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A Look into Shotguns, Chokes, and Shot Size for Snowshoe Hare Hunting


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When I was hunting cottontails over dogs, I would usually use a 20 or 12 shooting 6's with a Modified. One of the 20's I used had a fixed Improved Cylinder and it did fine. The only misses I ever had were my own fault, and I can't remember ever really tearing up the rabbit too much. 

 

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Most on my small game hunting including Rabbits and Hare when using a shotgun has been with 20 ga and #6 shot which for me has been best for all around. I have to disagree with the fellow's opinion about using Rimfires for hunting when using dogs. When hunting Hare many times I carried just my Colt Woodsman 22 and I killed a lot of Hare with that gun limiting out on numerus occasions. Safety is all about the individual practicing safe gun handling and taking safe shots, I have never even been close to having an incident endangering my Dogs from errant shooting.

Al

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Edited by airedale
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4 minutes ago, airedale said:

Most on my small game hunting including Rabbits and Hare when using a shotgun has been with 20 ga and #6 shot which for me has been best for all around. I have to disagree with the fellow's opinion about using Rimfires for hunting when using dogs. When hunting Hare many times I carried just my Colt Woodsman 22 and I killed a lot of Hare with that gun limiting out on numerus occasions. Safety is all about the individual practicing safe gun handling and taking safe shots, I have never even been close to having an incident endangering my Dogs from errant shooting.

Al

I remember my dad telling a guy to leave and never ask to go hunting again when he took a "brush" shot amongst the dogs. It was a guy he worked with who wanted to go with us. He really set things off by shooting a squirrel that day while we were rabbit hunting, but when he shot around the dogs...I don't know that I had ever seen my dad so mad. Fortunately none of the dogs were hit, but you are correct, safety is all about the individual.

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1 hour ago, airedale said:

Most on my small game hunting including Rabbits and Hare when using a shotgun has been with 20 ga and #6 shot which for me has been best for all around. I have to disagree with the fellow's opinion about using Rimfires for hunting when using dogs. When hunting Hare many times I carried just my Colt Woodsman 22 and I killed a lot of Hare with that gun limiting out on numerus occasions. Safety is all about the individual practicing safe gun handling and taking safe shots, I have never even been close to having an incident endangering my Dogs from errant shooting.

Al

 

I think a lot about the firearm and shot size selection has to be determined by how the dogs work as well. I loved hunting over my Uncle's dogs when he ran short hounds that worked nice and slow. Often the hares would hop and stop and stand up to listen for the dogs. A rim fire would work great there. He also had a par years before that you were shooting at a white laser line becasue the dogs were pushing so fast...lol. 

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Slightly off topic and I apologize. I've recently decided to get back into small game hunting, particularly bunnies, partridge and pheasants. I also decided that I want my 20ga to be my everything gun. The problem is that it's an old Beretta AL-2 with a fixed  I/C tube. So, I decided to send my barrel off to be threaded for interchangeable chokes. After some searching on the interwebs and some very favorable reviews, I landed on Steve Rose at Rose Action Sports in Ky. For $170, including return shipping, he's going to cut the threads and supply Tru-Chokes in I/C, Mod and Full. The chokes alone go for $20 apiece on the internet. I'm thinking that's a very reasonable price. I might also look around at some extra tight turkey tubes. Any suggestions for those would be more than welcome. 

I'll be sure to follow up once I receive the barrel back and get a chance to pattern each choke. Again, I didn't mean to hijack. I would not be offended if the post was deleted. I just thought there might be others interested in doing the same.

Edited by eaglemountainman
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1oz 7-1/2, mod choke in my 20 ga for decades, until I started using a 28ga, using the same load and choke.

I was told to use 6 or 4 shot, but ended up blowing the crap out of them, or wounding them with one errant pellet.

Upland or fur,  1oz of 7-12 does the trick.

Try it, you'll like it.

LEAD ­ Weight of Shot in Ounces ( Grams ) ( 3% ANTIMONY )
Shot
Size
1/2
(14.17)
11/16
(19.49)
3/4
(21.25)
7/8
(24.80)
1
(28.35)
1­1/8
(31.89)
1­1/4
(35.44)
1­3/8
(38.98)
1­1/2
(42.52)
1­5/8
(46.06)
1­7/8
(53.15)
2
(56.70)
2­1/4
(63.78)
9 292 402 439 512 585 658 731 804 877 951 1097 1170 1316
249 342 373 435 497 559 621 683 745 808 932 994 1118
8 205 282 307 359 410 461 512 564 615 666 769 820 922
175 241 262 306 350 394 437 481 525 569 656 700 787
6 112 155 169 197 225 253 281 309 337 366 422 450 506
5 85 117 127 149 170 191 212 234 255 276 319 340 382
4 67 93 101 118 135 152 169 186 202 219 253 270 304
2 43 60 65 76 87 98 109 120 130 141 163 174 196
BB 25 34 37 44 50 56 62 69 75 81 94 100 112
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