Best smoothie for quail hunting

[cptleo1]

I am going to have the oppertunity to do

a bunch of quail hunting this year and need to

build a smoothie. Any thoughts on the best style, Tulle,

English Fowler, Early Lancaster (.62 smoothie) or some

such.

I would think we will be doing a fair amount of clay

pidgeon shooting also.

'Bout the only PRB needs will be pigs and plinking .

I just can't seem to find much info on quail hunting.

Leo

P.S.
I don't have the skills to make a SXS :redface:

 

[Rat]

You don't need no stinking side by side...!!

:nono:

Just kidding, but a nice slim, trim, and light single barrel should work very well. You certainly dont' want to develope a mentality that you can rush the first shot, because you have two shots. I think that on quail that will result in two missed shots.

I have not shot quail with a flinter, but I used to be a quail hunting fool in my "cartridge gun days", and they are very fast little buzz-bombs...it's very quick, fast shooting...so again, a fast handling, light gun is what you want. I would think that .62"/20 gauge would be perfect.

Quail usually flush close in/close range, and generally fly pertty much straight away from you. That's the good part. But they are fast and small, and usually stay low, and dissapear back into the bushes or cover soon after flushing, so time on target is short.

Good luck!!

Rat

 

[Muggsy]

Cptleo,

I just went Quail hunting for the first time with my 20ga fowler a week ago:

http://www.fotki.com/Muggsy/quail_hunt_2005/fowlerquail.html

I have a 20ga fowler made from a Jim Chambers New England Colonial Fowler- 46" Getz barrel, Siler lock. I used 70gr of 3F powder (based on recommendations from this site about less fouling), over powder card and wad from Circle Fly (lubed up the wad with Natural Lube 1000), 90gr (or 1 1/4 oz) of #7.5 shot, and an over the shot card. At 25 yards this patterns for my gun nicely by covering about a 3'x 2' area. I found that it doesnt do well for long distance shots like my friends were able to do with modern shotgun loads (they were easily getting 40yrd shots)- but, our birds were waiting until we were almost on top of them before the dogs would scare them up. Priming with 3F out of the same horn as the load, I had almost no noticible lag time in firing and was able to bring them down with ease. That long barrel really tracks well.

I hope this helps- I enjoyed my hunt so much that I will be doing this again very soon.

 

[Bob J]

That's a nice fowler, Muggsy! :thumbsup:

 

[Muggsy]

Thanks..... I originally had it made when I went to Lexington and Concord for the 225th anniversary, and shot it off and on over the past few years- but I've really taken to shooting it lately. I had always intended to have a rifle made for shooting, but I'm having so much fun with the smoothbore I've put the rifle on hold for a while. My next adventures will be pheasants and then on to turkey's with it... maybe a deer hunt will be in the future. A smoothbore is such a universal gun.