pbro21

I have a yellow lab female that weighs a little over 50 lbs and is extremely versatile. She is normally out on goose hunts with us, but has picked up crows and doves when we hunt them. I took her on a Pheasent hunt for the first time this year, and she was fantastic. She even pointed twice before flushing. As long as you train your dog to stay within a resonable working distance they will do fine pheasent hunting. I haven't done anything special with her for pheasent hunting. Labs are definately some of the most versatile hunting dogs you can get.

Our group of 5 people killed 18 geese on Labor Day and then got out of there quickly so we could hunt it again in the near future. It was some fast shooting with groups of 10-20 dive bombing us for about 20 minutes. Here's some pictures of the pile.

Turkey, If wing supply is out of them, I just orderd one for a friend from http://www.midwestturkeycall.com/ Be sure to order the choke for the SBE II. The Beretta/Benelli choke will not fit. You can get the Winchester ER from Cabelas or Bass Pro. Just check and make sure what you want is in stock. Hope this helps.

Laid one down on opening day of MD season. 20 lbs 10 in beard 3/4 inch spurs.

Mudhen, Thanks for the reply. I think I'll stick with the Rhino Win XR 3.5" #6's for this year because I don't have time to get a Jellyhead in and get it tested. My turkey season starts next Tuesday, and it'll be pretty much non-stop from there until the third week in May. I did check Nitro's website and they do recommend the Rhino .660 with their hevi-shot 4x5x7. I may try that it in the off-season, and I will definately be getting my hands on a Jellyhead. Thanks for all the info.

Muden, Does the difference between the Jellyhead and Rhino warrant buying the Jellyhead? Is the pattern that much better or knock down power that much better in your opinion?

Mudhen, All of your testing has hopefully saved me some money. I bought the Rhino .660 and the 3.5" #6 Xtended Winchesters. I like the idea of a tight pattern that isn't so tight it will cause me to miss at close range. I will try to post some pics when I get a chance to pattern. Thanks for all of the good info.

I have the 26" and I use it for hunting doves, ducks, geese, and turkeys and I love it. Seems to be the right fit. Plus with some of the extended chokes I use it adds the extra 2" to the barrel anyway.

Paolo, for waterfowl look at the Wad Wizard and Patternmaster for long range shots, but try decoying them it's a lot more fun to shoot them at 10 yards than it is at 40. The Wad Wizard and Patternmaster will still work great on decoying birds as well.

Three man limit of Geese in Maryland's late season. This is my best hunt to date. Was hunting with my SBE II, and my friend was shooting an M1 Super 90. Awesome hunt. ] [ 02-27-2006, 02:23 PM: Message edited by: pbro21 ]

I was in the same situation as you last year. I picked up both when I went to buy the gun, and the 26" felt better, so I bought it. The gun has been a great performer. I don't ever think I wish I had bought the 28.

Tuker, I used a string of wings on a couple of occasions a few years back. The first time we put it up it seemed to flare birds like crazy, not to mention it was a pain to get in the ground. We decided to try it one other day when we were on the X, and the first two flocks didn't like it too much. We took it down and ended up stretching it between two blinds to act like a big string of flags. That's the only way it has ever worked for us. It's much easier to just flag with a regular flag. I would say the concept seems good, but it doesn't seem to work around here on our Resident birds. [ 01-23-2006, 06:36 AM: Message edited by: pbro21 ]

I bought a new SBE II in August right before our early waterfowl season opened. I've been shooting better with my SBE II this year than I ever have in the past. My wallet appreciates the break it gets on buying extra shells, but the geese don't seem to be too happy that I bought the SBE II. Here are a few pictures from the season so far.

Commando, Thanks for the kind words. She has made me get into waterfowling and bird hunting a lot more than I was before, and she's great in the house. Dogs add a lot to this sport!

Black Jack, Try one of these two. They seem to be the most accepted methods of training right now. I had the book gun dog, and apparently the strategies there are a little out of date. http://www.gundogsonline.com/1800/10307.htm http://www.coonriverkennels.com/pages/store_evangraham.html

Commando, She does a pretty good job. She is taking lines pretty well on blinds, and marks fairly well. She just loves to hunt which to me is the most important part. She is only about 50 pounds, and a lot of these geese are a bit big for her to handle, but she'll drag them by the wing to bring them back. She also saves me a lot of money in shells and effort by chasing down wounded birds. Great tool to have when hunting near water also.

Tucker, I was actually hunting a pond which is directly behind the fence in the picture. There was no where good to hide around the pond, so we hid here and tried to call them off the pond as they landed. It seemed to work pretty well. This loafing pond was about the only place we saw geese regularly. They definately weren't hitting the fields around here. All of our geese were killed between 10-11 a.m. when they returned from their morning feed.

Commando, I ran about 10 3.5" Kent Faststell BB through it, and it didn't feel any different than the 3" stuff I was shooting. I'm pretty sure the geese felt it though. Tucker, it was 82° out when this picture was taken, but this weekend was the last day of early season and it was only about 65°. We killed 11 more this weekend at this same spot.

Just thought I would comment about how well I like my new SBE II. I have been out hunting geese the last two weekends, and really like the way it comes up and swings. I've done better wingshooting the past two weekends then ever before, and this gun just tosses the shells extremely fast. I'm usually through my three before I know it. Here are the results of one day of goose hunting with some friends.

Patterned the gun last night with both 3" BB steel, and the 2 3/4" Rem Heavy dove. Shot the steel at 40 yds with a pattern of 60/40, and the same for the dove loads at 30. Thanks for all the information guys.

I changed the shims in the gun and bought a new front bead. Mudhen it comes with B from the factory, and there is not a D choice. I tried them all and found the Z drop to be the best. I will take it out and pattern it tonight. I'm not sure where you get your information Drundel, but goose season in my part of Maryland opens September 1st with an 8 bird limit.

Opening September 1st here in Maryland with an 8 bird/day limit. I can handle that!

Thanks for the replys. I have purchased a taller front bead, and will replace that as soon as it comes in to see what difference it makes. For me it is easier to replace a front bead (the stock one doesn't collect much light anyway), seeing as I know very little about adjusting shim to fit. If I still have problems I will take the gun to the gunsmith and have the shim adjusted. FN-FAL it was a pattern at 40 yards, and I tried many different shells including lead, steel and hevi-shot. I'm pretty sure the gun in general is hitting high. Thanks again for the input.

Anybody have an answer for this? Sorry about being pushy, but I'm getting anxious with the season right around the corner.

I read that a larger front bead will bring the point of impact down to where I need it to be. Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, how do I go about removing the stock bead to install a new one. Thanks.