shells for quail

[model 70]

ok, i know what to shoot for pheasant. now i need to know what to shoot for quail. same gun (12ga, mod. choke, 28" barrel, single shot). went deer hunting yesterday and busted a few coveys while i walked the brush. thanks.

[skeet]

12 ga 26" bbl IC or Skeet choke is better than Mod. For this warmer weather 2 3/4 dram eq. 1 1/8 oz of 7 1/2 shot.. For cold weather use 3 dram eq same shot size. Cold weather degrades ballistics a little bit. These are basic trap loads so AA or Rem STS Trap shells will be good.

[rem 700]

6 shot to 7.5 shot. I like Winchester AA target loads(for 7.5) and for 6, Winchester Super X. IC choke probably better.

[tjwatty]

OK fellas, IMHO you are into overkill here. The man says 28" Mod. my personal choice is #9 1 1/8oz skeet loads. They won't blow those little quail apart so bad and you have more pellets to play with.
Ideal quail gun for the future? 20 or 28ga. 26" auto loader with skeet or cyl. choke. Hunt with a good dog and every shot is nice and close.

[fabsroman]

TJ,

I agree with you about the perfect quail gun and when I hunt planted ones I use a 20 ga. autoloader with IC.

I think the shot size depends on everything going on the day of the hunt. If the wind is really moving and the shots might be long (i.e., the birds catch the wind and move), I will use 8's. Otherwise, #9's are fine. It doesn't take much to kill a quail. Of course, my uncle is always commenting that he wants to be able to knock all the feathers off the birds like I do.

If you were to reload, you could use a 8.5 and that would probably work really well on quail.

Another thing I have to take into consideration is that on these planted bird "hunts", I could possibly run across a chukar or a pheasant. Granted, everybody else I hunt with is a pretty decent shot and they are all using 12 ga. guns and not a single planted pheasant or chukar has escaped us, so I don't worry too much about it.