I field trial and hunt wild birds with my Brittanys. The NSTRA field trials I participate in use pen raised bobwhite. Nothing tests my dog's manners like a pen raised bob white in a field trial. No ecollars. The dogs have learned they can frequently catch the pen-raised bobs on their own. They must hold even when the bob is strutting back and forth in front of them. All that keeps my dogs on point is their training and sometimes intimidation if I am close enough.
As someone said not all pen raised bobs are equal either. Some fly very well and some are very underpowered.
Some people here sell "johnny house hunts". They have a half-dozen johnny houses with pen-raised bobs in them. They open a trap door at the top and flush the birds out. Birds usually fly 100 to 200 yards. Then their customers hunt them. The ones I went on had good flying birds. But some birds were hard to flush and sometimes required a nudge with a toe. That is the best liberated bobwhite hunt I think.
The liberated chukars are a lot of fun to hunt. And they quickly covey up. I have never had a dog, in a breech of manners, catch a healthy liberated chukar either.
In regard to the original question I have a 28 bore Birmy boxlock, a Salter and Varge, that weighs 5lbs even and has 26" barrels. Both barrels are choked skeet or so. It is proofed for 5/8oz so 9/16 of #8s would be about right.
Last edited by AmarilloMike; 06/02/13 09:17 AM.
