Here in the east the only chukar we see are actually red leg partridge. Usually a little smaller than the wild desert birds and definitely not as tough, they're pen raised. We usually have pretty good luck with a light charge of 7 1/2s.

That said, an aquintance of mine, who happens to be a very avid chukar hunter who is very knowledgable in shotshell ballistics and an excellent shot, recommends at least an ounce of #5s through modified choke. When I questioned him, he explained that if you consider the terrain where the birds live and how rugged it is, you start to get an idea of how tough they actually are. His biggest point was that he wanted the birds dead in the air because a wounded bird sailing down a canyon 800 yards gets old fast.

Frank

 

Your buddy made some good points. I hate the way 1oz. #5's pattern in my gun, but 6's.....oh yeah! I wished I had fixed chokes in my 28ga. For whatever reason, at least with guns that I have owned, fixed chokes have seemed to pattern better than screw-ins.

 

Not chukar, but this year for Hung Partridge I will be using 1 oz #6 and possibly 1 1/8 oz #5 if birds are crazy or the wind is ripping, both will be in 16 ga.

 

I shoot #6 and #7.5 in 20ga 2.75" 7/8oz both in my auto and O/U. Works well for me

 

That was a great day!

 

I'm fortunate to have access to wild birds. If I'm out for fun, I take a 20 gauge SxS throwing 7/8 oz of #6 high antimony lead.

If I'm out for meat or revenge, I take a 12 gauge SxS throwing 1-1/8oz of the same shot.

If the ground is more treacherous than usual, I take a disposable 12 gauge SxS and hope for the best. Here is a representation of a throw-away gun:

You must have a lot of restraint to carry a 28 gauge on the chukar slopes. If I carry my 20 I always feel a little bit elitist and definitely am a little undergunned at times.

 

I have never hunted Chucker, at least wild ones. I would likely take my light 20 ga Benelli m2 with a load of #6 in either 7/8 or 1 ounce. WOuldn't want to be dropping my wood 28 ga or my wood 20 ga o/u's.

 

My 28 isn't that fancy, so I wouldn't feel too bad if something happened to it. There are times I feel under-gunned, but acceptable killing range of a 20 and a 28 are the same for me. If they're outta range, they're usually way outta range no matter what ga. your shooting. I am not a world-class shooter, I am an every-man. I miss. I hit. I have alot of fun carrying a 5lb gun, and eat tasty birds all year.

 

Shooting the 28 at Chucker wouldn't bother me at all, I use it for Pheasants. I just would rather take my plastic gun because I know where those damn little buggers live. I guarantee I will be falling and dropping the gun.

 

I shoot a 28 for just about everything. I don't hunt phez with the 28, but only b/c by the time I head back home, it's pretty late in the season. By the time a shot presents itself, it is usually out of my range with a 28.

 

A hard hitting 1-1/8 oz load of #6s. 12 gauge preferred. The one's I have hunted laugh at light loads, if they ever allow you to get close enough to actually fire one off.

 

I shoot a 28 for just about everything. I don't hunt phez with the 28, but only b/c by the time I head back home, it's pretty late in the season. By the time a shot presents itself, it is usually out of my range with a 28.

I use it all year, but I am hunting with some damn good dogs.

 

12ga 1 3/8 oz #5 for late season wild birds, 1 1/8 oz 6 or 7.5 for early season birds where you can use lead. Where we hunt them you want them dead in the air with at least one wing broke. I've seen them dead, but with wings set, glide way accross a canyon and pile up on the other side. I used to shoot 1oz #6 in my 20ga but fast 7.5's give a better pattern. I shot a few with #5 Kent Upland steel last season when we were mandated to stop lead on several GMU's. These are advertised at 1400 fps but chronograph at 1475. They work. I am loading my own steel for this year. Have both #4's and 5's at 1400+ for 1 1/8 oz loads. Have found that the smaller steel pellets pattern much like lead. IC abd LM give fairly open patterns at 20-25 yards. Still working to get the perfect match of load and choke

 

WOW! Your chuck loads are bigger than most people's phez loads! I think a 20ga. with some #6's would be more than plenty out here.

 

An adult chuckar going into his second winter (if any live that long) is one tough bird. He can run up hill almost as fast as he can fly down. If you just break his wing he will run away, if you break his legs he will sail away and be coyote feed. I shot two out of a covey last fall with 1oz copper plated #6 at 1365 from my 20ga. Both less than 25 yards. The first piled up in a heap. The second looked like it was hit solid, wings folded, feathers flying as it dropped over a rock shoot that took the dog and I about 20min to navigate down. The bird was nowhere to be found when we got there. The basalt was a steep talus slope full of holes and so sharp it cut the dog's feet. These birds know where to live and be protected by their environment. Earlier in the year with young birds you can get by with lighter loads. I also like skeet and IC chokes so the heavier shot charge gives me a denser pattern with heavier pellets. A 28ga with #6 has a pretty skinny pattern past 30yards unless you choke it, then your close pattern suffers. Back in the late 70's and early 80's in the "hayday" of chuckars (lots of birds) I used my 1 1/4 oz #4 duck loads on late season birds in the snow with no dog.

 

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Fishnfowler, what are these guns from top to bottom?

 

The first three are LC Smith, with #1 and #3 being the same gun. #4 is a Spanish GIB. When the wave of Spanish SxS washed up on our shores, I took advantage of the opportunity and purchased several to use exclusively for chukars. I'm figuring to abuse and discard them. Here is an AYA which is in the que for destruction.

Another of the GIB:

 

Which speciffic L.C. is #2? I love the POW stock. The AYA is very nice as well. Are they all 12's?

 

The top Smith is a 1907 20 gauge in the next to lowest grade "O", but I believe it is the oldest graded 20gauge Smith in existence today, and one of the very first made. The 12 is a 1910 00 Smith and is the lowest grade, but it is a Pre-13. I hunt everything with it and it remains the best gun I've ever owned. I have a neck like a giraffe and arms like an ape, so the older guns with a lot of drop work well for me.

I've been known to take the Smith's into land I shouldn't, but for the really hairy hunting, I leave them at home. I don't know about others here, but despite my mountaineering past and ability to climb like a goat, I still fall down and drop my gun in the rocks. Here is some gentle terrain and the results of my 20 gauge at work:

 

That looks awesome out there! Our grass is a little more sparse out here, with a sage brush thrown in every once and a while (I assume just for color). I too am not as well balanced as I once was (or thought I was). I love tossing my gun down to the rocks, just to catch my fat a$$ on the way down (don't remember being this fat either). Oh well, that's why I bought the CZ.

 

I like the 20ga. 1oz. Golden Pheasants nickel plated
#6s.