Probably has been discussed before but I’ve been tossing around ideas of what 20g to get for quail hunting. I really want an O/U, but those prices I have always owned pumps, I love my old wingmaster. What’s the big hype over O/U and sxs anyway!?
You can have 5 rounds for quail. They aren't restricted like doves.Howdy from WNC!
Hype: Olde School Charme... Seriously, IMO, it's not about the configuration of the bbls. It's about how the gun fits & points for you. A shotgun that you can shoot well may be a miss monster for me.
It is nice to not have to rack the slide in between shots, but if you're already used to that, no big deal. With an O/U or SxS, you'll be limited to 2 shots (unless you;re super fast on the reloads), but you won't risk getting cited by Game Wardens!
There are some real advantages to the O/U. For like barrel length they are about 4" shorter than a repeater because there's no receiver to house a bolt. Two chokes can be an advantage for flushing birds like quail--open for the first shot and more choke for the second. You can easily catch your empties and not litter the hunting grounds. So far as perceived things I think a good one balances better and for sure looks cooler. Will one get more birds than your Wingmaster? Probably not.Probably has been discussed before but I’ve been tossing around ideas of what 20g to get for quail hunting. I really want an O/U, but those prices I have always owned pumps, I love my old wingmaster. What’s the big hype over O/U and sxs anyway!?
You guys must have never gotten into a lot of birds if you never had a chance to fire more than two shots on a covey rise. I've had several covey's in really thick brush that couldn't all get up at once. A 15 bird covey straggling out 3 or 4 birds at a time. I've also stumbled on two covey's really close to each other where my partners 2 rounds were gone and then another covey breaks! Nothing wrong with choosing o/u's or sxs's but there are plenty of times that the extra rounds in a pump or autoloader come in handy. Shoot what you are most comfortable with.
Just give me a call.I still need to get up with you @Hammer21b and take you up on the offer for a Skeet day. I have three over/under guns I have not shot yet. I have two side by sides I wouldn’t mind firing for the first time.
I was a semi auto guy most of my life until I bought my first over/under which led to hunting with them for almost everything. Typically you don’t get more than two decent chances at birds before they are out of range. Weight distribution for swinging and simplicity (reliability) makes them ideal for me. I bought a Franchi 28 gauge from a member of the forum in the last year. I have never shot one but if I like it I will use it for birds except ducks.
Probably has been discussed before but I’ve been tossing around ideas of what 20g to get for quail hunting. I really want an O/U, but those prices I have always owned pumps, I love my old wingmaster. What’s the big hype over O/U and sxs anyway!?
I haven’t had the opportunity to get on wild birds yet. I know people talk about pen raised and how horrible they can be. But I’ve been getting birds from shady knoll in Ashboro, and it could just be me but those birds are unbelievable. I mean the first few times trying to hit one, I had to pick my jaw up, scratch my head, and apologize to my dog.Without going to TX or KS, where do you find any wild birds to hunt around here these days?
Sounds as if you need to take a road trip to Wagram so you can put your hands on a whole bunch of different shotguns to see what you might like.
I have two over unders and shoot them just fine but started with side by sides and still use them most of the time.
There are some real advantages to the O/U. For like barrel length they are about 4" shorter than a repeater because there's no receiver to house a bolt. Two chokes can be an advantage for flushing birds like quail--open for the first shot and more choke for the second. You can easily catch your empties and not litter the hunting grounds. So far as perceived things I think a good one balances better and for sure looks cooler. Will one get more birds than your Wingmaster? Probably not.
Mid South Guns. Well worth the trip.What’s the name of the shop? I do need to put my hands on some different ones. Not many places around me carry many shotguns especially O/U’s
I’ve hunted pen raised birds a couple times at a place in upper South Carolina. We had to kick them to get them to fly.I quit bird hunting when it started getting hard to find wild birds in NC. For me that was in the mid '90's. After hunting wild birds my entire life, I just couldn't do pen raised birds. I tried but it's just not the same. I don't care what anybody says, wild vs pen raised is like night and day.
Yep. It can be an easy way to ruin a good bird dog.I’ve hunted pen raised birds a couple times at a place in upper South Carolina. We had to kick them to get them to fly.
Next time some from your way are headed down, come with them. I'll get you behind an Old Ithaca 20.And I totally get that old school charm thing.
Just go to Wagram...you'll see it.What’s the name of the shop?
Quail hunting and a 20g; I'm in! I was invited by my brother to go last year over some pen raised quail. Our Dad was a huge wild bird hunter and we grew up going with him. Lots of great memories. Honestly, I jumped at the chance to go just to watch the dogs and hoped we would get a few quail too.
It was a great day. Upon arrival, they handed me a Beretta Silver Pigeon O/U 20 gauge. I thought, this is a nice, quick handling gun, I wonder if I can hit a quail with it. Well, that gun fit me like a glove and for a while, I wondered if I was going to miss! The quail flew great that day and the dogs were perfect.
I shoot a lot of sporting clays and within 2 weeks of that hunt, I owned my own SPI O/U in 20 gauge. It is now one of my favorites for sporting clays and if I get to go back quail hunting, I am certainly reaching for it first over any 12g that I own.
Get one!!
I once watched an AA skeet shooter take a limit of 12 doves with his 410. Trouble was he hit at least another 12 that flew raggedly to the woods never to be recovered. No 410 for me.
It's all I can do to hit them with a 12 Gauge (occasionally).Conditions need to be favorable (fairly open field) and I only use shells that I reload. I use 8.5 shot and run it at 1200 fps, the only difference is pattern size......