Special Quail Load

[TTravis]

I just finished off the quail season in southern Indiana. It was a great season chasing wild quail with my English Setter. The quail population was good and the dog did her job and found and pointed lots of coveys. I took several shots but did not down a single bird in six hunting trips. I usually do a lot better. I've been trying to shoot all the junk shells, some of which are years old and have the writing worn off from being carried around. I sometimes did not know whether I was shooting #6, #7, or #8 loads, but one thing is for certain, whatever it was, it was probably the cheapest they had at WalMart. I really need to pay attention to my field ammo.

I am not a re-loader. Maybe one of these days I will pick it up. It seems to me that there could be a shell with the maximum about of bird shot that can be safely put out there. I would like some mixture of #6, #7. and #8 shot to serve all situations, and I would want the maximum powder as can be safely used in a standard .12 gage designed to shoot 2 3/4 inch normal shells.

If there is someone in central Indiana that could load me up a box or two to try out next season, I would be happy to pay.

Life is too short, and hunting trips too rare, so it is time to get some good ammo. I don't want to make any excuses for not downing any quail this past season. My son tells me that I am getting old and slow! I need all the help I can get and maybe my chances would be better with some better shells.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. PM me if maybe you would like to sell me a couple boxes of custom loads.

 

[sloughfoot]

Factory ammo is more than good enough.

Be sure to pattern what you will be using.

 

[trophyhunter]

Even the cheapest promo loads in #6-8 are fine for quail out to 30 yards, ammo isn't your problem. Go find a sporting clays course with an instructor, see how the gun you're using patterns and get some critique on how that gun fits you in your hunting clothing.

You're missing every shot you're taking by a wide margin, a single pellet or two in the right places will bring quail down but it's easier said then done. Hard flushing late season ringnecks under weeks of pressure are a piece of cake compared to those little miniature quail missiles that explode out of your armpits at warp speed when you get a covey up.

When you and your gun of choice can reliably point and break the second bird shooting fast doubles at most stations on a sporting clays course you'll start bringing quail limits home at the end of the day. Throwing clays at home for practice with a cheap low speed spring thrower isn't going to help anyone get better at fast wing shooting, you need the speed and various shooting angles found at a multi station course to develop and improve your skill level. You'll save a fortune in ammunition costs and time by paying for a couple basic lessons from a good instructor, you can't see the mistakes you're making and that input and correction from an instructor will have you on target much sooner.

Before I go afield every season I walk daily for weeks before the season opens and practice consists of briskly walking the course I shoot at twice (about 3/4 mile) with all my field gear, full water bottle for me and the dogs etc. to tire out before I start shooting at the first station. If I can't score higher than 20 for 25 in the first 5 stations (6-10 are harder) in the clubhouse I go and ask one of the guys to come out and watch and tell me what I am doing wrong, anymore it's usually stopping the gun too soon from being old and tired shooting under and behind the birds.

Once you develop a solid skill set with your shotgun a little peer pressure and shaming will get most guys back on their game in a real hurry when things aren't going so well.

Good luck to you and hopes for better hunting next season, it's rare these days to hear of anyone even having unfettered access to wild covey's of birds to hunt like that quite a privilege to be able to do that anymore.

On Edit:
Gil Ash has made a series of video's in conjunction with the NSSF that are a real eye opener for anyone using a shotgun no matter how long they have been shooting. This first video in the series of not looking down the barrel and the thumb exercise is a good place to start for most people. If you internet from a phone find a pc with a decent size screen to watch the video, two and half minutes of your time can change your shooting for the better just by learning the proper technique of how and where to focus your vision.

You can practice his thumb exercise watching tv on anything that moves on the screen, it will make you a much better shooter the next time you shoulder the shotgun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXo0WUiCx34

Gil on gun lead and importance of speed when mounting the gun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suomqNL-cPk

 

[tallend]

When I hunt for quail,I use a SKEET load---a light load of 8 1/2,or #9 shot,
smaller shot,equals more shot in the pattern,and you dont need magnum loads with #4 shot for quail

for practice------try shooting skeet,or sporting clays

I have been hunting small game for 65 years---plenty of pictures to back up the fact that I am "fairly"succsesful-----some birds in the freezer too

tallend

 

[CathyInBlue]

Did someone say quaaludes?

I guess I should make this post a little more useful than that.

As someone who is an avid birder, perhaps you could tell me if the recent defeat for the anti-gun/anti-hunting crowd to force the EPA to regulate lead in ammunition had meant that bird shot is still (or has gone back to) lead shot, or is bismuth shot still prevalent on the market?

 

[trophyhunter]

Cathy not much of anything has changed with the EPA having been defeated for the time being, federal Migratory bird hunting regulations for non toxic shot remain in place as they have for years now and were still using lead shot for upland bird hunting for the time being.

 

[t-squared]

I agree with Troph's post......it's you and not the ammo.

One thing I can add though...gun fit. The scattergun that fits you perfectly in the summer can often have too much length with a bunch of hunting clothes on, and can hang up on bulkier clothing during the mount. An easy way around this is to have a gunsmith fit a couple different thickness recoil pads to your gun....2 screws and you can swap out the thicker one for a thinner one that shoulders snag free. Also, there are pads that have a taper on the heel of the pad that helps with getting a clean mount, or a 'smith can grind it down a bit..