unless of course he is hiding somewhere thinking that you will pass him by and he breaks under the pressure. I would be very surprised if you got the jump on a coyote and even more surprised if you jumped one, swapped shells in time to get a shot off, and ended up with a kill.

If this is your first pheasant hunt, I think you should concentrate on the pheasants and make it as good a pheasant hunt as possible. After you are comfortable with pheasant hunting, then try shooting at coyotes by swapping out shells.

Then again, take the buckshot with you and see how many coyotes you jump. Doesn't hurt to lug it around.

This situation reminds me of a waterfowl hunt I went on last year in November. I was hunting in a cut corn field and dove season had just opened back up. The doves were flying like crazy and I hadn't seen a single goose. So, I decided to get out of the blind, move about 100 yards away, and start shooting doves. I took the dog with me too. Wouldn't you know it, as I am shooting away at the doves, here comes a ton of geese at 10:00. I didn't have the chance to make it to the blind because they caught me with my pants down. I was hoping for a passing shot at that point. They came right by the decoys, lost some altitude, sqwaucking like crazy, but they just didn't come close enough. They circled a couple of times and that was it. Then group after group followed them onto a different field. I was cussing up a storm after that, but somehow I manage to do something like that every year. At least I killed my limit of doves that day.