Non-toxic pheasant whacking experience

[flathead#2]

Steel sux.
Going straight Bismuth this year for waterfowl.
If I ever get after pheasant thats what I'll use.
(If I cant use lead).

 

[KurtR]

@KurtR @Spoonbill @PredatoronthePrairie you guys are using the 100% steel?

Yep I am 95% of the time shooting waterfowl so i don’t want to have a shell I forget and get pinched for having lead. I have shot some boss 3/5 stack that stuff didn’t disappoint. I get enough in scheels points to get a couple cases of shells so I just get the black cloud there.

 

[HingleMcCringleberry]

20ga black cloud does a number on them..can't remember the shot size.

 

[TimberRunner]

Boss 5's or 6's if non tox is desired.

 

[The Guide]

@KurtR @Spoonbill @PredatoronthePrairie you guys are using the 100% steel?

I use these in #4 in the 20 GA and #3 in the 12 GA. Shot a few whitetails in the head with the 12 GA when we jump them close range in the river bottoms.

Jay

Federal Premium Prairie Storm 20 Ga Ammo 3 #4 Steel Shot 7/8oz Box of

Pheasants are fast, tough birds. That's why Federal Premium combined the FLITECONTROL wad and FLITESTOPPER pellet technologies to create Prairie Storm...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

12 Gauge 2 3/4" 1 1/4 oz. 1350 FPS Bismuth Upland and Waterfowl, Case of 200

Our Bismuth is an affordable alternative to lead when non-toxic shells are permitted. This high-density 9.6g/cc upland load is as soft as lead and delivers exceptional patterns. It features a high-performance base wad that optimizes functioning in semi-automatic firearms and custom blended...

rogerssportinggoods.com

200 rounds for $279 plus a high probability of Rebate.

I hate to post the Ad before I snag my ammo...but...during my heyday as a Waterfowler (pre Covid) I was a fan of buying cases of Steel each season. I did walk into a decent Boss buy in 3" 3/5 blend a few years ago.

After getting sideways with a Federal Trout Trooper on a Federal refuge it's not worth the headache for upland w lead vs getting close to the water and needing non tox. I'd prefer to just run 100% non tox today.

Am I missing something with this Kent deal? I could slum #5 in a 2 3/4" for this price. I realize it's only 1oz, but I am a 12g guy with no Bougie Bores.

 

[doc holiday13]

I switched a few years back to Boss #5 for everything from woodcock to geese and have had great success with killing what I hit. This is with both full and modified. I’m a believer in bismuth even given the added cost

Another vote for Boss. Its good stuff

 

[dukeball33]

12 Gauge 2 3/4" 1 1/4 oz. 1350 FPS Bismuth Upland and Waterfowl, Case of 200

Our Bismuth is an affordable alternative to lead when non-toxic shells are permitted. This high-density 9.6g/cc upland load is as soft as lead and delivers exceptional patterns. It features a high-performance base wad that optimizes functioning in semi-automatic firearms and custom blended...

rogerssportinggoods.com

200 rounds for $279 plus a high probability of Rebate.

I hate to post the Ad before I snag my ammo...but...during my heyday as a Waterfowler (pre Covid) I was a fan of buying cases of Steel each season. I did walk into a decent Boss buy in 3" 3/5 blend a few years ago.

After getting sideways with a Federal Trout Trooper on a Federal refuge it's not worth the headache for upland w lead vs getting close to the water and needing non tox. I'd prefer to just run 100% non tox today.

Am I missing something with this Kent deal? I could slum #5 in a 2 3/4" for this price. I realize it's only 1oz, but I am a 12g guy with no Bougie Bores.

I ordered some, thanks for the heads up... almost can't buy lead for that after the rebate!

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

You assuming you're qualified for the $100? That's how I read it. And as you said...that's like too good to be true???

 

[roosterdown]

Boss seems to make pheasants fall out of the sky pretty well for me.

 

[dukeball33]

You assuming you're qualified for the $100? That's how I read it. And as you said...that's like too good to be true???

It looks like the rebate is $5 per box up to 20 boxes... I only purchased a case, so should be in line for $40 rebate. I started the process but need a UPC image from the product and that will have to wait until Rogers ships. I also got a $15 code for first purchase and free shipping.

edit: My math sucked earlier... I think it will only be a $40 rebate on a case.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

You tipped me over the edge, and I snagged a case as well. It's just money. And it's probably better overall. Wonder how many scavengers ingest lead on unrecovered cripples and the effects.

 

[sndmn11]

I called Boss to chat and the woman was knowledgeable and helpful. I then got hung up on 20 per box and didn't order...

I ended up ordering Federal Bismuth.

Shop products in Premium HEVI-Bismuth today | Federal Premium

Federal Ammunition

www.federalpremium.com

 

[AntelopeEater]

I have learned some upland public land requires non-toxic shot, the main bird is wild pheasants.

My brown dog will be a year in Nov and the priority is to get her quality contact and retrieves. I don't have any desire to shoot a bird she doesn't flush, I also don't expect a wild rooster to let her get a few yards away.

Because the goal is setting her up for success, I am a-ok spending for "best" over value. I have some federal Bismuth #4 in my cart, but was hoping to get experiences and opinions before buying. Federal, Kent, Hevi are preferred. I see all bismuth, small steel, all tungsten, blends of steel/tungsten, and blends of steel/bismuth.

I shoot 20ga, and just want to kill what I hit. I have a range of chokes from Carlson and Jeb.

I read:

Best 12 gauge ammo for Pheasant?

We used to shoot 7-1/2s and 6s for pheasants.

rokslide.com

Non toxic shotgun shells

I am buying some non toxic shot shells for Pheasant. There are a number of relatively new shells out on the market that include steel, bismuth, tungsten and some with both steel and bismuth. Price is less for steel and a lot more for Bismuth. Browning and Hevi have some combination or layered...

rokslide.com

These pheasants were taken with #6 Hevi-Bismuth

 

[sndmn11]

These pheasants were taken with #6 Hevi-Bismuth

I liked the box.

 

[PredatoronthePrairie]

These pheasants were taken with #6 Hevi-Bismuth

Didnt know people shoot/ate hens...

 

[jmez]

Preserve hunts. Those are released birds.

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2024 using Tapatalk

 

[chemist]

I hunt upland in mostly nontoxic areas. I have shot pheasants with #4, and #6 bismuth and #2-#6 steel. On a true crossing shot inside 25 yards any of the above are adequate. On a straight away shot or further out shot which you will probably have with a flushing dog you want larger shot.

In my 20 gauge I shoot 1.125 oz of #4 bismuth when targeting pheasants.

 

[Macintosh]

Bismuth is only slightly less dense than lead, only slightly more so than steel. It goes like this, TO SCALE:
0……..steel..bismuth..lead…….tungsten
Steel is 7.9 g/cm3
Bismuth 9.8 g/cm3
Lead 11.3 g/cm3
Tungsten 19.3 g/cm3

I always shot feral (ie wildish but not truly wild) pheasants with #6 lead and killed them fine, but mostly in pretty heavy cover so shots normally pretty close. Lots of guys in the midwest will swear you need 5’s or even 4’s, even in lead. On the other hand tons of
people shoot preserve pheasants with lead 71/2 or 8 wally-world target loads and dont get cripples or runners. A dog trainer friend shoots literally hundreds and hundreds of pen raised pheasants (that fly well) with a skeet-choked 28ga shooting 3/4oz of #8 lead, and having spent plenty of time there they die just fine. It seems hard to generalize about what it takes to kill a pheasant. With folks advocating for #6 and #5 bismuth (only halfway between steel and lead) I have to think some of this is the of marketing of bismuth as a miracle killer magically overcoming magnum-itis.
To me wild pheasants seem awfully similar to puddle ducks, ie whatever works on your average duck is going to work just fine on a pheasant and probably not worth splitting hairs past that point (assuming legal shot material obviously). The duck may be a little bigger but is likely facing you, the pheasant may be a little smaller but you’re often shooting them in the ass.

 

[sndmn11]

pheasant may be a little smaller but you’re often shooting them in the ass.

So they are like a CO archery/muzzleloader elk then?

I'd have bought steel, but the hardness of it and eating the whole bird didn't seem like a winner for me. I ended up buying 5s, 4s, and 3s, because it seems I can cover "all" the waterfowl somewhere in there as well. My guess is the best killer of anything that comes out of a shotgun is going to be the best patterning combo of how bore diameter marries up to the choke type design and diameter with some sort of balance in velocity of shot (column) density and velocity. Probably in a year when I acquire enough different boxes I might randomly buy, I'll pattern everything and see what my equipment says to shoot.