Pheasant hunting

[CTShooter]

I’m planning my first attempt at pheasant hunting and using a muzzleloader shotgun, all on the same day. The gun shoots a decent pattern and has been reliable. Any tips or hints from the experienced hunters?

 

[Feltwad]

Have a good day and try and kill your birds with in 30 to 35 yards . There will be plenty of the experts who will give advice on loads , walking up, shooting over setters or pointers with a few on driven birds . You can listen to their advice but just use your own judgment and you will enjoy your day just the same .
Feltwad

 

[3Setters]

There is and old saying......if there is lead in the air, there is hope of killing your bird.

And my favorite, how did i miss such an easy shot.

Good luck, be safe, and have fun.

 

[Britsmoothy]

My advice is to just enjoy yourself.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Other than making sure there is sky behind the bird when you pull the trigger and carefully make a mental note of where the bird fell, as the other guys mention, have fun.

 

[Brokennock]

Please, please, please, let them get higher than head height, taking into consideration if you are shooting up or down hill as well. If it isn't high enough, pass on the shot.
Our club had an ugly incident on opening day.

Lead that bird. Whether you shoot sustained lead or pass through doesn't matter, but, you will need a little more lead than with a modern cartridge shotgun.

If you pass on the shot, try to watch for where the bird goes down and mark it in your mind. You can often put them up again. Same with if you miss. If you have no retriever same thing will apply, mark where that bird went down, keep in mind that if only wounded, they will run when they land, if they don't just roost, of burrow under thick vegetation.

Have fun. Enjoy the sights and sounds.
Especially if hunting with a dog, Enjoy just watching that dog do what it loves to do. And, trust that dog's nose. Enjoy the experience.

 

[Sparkitoff]

This is a very old thread, but some recent introductions to newbees had me thinking about this. Advice is to count to three as the bird flushes. Move, mount, shoot. You can incorporate Move as 1, Mount as 2 and Shoot as 3. I've found with new pheasant hunters they often shoot very quickly as soon as the bird is airborne enough to be safe, or conversely they shoot too late after 4-5 seconds and that's a long shot.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Too bad Dick Cheney isn't here to give the OP some sound advice.