Pheasant hunting with a .54 cal fowler...

[DGeraths]

Hello all,

Well I have a couple of weekends planned in the next month to do some pheasant hunting. Here in Oregon we have some of the finest hunting grounds for this bird and in country and my family off and on have been pretty eager hunters.

I have used a flintlock to hunt deer before, but never birds. I was curious if any of you out there have any suggestions on hunting pheasant with a .54 cal fowler? How much powder? How much shot? Range??

:hatsoff:

Dana
http://www.GerathsDesign.com

 

[Bill41]

I've been pheasant hunting once with my 12ga English fowler. Out here in the eastern part of Oregon. I just used 80grns 2F, with as much shot as my measure could hold. I figured more shot the better. I didn't hit anything, but sure had fun.

 

[DGeraths]

.54 cal equals out to about a 20 gauge, correct? 80grns eh? That is 10grns more than I use on a round ball. Should I give shot a bit more of a boost than a round ball?

Dana

 

[Rebel]

No a .62 cal is a .20 ga. I think the .54 is about a 28 ga,

 

The .54 is a 30 gauge. A little light for pheasant (although if you are a good shot it will work--my father-in-law killed many with a .410). I would use 70 gr fffg and an equal volume of #6 shot and pattern it.

 

[BrownBear]

I've shot a lot of pheasants with a conventional 28 gauge cartridge gun, however much that translates. Range is going to depend a whole lot on your pattern and shot charge. If you're shooting 3/4- ounce of #7 1/2shot, SKEET or CYL will give you about 20 yards, IC will give killing patterns to 25 yards, and MOD might get you to about 30 yards. Switching to #6 and FULL might stretch it to 35 yards, but you had better be right on the money or have a very good dog for chasing cripples.

Your success rate will go up a bunch if you use a good pointer so you have a little warning before the birds jump, plus the birds are likely to hold for closer shots. If you're simply walking up the birds, especially later in the season, a whole bunch of your birds will be jumping well out of range for an open pattern, and probably for even a tight pattern with such a small shot charge.

It can be a lot of fun hunting longtails with the little guns, but only if you get some shooting and a good dinner or two.