Long Range Upland Hunting

[8SteelTown]

This season has been disappointing to say the least. Opener for dove and the birds were flying overhead out of range. Opener for quail and the birds were flushing out of range. I'm using a factory Imp cylinder. What are your thoughts on using a turkey choke to get better patterns out to 50-60 yards or further with bird loads?

 

[breacher]

I don't think I have ever used anything other than a modified choke for everything from dove to snow geese. I just change the ammo.

 

[Bowman]

This season has been disappointing to say the least. Opener for dove and the birds were flying overhead out of range. Opener for quail and the birds were flushing out of range. I'm using a factory Imp cylinder. What are your thoughts on using a turkey choke to get better patterns out to 50-60 yards or further with bird loads?

same deal last time I went dove hunting couple of years ago. flying high & if they saw me would definitely would fly the other way.
I had more good luck with my old Winchester model 50 with full choke my new shot gun has modified chock.
I believe camo helps to. so harder for them to spot. I also had better luck with the pheasant went I wore camo.

 

[wackum stackum mackum]

Shoot full all the time. When you hit em you know their dead. Sounds rediculiua but don't knock it till you try it. Yeah I'm a skybuster but still shoot more than most and no cripples.

 

[TaftHunter]

Full choke for sure we got 15 quail this morning

 

[Stonevoodoo]

When I went on opening day , dove were avoiding me. I had Camo clothing. Propped up a large branch with leaves and other branches. Looked like a tree. I sat in my chair under/next to it. Started getting lower flying birds . Popped up and banged away. Even had one almost fell in my buddy's lap about 30yds to my right as the bird flew in from the left. Seemed to help me.

 

[Aeon]

Ok dont take this the wrong way but looking to bust dove and quail at 60 yards is not the answer.

If the dove are flying by you at 30k feet change your location. water,feed and roost they have to land for each of them. Dove hunting afer sept 1 can take some work to find the X.

Calif quail has sucked all over for most folks. Other types of of quail seem to be doing better. So maybe change up what you are doing and chase after some Gambles. If you know where some quail are change up your method. We have some weather on the way tomorrow, try after the storm. After you bust them up the first time work the singles, sometimes they hold better. I am guessing you do not hunt with a dog, this can change how they hold too.

Use your head and out think them. Some years you can just go blast away and get easy limits but this is not that year.

Keep in mind the idea on chokes is to give you a pattern that matches the distance you shoot birds at and the useful energy of the shot size you are shooting. 7 1/2 shot falls on its face at 60 yards. Keep shooting your mod choke.

I shoot a mod choke for quail and dove both. If i am using a double gun i run a mod full so my follow up shot can have a better pastern at a bit father distance. On ducks i shoot a Mod choke almost all the time, That gives me a full type pastern with steel shot. ducks with their feet down are easy to hit


oh and camo for dove? really?

 

[DogPA]

Full choke on Dove and quail seems like overkill to me.
Yes the longer shots will be more effective, but the close shots are going to result in some really mangled meat.

I'm mostly shooting a choke that's more open than Modified when I have the option of choke tubes.
I shoot sub-gauges for quail, 20 or 28, and like Improved Cylinder or Light Modified.
For dove this year I shot my 12 gauge O/U with a skeet and light modified tube in them. My misses weren't a result of my choke selection.


With that being said, I probably just pissed off a bunch of people with my opinions, so shoot whatever you shoot the best with!

 

[TaftHunter]

Full choke on Dove and quail seems like overkill to me.
Yes the longer shots will be more effective, but the close shots are going to result in some really mangled meat.

I'm mostly shooting a choke that's more open than Modified when I have the option of choke tubes.
I shoot sub-gauges for quail, 20 or 28, and like Improved Cylinder or Light Modified.
For dove this year I shot my 12 gauge O/U with a skeet and light modified tube in them. My misses weren't a result of my choke selection.


With that being said, I probably just pissed off a bunch of people with my opinions, so shoot whatever you shoot the best with!

If you're good enough just shoot their heads off from close range with the full.. Lol

 

[wackum stackum mackum]

Us young guys must not know what were talking about. Like I said don't nock it till you try it. I shoot a Remington 1187 supermag piece of crap. I use the full or pass shooting choke exclusively .they are steel shot chokes so I shoot steel game loads. Otherwise theyed be mod in lead. Not knocking anyone's knowledge but I have been to many sporting clays events and outshoot most guys using my pos 1187 steel loads and full choke.I've noticed that trying to center punch small game with full is almost impossible but the edge of you pattern is dense enough to get the job done. Also full makes my shooting more instinctual like just throw it up and shoot no aim just instinct.

 

[Bowman]

I guess it depends how often the birds are getting chased. I have been using full choke for years.
& yes when I do keep concealed with camo it works better for me.

the areas I hunt upland game is high pressure areas, from other hunters. so the birds are more skittish.
dam things will actually fly from tree to tree. so no go for a shot.

2 years ago I used camo & got my limit on pheasant my other partner wore orange he went home with none,
I do appreciate the feed back so keep it coming. yes I don't use dogs.

in the old days when game was more plentiful & there was more open land I never wore camo during deer or upland game hunting.
I use to nail deer every year, & use to get my limit of quail & pheasant.
but times are changing. less game & less land in southern California unless you have the opportunity in private property or get to go
up north or other states.
It's ok I always take constructive advice . I always look to improve.

I just want to make one point duck & geese hunters use blinds & camo. why not for upland game.

 

[8SteelTown]

Ok dont take this the wrong way but looking to bust dove and quail at 60 yards is not the answer.

If the dove are flying by you at 30k feet change your location. water,feed and roost they have to land for each of them. Dove hunting afer sept 1 can take some work to find the X.

Calif quail has sucked all over for most folks. Other types of of quail seem to be doing better. So maybe change up what you are doing and chase after some Gambles. If you know where some quail are change up your method. We have some weather on the way tomorrow, try after the storm. After you bust them up the first time work the singles, sometimes they hold better. I am guessing you do not hunt with a dog, this can change how they hold too.

Use your head and out think them. Some years you can just go blast away and get easy limits but this is not that year.

Keep in mind the idea on chokes is to give you a pattern that matches the distance you shoot birds at and the useful energy of the shot size you are shooting. 7 1/2 shot falls on its face at 60 yards. Keep shooting your mod choke.

I shoot a mod choke for quail and dove both. If i am using a double gun i run a mod full so my follow up shot can have a better pastern at a bit father distance. On ducks i shoot a Mod choke almost all the time, That gives me a full type pastern with steel shot. ducks with their feet down are easy to hit


oh and camo for dove? really?

Not taking it personally and I hope you don't as well. You don't know my hunting areas and the challenges that they each hold, but let me clarify. If every location I hunt has the birds flying at 50-60 yards, your suggestion is I find another spot with the exact same setup that I'm currently hunting and hope that they're flying at lower elevations? I don't have the luxury to drive 2-3 hours to the valley or down to San Diego. I have to hunt what I have, and that's it most of the time. I AM getting dove, but there are flyers that don't stop at my tree spot or my water areas and fly just out of reach which is the point of my discussion. So if I need an extra 10-15 yards of denser pattern out of my shot before it totally falls off, I'm going to try whatever I can to make it work, even if that includes head to toe camo. No Gambles Quail near me that I've found... just Valley, and like I said in my previous posts, they're flushing way further than they have in past years. Just trying to get some extra reach so by the time my shot hits them it's not like a handful of pebbles being thrown at them with 1 shot hitting 1 bird and not doing enough damage to drop them. If I run into the same problem on November 9th, I'm going to use the Super Dove loads with a turkey choke and see if the extra dense pattern is enough to drop them.

 

[Lungpopper]

You didnt say what size shot your using so I'm thinking 71/2 or 8. Doesn't matter what choke your using. The shot doesn't have the weight (or energy) to do the job at 50-60 yards. You need to use heavier shot to carry that energy through the bird to stop it.

 

[8SteelTown]

You didnt say what size shot your using so I'm thinking 71/2 or 8. Doesn't matter what choke your using. The shot doesn't have the weight (or energy) to do the job at 50-60 yards. You need to use heavier shot to carry that energy through the bird to stop it.

Thank you for the clarity LP... Correct, 7 1/2 is what I have stocked up right now. I'll go high base 5's or 6's then? Just hope I don't flush anything at 10 yards! I'm fine using the 7.5's with my mod choke normally... but when the situation presents itself to where I get 0 birds due to the conditions, I need to change my game up and didn't know what the best course of action would be. Thanks

 

[tomah]

Thank you for the clarity LP... Correct, 7 1/2 is what I have stocked up right now. I'll go high base 5's or 6's then? Just hope I don't flush anything at 10 yards! I'm fine using the 7.5's with my mod choke normally... but when the situation presents itself to where I get 0 birds due to the conditions, I need to change my game up and didn't know what the best course of action would be. Thanks

i got some 5 shot high base for you if we hit up them dove or quails soon. i bought 6 boxes while i was in palmdale this past weekend

 

[8SteelTown]

Thanks bro

 

[DogPA]

Definitely agree with playing around with your shot size.
I've started reloading with mostly #7's, using them for everything from targets to dove and quail.
They give just a little more size/downrange energy with out cutting down too much on pellet count.
I've seen some nickel or copper plated #6.5's that I might try out for quail loads next year.

 

[Bowman]

8steeltown

when no else is around. for dove & quail I now use #6 shot & with modified choke
For rabbit I like # 5 or #4 shot, gets out there a little further. most of the rabbit in the woods are more skittish
than the ones around my house. if there a lot of hunters present I switch to 7-1/2 shot.

I would recommend no less than Modified choke.
these are my preferences

HTH.

 

[8SteelTown]

8steeltown

when no else is around. for dove & quail I now use #6 shot & with modified choke
For rabbit I like # 5 or #4 shot, gets out there a little further. most of the rabbit in the woods are more skittish
than the ones around my house. if there a lot of hunters present I switch to 7-1/2 shot.

I would recommend no less than Modified choke.
these are my preferences

HTH.

Thanks LBH2... I am using a modified choke (mis-identified in my original post). I'll be using high base # 5's or 6's in the event I need to reach out a little further. I'll try to run combos of 7 1/2's as my first shot and the "longer distance" shot as my 2nd and 3rd. Just have to see how it plays out.

Thanks for your input.

 

[NBK]

I have been shooting #6's out of my 20 gauge with a modified choke and can stone eurasians and pigeons at 40-45 yards. It is all you need. If you are shooting beyond that go with #4's. ;D