Don’t under-gun.
Use a 1-1/4 ounce load of #4 lead shot or 1-1/8 ounce of #2 steel shot.
Use a dog.
Crippled birds can be hard to find without a dog. Concentrate on cover that complements the hunting style of your dog.
Hunt remote pockets.
Search for small, out-of-the-way pockets that may have escaped the hunting pressure of large groups. Small sloughs, plum thickets or even fence-line vegetation hold pheasants.
Aim for the front half.
Pheasants are not particularly fast, but many hunters shoot behind them. Lead the head, not the body, for a clean kill.
Prepare for the weather.
Fall can be a time of wide-ranging weather conditions. Plan to hunt in temperatures and weather from sun and 70 degrees to snow and below-zero wind chills.
Use a 1-1/4 ounce load of #4 lead shot or 1-1/8 ounce of #2 steel shot.
Use a dog.
Crippled birds can be hard to find without a dog. Concentrate on cover that complements the hunting style of your dog.
Hunt remote pockets.
Search for small, out-of-the-way pockets that may have escaped the hunting pressure of large groups. Small sloughs, plum thickets or even fence-line vegetation hold pheasants.
Aim for the front half.
Pheasants are not particularly fast, but many hunters shoot behind them. Lead the head, not the body, for a clean kill.
Prepare for the weather.
Fall can be a time of wide-ranging weather conditions. Plan to hunt in temperatures and weather from sun and 70 degrees to snow and below-zero wind chills.
