View Poll Results: What shot size do you prefer for rabbits/pigeons?

Voters
3. You may not vote on this poll
  • 5 shot

    0 0%
  • 6 shot

    3 100.00%
  • 7.5 shot

    0 0%
  • 8 shot

    0 0%
Multiple Choice Poll.
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Cartridge shot sizes for small quarry

  1. #1
    NaturalBushcraft Founder Ashley Cawley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Cornwall, UK
    Posts
    2,803

    Question Cartridge shot sizes for small quarry

    To any shooters out there wielding a trusty shotgun and hunting for food, I'm wondering; whats your favorite shot sizes when it comes to hunting pigeon and rabbits?

    Please select from the poll and feel free to leave a comment.
    Ashley Cawley

    Youtube | Forum | Twitter | Flickr
    Leave No Trace

  2. #2
    Ent FishyFolk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Harstad, Norway
    Posts
    3,542
    If you go for both on the same shoot, I would bring 6 shot, simply on the basis that the Norwegian hunting association recomends US 5-6 shot for Hare, and US 6-7 shot for pigeon.
    So 6 shot should cover both if you can shoot both during the same shooting trip. I believe rabbits are smaller than our hare (wild rabbits are not common here). So 6 shot should be fine for those.
    Thats what I did for hare and mountain grouse.


    But I have not been shooting since our ban on lead shot was introduced as my Trusty old Star Baikal is not up to the task of firing modern shot. So if you are going to use steel, or vismut or any other modern shot material, I cant advice you, as I have zero experience with those.
    Victory awaits the one, that has everything in order - luck we call it
    Defeat is an absolute consequense for the one that have neglected to do the necessary preparations - bad luck we call it
    (Roald Amundsen)

    Bumbling Bushcraft on Youtube
    Nordisk Bushcraft - The Nordic bushcraft blog and forum

  3. #3
    Samuel Hearne
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    974
    I like number 6 shot I have a 12 gauge 32" full choke and it has served me very well using 6 shot, I also carry a couple of SSG,s.

  4. #4
    Native KaiTheIronHound's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Canberra, Australia
    Posts
    316
    I spent a good portion of my teenage years blasting bunnies around farms i worked on. I generally lugged around a .22 or a .22 mag as a day-to-day out in the paddocks gun, as it was quite reasonable to run across a fox or cat (both damaging feral species here), but the chances of getting within shotgun range for them was pretty slim. However, as i got bigger i started carrying an open choke SxS 12 bore as i could carry the weight and take various different sorts of round to deal with everything from rabbits to feral pigs and the occasional deer or goat. For rabbits and ducks i tended on number 6, though pretty much whatever i had available at or above the size of 7.5 shot seemed to work fine (basically whatever i had floating around the cabinet is what came with me). The open choke was good because it ate anything i chucked through it, including wax slugs.
    Last edited by KaiTheIronHound; 06-05-2017 at 01:47 PM.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •