410 for quail?

Has anyone ever hunted quail with a 410? I know it is a gun for an expert, but I was just wondering if it is worth trying.

I don't know anything about a 410. What shot and choke would you recommend?

Hunted back in the day with Bobby Hughes (breeder of CH. Easy Mark) who shot birds with a 410 O/U. He was the best shot I ever saw. More than once I watched him drop birds shooting from the hip. So you can be successful with the 410. Plus it's light and easy to tote. You would have to be a pretty good shot to start with.

I hunt exclusively with a .410 o/u for dove and quail. 30" barrels with skeet/skeet chokes. 2 1/2" shells with 1/2 ounce 7 1/2 and 8's. It is very light to carry and shells weigh next to nothing. The 2 1/2" shells pattern better and are faster than the longer 3" shells.

and this .. I love my 410 O/U

I hunt bobwhites with a Yildiz .410 sxs, I love it. I shoot 7 1/2s on early season birds and sometimes 6s on late season or blues, chokes are improved and modified.

Thanks for the input.

I am getting neck surgery and the doc said I shouldn't shoot a shotgun for 6 weeks. That will mess up my season. I am going to ask him about a 410. I usually use a 20ga. I was really thinking about the yildiz 410 sxs, but I may go with a semiauto to make sure I don't screw up my neck.

Get a Taurus Judge. I killed two with mine last year (after only about 20-30 rounds lol). At least it wont hurt your neck.

I had c3/4 fusion about 4 years ago. I used my .410 for quail season which started about a month after fusion. There were no issues.

They wanted a 4/5/6/7 fusion. I talked them into a 6/7 fusion. I am looking at Thanksgiving so it will be in the season. I am hoping to be able to hunt around Christmas like I do every year.

From carrying your dog?

I only carried him out 3 times last year. At lest his is only 90 pounds.

Dang..........90LBS. I thought you had a great idea carrying that dog like that. Now I'm not so sure. Next time a couple of branches with your vest tied between them.

Not to hijack the thread, but is the dog in question a DD? In hunting shape? My male DD is 6 months, 60+ pounds, and I am wondering what I have to look forward to. The dad fluctuates between 75 and 80, but 90? I-God.

He is a HUGE DD. He is usually 80 pounds or so, but I had to take off the previous year for shoulder surgery and he got fat.

7.5 shot with a modified choke if the birds are holding. Full choke otherwise.

I had a C6/C7 in 2008 and was weak for about five or six months after. My pain from the rupture ceased immediately, but the whole thing knocked the ambition out of me for quite some time. Do not rush the recovery process. Follow all of your doctor's instruction to the letter.

I choke it down to full / mod.
Be on the bird, they'll drop.
Very low recoil.

11/16 oz. 7.5s.

I have a Winchester 42 that others forgot to use back in the day. Modified choke. I use clay target 8.5 shot for dove and for pen raised Quail. I like the short target loads because they both pattern better and penetrate
better ( pine board test) than 3" 7.5 shot.

I usually use the .410 for dove opening day or two. Within about 20, maybe 25 yards, I do about as well as with a twenty. I have used it on pen raised quail (and a couple of pheasant) successfully. I'm getting old and not the expert shot that I once was, but I do OK with the .410. I have a younger friend that has a custom build/fitted .410 O/U and he uses nothing else here. He goes to Argentina 3-4 times a year and shoots thousands of birds. He is an expert. He shoots the same target loads that I use.

Don't be surprised that ammo is more expensive than 12 or 20 ga. Those of us that like .410 and 28 ga, are accustomed to paying the price, two, maybe three times the cost of high volume sales of the larger gauges.

Best wishes,

Jack

I love my o/u 28 gauge. I would love to have a model 42!

Always makes me smile when folks paying hundreds/thousands of dollars to hunt complain about the cost of shells. I ride them pretty hard and then finish with "I like to shoot 28 gauge because I get to shoot more"..