Two Pheasants today!

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 01:13 PM

I was not going to go today because of the rain, but as i sat and had
my coffee i changed my mind. I walked this field twice and could not get
anything to flush. I hunt without a dog.. The reason being the ticks this year are terrible.
I have had them on me every time i have hunted. Well a short story 3 flushed one hen and two roosters. The two roosters seemed to stay together as the hen went in the opposite direction so this made the shot a little bit easier. I shot the two with Nitro 12 Gauge No.6, this seems to work better for me as i hunt with a Ruger over and under,modified in the top chamber and improved cylinder in the second barrel. I have missed the last 7 birds that where pheasants and tried to figure out what i was doing wrong after many ideas i came to the conclusion that the illuminated sites that i had put on the shotty was just getting in my way and i was paying attention to lining the sites up and not concentrating on the bird. I'll tell you this there is nothing better than to just look down the barrel top and lead the birds,both shots where in the head area...........

Well enjoy the photos and please write something as you view, bad or good i love to hear from you fellas..Thanks for stopping by...Earl Easter
http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/att...1&d=1257444740
http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/att...1&d=1257444752

srt 10 jimbo · 11-05-2009, 01:49 PM

Good Shootin Earl

FortyXDM · 11-05-2009, 02:30 PM

Nuttin purtier in tha whole world Earl. Interesting observation there. I have an orange bead on my double 20. When I see it, I shoot poor. When I don't I seem to hit. Go figger.

Keep em coming buddy.

Tom

White Rook · 11-05-2009, 02:54 PM

Good looking birds Earl. I used to hunt Pheasant with my older brother. He had a very good bird dog. The only place we have around here to hunt Pheasant is public hunting areas. The state releases them one or two times a year.

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 04:54 PM

Hi Ya White Rook thanks for stopping in.
Well i have noticed that most of these birds are stocked also,but ya know i was in the same place last year and the game commissioner asked me if i wanted to help him release them,i naturally said yes... Well i had already got my limit this year and had two in my pouch. But as we finished he said wait till i get down over the hill in my truck and then you can shoot...I told him yep but i already have two.That made him laugh. Anyway to make a long story short i had walked through the same fields that most of the birds that we released flew and not one flushed in the entire 300 yards or so of field, so they are not as easy to get as some think...LOL There is not many natural birds left around here also,but every once in a while you can tell the stocked birds from the original survivors...I believe the two pictured in this post are stocked. Have a good week.........Earl

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 04:58 PM

srt10jimbo

Thanks for the nice comment but as i said in the above original, i missed 7 birds from which i believe was my bad shooting habit of lining up the sites and taking my eye off the birds..
Thats why i removed the sites....I might have been lucky today....LOL... so we will see if this cured the problem i was having. Thanks for the comment....Earl

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 05:10 PM

FortyXDM...Thanks for stopping in.
Tom the sites thing really bothered me for two days and really i did not get much sleep thinking where i could have gone wrong playing back in my head everything possible that would have made me miss so many birds. When i came to this i remember fighting with a good line up with the back Illuminated site bead and the front thats a double v Illuminant. This must have taken my concentration off of the bird and too worried about making a match with the sites...ROTFLMAO.... Well we will see and time will tell.
Do you still have your orange glow sites on your 20 Guage?...The reason why i asked is that mine where sitting a little too high even though there is adjustments on them. The thing is i have shot clays with no problems and even drew or sketched a life size pheasant on cardboard and took shots of that at 30 or so yards and they amazingly where right on?????????????..
Well tom i wish you where here so i could have some good company to hunt the birds with. And certainly a few others on the site that it would be my honor to spend a day in the field with many..You Have a good weekend and thanks again for viewing the birds........

Your Pennsylvania Buddy Earl..................

Oxford · 11-05-2009, 05:20 PM

Good shooting Earl!

BTW, are those shells 3 1/2", 3" or 2 3/4"?

woody1981 · 11-05-2009, 05:25 PM

Good looking pheasants, Earl. Bet you're glad you went now, rain or not. And it was particularly cold today with the wind. By the way, when are you inviting G&G over for dinner?

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 09:06 PM

Thanks for stopping in Ox i really appreciate the comments.
Ox the shells are 2 3/4 Nitros No.6 and a fellow vietnam vet really gave me some crap
as i purchased at the register. He told me i may as well buy a 10 Gauge to hunt
the birds as he went on and on about how good he was with a 410.....ROTFLMAO...

So i just told him how i lost my eye sight...LOL... and it shut his pie hole up real fast....

Oxford · 11-05-2009, 09:17 PM

Just wondered about the length because I've got to buy my first box of 12 gage shells whenever I figure out which one's to get and then find them at a decent price.

So...6's will reach out far enough obviously with those two pheasants as proof. What do you think about using 3" shells?

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 09:18 PM

woody1981
Thanks for stopping in. Yes it was raining here also when i left and up North a ways, it was spittin sleet a little...Very windy and the birds flushed very fast off mainly in the flow of that wind to take advantage of their escape.... Other than that i really had a good day. One thing that i forgot to mention is how tough the birds are, shooting with Nitros no.6 shoot I thought I felt one of the birds move while it was in my pouch. As i got home and opened the back door to the jeep he was sitting up like nothing was wrong. I picked him up and had to wring his neck. Thats when i noticed he was bleeding from the head by his eye,so i think i hit him with only one piece of lead shot. No other tell tale signs of a hit were around as i cleaned him.......
Have a good week woody and again thanks for stopping in and making a comment...
Your Buddy up the way....Earl

G. Green · 11-05-2009, 09:24 PM

Hey Earl, what kind of cover are you hunting those birds in? Around here it's almost all milo and after opening day you might as well be hunting little feathered greyhounds.

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 09:30 PM

Ox, I paid $27.79 for the Remingtons...
Very over priced, but this is what works for me and the Ruger.......I had a box of no.4's 2 3/4 Fiocchi's 1 1/4..1330 velocity High Brass and they also worked ok but not as good as the Nitros...I paid $10.95 for them
at the Military Surplus.....I seemed to miss with them but again it may have been the sites and me. So the next time i go i will load up with the Fiocchi 4's in the top barrel and the Nitros in the second bottom barrel and see what happens

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 09:41 PM

G. Green

LOL.......Yep the cover is what i call buffalo grass and its hard as all get out to see them. Your right they run like the dickens through the 5 ft. tall grass and you are lucky if you see the tops move, so thats where i look constantly,at the tops for bending and movement.
Today was a windy day and i zig zagged through the stuff in the over the mile and half field and was lucky on the one zag to bring them up where they had nowhere to go but up.
Actually three flushed, the hen went over the hill into the wind and through the trees and the two roosters went to my left with the wind...Smart Hen ROTFL... I am not an expert but i love this pheasant season and have been hunting them for 41 years,with no dogs.

Thanks for making a comment i really appreciate it.....Earl

Earl Easter · 11-05-2009, 10:06 PM

Ox the Ruger can shoot a 3" shell and i have been having some trouble finding them.

The 3" is the way to go and i believe N0.5 shot will put the icing on the cake for pheasants and turkeys a little over kill for dove i would say...LOL I need to find some 3" no.5 0r 6's and give them a try...The reason i purchased the 6 shot Nitros was just for the extra shot, its my crutch for having to shoot with one eye......and again they had no 3" shells,i have asked them 5 times already and they never seem to have them....?

FortyXDM · 11-06-2009, 08:53 PM

Earl - Yes, it still has the original orange bead (actually a little 1/2 or so lengthwise bright orange piece of plastic ? ) that sits low on the ramp. Funny thing when you talk about missing. I got a tip from a former world chap at a clay shoot when I lived in Pa. He noticed that I tend to be a stock "crawler" and have my face well up toward the front of the stock. I would (still do some) have a tendency to bring my face "down" to the stock, rather than bringing the gun all the way up to my face as I shouldered it. Particularly on a large covey rise when you want to get that first one quick. Anyway, by dropping my head down to the stock, I had a tendency to shoot high. Once I was aware of what he was telling me, when I started to shoot poorly at birds or clays, I would realize that often, that was my problem. That tip has helped me for 30 years. Not sure I ever properly thanked the man.

Earl Easter · 11-07-2009, 06:17 PM

Makes sense to me Tom
I have always laid my cheek on the stock maybe a little bit on the high side. I will acknowledge this next time i am out, thanks this may help even more.

I could not make it out today Tom i took the little girl rollerblading Friday she was off school and took a nasty fall going backwards. I figured that i broke my leg 8 inches below the right hip...ROTFL..
I dont walk very good today and my right elbow has a bump on it the size of a golf ball...
I needed a rest...LOL dang old bones......

RangerGSP · 11-18-2009, 01:54 AM

I have not heard if you have been out lately? Since you and I are the ones who seem to like to chase peasants. I do not remember you saying if you still have dogs? I would love to hear from you!

11-05-2009, 01:13 PM	#1
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	Two Pheasants today! I was not going to go today because of the rain, but as i sat and had my coffee i changed my mind. I walked this field twice and could not get anything to flush. I hunt without a dog.. The reason being the ticks this year are terrible. I have had them on me every time i have hunted. Well a short story 3 flushed one hen and two roosters. The two roosters seemed to stay together as the hen went in the opposite direction so this made the shot a little bit easier. I shot the two with Nitro 12 Gauge No.6, this seems to work better for me as i hunt with a Ruger over and under,modified in the top chamber and improved cylinder in the second barrel. I have missed the last 7 birds that where pheasants and tried to figure out what i was doing wrong after many ideas i came to the conclusion that the illuminated sites that i had put on the shotty was just getting in my way and i was paying attention to lining the sites up and not concentrating on the bird. I'll tell you this there is nothing better than to just look down the barrel top and lead the birds,both shots where in the head area........... Well enjoy the photos and please write something as you view, bad or good i love to hear from you fellas..Thanks for stopping by...Earl Easter http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/att...1&d=1257444740 http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/att...1&d=1257444752 Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Earl Easter; 11-05-2009 at 01:15 PM.

11-05-2009, 01:49 PM	#2
srt 10 jimbo Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Fort Lauderdale Posts: 296	Good Shootin Earl __________________

11-05-2009, 02:54 PM	#4
White Rook Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: South West Ohio Posts: 2,109	Good looking birds Earl. I used to hunt Pheasant with my older brother. He had a very good bird dog. The only place we have around here to hunt Pheasant is public hunting areas. The state releases them one or two times a year. __________________ USAF SSgt 80-86 IN GOD WE TRUST NRA MEMBER

11-05-2009, 05:20 PM	#8
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 14,098 Images: 18 Blog Entries: 4	Good shooting Earl! BTW, are those shells 3 1/2", 3" or 2 3/4"? __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

11-05-2009, 05:25 PM	#9
woody1981 One of the Usual Suspects Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: southwest PA Posts: 1,358 Images: 4 Blog Entries: 1	Good looking pheasants, Earl. Bet you're glad you went now, rain or not. And it was particularly cold today with the wind. By the way, when are you inviting G&G over for dinner? __________________ A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.”~Freud

11-05-2009, 02:30 PM	#3
FortyXDM Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Gladstone, Mo. (kc area) Posts: 3,659	Nuttin purtier in tha whole world Earl. Interesting observation there. I have an orange bead on my double 20. When I see it, I shoot poor. When I don't I seem to hit. Go figger. Keep em coming buddy. Tom

11-05-2009, 04:54 PM	#5
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	Hi Ya White Rook thanks for stopping in. Well i have noticed that most of these birds are stocked also,but ya know i was in the same place last year and the game commissioner asked me if i wanted to help him release them,i naturally said yes... Well i had already got my limit this year and had two in my pouch. But as we finished he said wait till i get down over the hill in my truck and then you can shoot...I told him yep but i already have two.That made him laugh. Anyway to make a long story short i had walked through the same fields that most of the birds that we released flew and not one flushed in the entire 300 yards or so of field, so they are not as easy to get as some think...LOL There is not many natural birds left around here also,but every once in a while you can tell the stocked birds from the original survivors...I believe the two pictured in this post are stocked. Have a good week.........Earl

11-05-2009, 04:58 PM	#6
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	srt10jimbo Thanks for the nice comment but as i said in the above original, i missed 7 birds from which i believe was my bad shooting habit of lining up the sites and taking my eye off the birds.. Thats why i removed the sites....I might have been lucky today....LOL... so we will see if this cured the problem i was having. Thanks for the comment....Earl

11-05-2009, 05:10 PM	#7
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	FortyXDM...Thanks for stopping in. Tom the sites thing really bothered me for two days and really i did not get much sleep thinking where i could have gone wrong playing back in my head everything possible that would have made me miss so many birds. When i came to this i remember fighting with a good line up with the back Illuminated site bead and the front thats a double v Illuminant. This must have taken my concentration off of the bird and too worried about making a match with the sites...ROTFLMAO.... Well we will see and time will tell. Do you still have your orange glow sites on your 20 Guage?...The reason why i asked is that mine where sitting a little too high even though there is adjustments on them. The thing is i have shot clays with no problems and even drew or sketched a life size pheasant on cardboard and took shots of that at 30 or so yards and they amazingly where right on?????????????.. Well tom i wish you where here so i could have some good company to hunt the birds with. And certainly a few others on the site that it would be my honor to spend a day in the field with many..You Have a good weekend and thanks again for viewing the birds........ Your Pennsylvania Buddy Earl..................

11-05-2009, 09:06 PM	#10
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	Thanks for stopping in Ox i really appreciate the comments. Ox the shells are 2 3/4 Nitros No.6 and a fellow vietnam vet really gave me some crap as i purchased at the register. He told me i may as well buy a 10 Gauge to hunt the birds as he went on and on about how good he was with a 410.....ROTFLMAO... So i just told him how i lost my eye sight...LOL... and it shut his pie hole up real fast....

11-05-2009, 09:17 PM	#11
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 14,098 Images: 18 Blog Entries: 4	Just wondered about the length because I've got to buy my first box of 12 gage shells whenever I figure out which one's to get and then find them at a decent price. So...6's will reach out far enough obviously with those two pheasants as proof. What do you think about using 3" shells? __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

11-05-2009, 09:18 PM	#12
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	woody1981 Thanks for stopping in. Yes it was raining here also when i left and up North a ways, it was spittin sleet a little...Very windy and the birds flushed very fast off mainly in the flow of that wind to take advantage of their escape.... Other than that i really had a good day. One thing that i forgot to mention is how tough the birds are, shooting with Nitros no.6 shoot I thought I felt one of the birds move while it was in my pouch. As i got home and opened the back door to the jeep he was sitting up like nothing was wrong. I picked him up and had to wring his neck. Thats when i noticed he was bleeding from the head by his eye,so i think i hit him with only one piece of lead shot. No other tell tale signs of a hit were around as i cleaned him....... Have a good week woody and again thanks for stopping in and making a comment... Your Buddy up the way....Earl

11-05-2009, 09:24 PM	#13
G. Green Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: NE OK Posts: 464	Hey Earl, what kind of cover are you hunting those birds in? Around here it's almost all milo and after opening day you might as well be hunting little feathered greyhounds.

11-05-2009, 09:30 PM	#14
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	Ox, I paid $27.79 for the Remingtons... Very over priced, but this is what works for me and the Ruger.......I had a box of no.4's 2 3/4 Fiocchi's 1 1/4..1330 velocity High Brass and they also worked ok but not as good as the Nitros...I paid $10.95 for them at the Military Surplus.....I seemed to miss with them but again it may have been the sites and me. So the next time i go i will load up with the Fiocchi 4's in the top barrel and the Nitros in the second bottom barrel and see what happens Last edited by Earl Easter; 11-05-2009 at 09:43 PM.

11-05-2009, 09:41 PM	#15
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	G. Green LOL.......Yep the cover is what i call buffalo grass and its hard as all get out to see them. Your right they run like the dickens through the 5 ft. tall grass and you are lucky if you see the tops move, so thats where i look constantly,at the tops for bending and movement. Today was a windy day and i zig zagged through the stuff in the over the mile and half field and was lucky on the one zag to bring them up where they had nowhere to go but up. Actually three flushed, the hen went over the hill into the wind and through the trees and the two roosters went to my left with the wind...Smart Hen ROTFL... I am not an expert but i love this pheasant season and have been hunting them for 41 years,with no dogs. Thanks for making a comment i really appreciate it.....Earl

11-05-2009, 10:06 PM	#16
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	Ox the Ruger can shoot a 3" shell and i have been having some trouble finding them. The 3" is the way to go and i believe N0.5 shot will put the icing on the cake for pheasants and turkeys a little over kill for dove i would say...LOL I need to find some 3" no.5 0r 6's and give them a try...The reason i purchased the 6 shot Nitros was just for the extra shot, its my crutch for having to shoot with one eye......and again they had no 3" shells,i have asked them 5 times already and they never seem to have them....?

11-06-2009, 08:53 PM	#17
FortyXDM Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Gladstone, Mo. (kc area) Posts: 3,659	Earl - Yes, it still has the original orange bead (actually a little 1/2 or so lengthwise bright orange piece of plastic ? ) that sits low on the ramp. Funny thing when you talk about missing. I got a tip from a former world chap at a clay shoot when I lived in Pa. He noticed that I tend to be a stock "crawler" and have my face well up toward the front of the stock. I would (still do some) have a tendency to bring my face "down" to the stock, rather than bringing the gun all the way up to my face as I shouldered it. Particularly on a large covey rise when you want to get that first one quick. Anyway, by dropping my head down to the stock, I had a tendency to shoot high. Once I was aware of what he was telling me, when I started to shoot poorly at birds or clays, I would realize that often, that was my problem. That tip has helped me for 30 years. Not sure I ever properly thanked the man.

11-07-2009, 06:17 PM	#18
Earl Easter Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,131 Images: 20	Makes sense to me Tom I have always laid my cheek on the stock maybe a little bit on the high side. I will acknowledge this next time i am out, thanks this may help even more. I could not make it out today Tom i took the little girl rollerblading Friday she was off school and took a nasty fall going backwards. I figured that i broke my leg 8 inches below the right hip...ROTFL.. I dont walk very good today and my right elbow has a bump on it the size of a golf ball... I needed a rest...LOL dang old bones......

11-18-2009, 01:54 AM	#19
RangerGSP Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 21	I have not heard if you have been out lately? Since you and I are the ones who seem to like to chase peasants. I do not remember you saying if you still have dogs? I would love to hear from you!