Five ideal cartridges for pheasant shooting this season

To help you with your choices this season, cartridge manufacturer Eley Hawk have suggested top five cartridges for pheasant. (Read our advice on cartridge loads for standard driven pheasant too.)

Eley based the selection on loads that provide consistency, reliability, and performance for over-and-under and side-by-side users alike. The cartridges feature a variety of shot weights and sizes to cater from early-season drives to late-season high pheasants. (You might also like to read what is the best shotgun cartridge and choke combination for pheasant shooting.)

1.Eley Zenith

Eley’s premier gameshooting cartridge for pheasant. Whether loaded with fibre or innovative biodegradable Pro-Eco wad, the copper-coated lead shot offers optimum ballistics and patterning for grouse and other gamebirds. The Zenith is now available in both 12 and 20 bore with an increased range of shot sizes. (Read more on copper ammunition here.)

2. Eley VIP Game

The VIP range of gameshooting cartridges is popular among grouse shots, thanks to a spectrum of gauges, loads and shot sizes suitable for the majority of gun configurations. Top-quality components and specialist powders ensures comfortable recoil, reliable ballistics and smooth ejection on even the busiest drives

3. Eley Grand Prix Traditional

The Grand Prix Traditional range is ideal for old English side-by-side users with its true 2½-inch case length. Many pheasant Shots prefer the nimble characteristics of the traditional gun configuration.

4. Eley Grand Prix Traditional Steel Pro Eco

Eley’s latest innovation, which blends tradition with cutting edge, opens up shooting a standard steel load in traditional, nitro-proofed guns, while featuring Eley Hawk’s exclusive fully bio-degradable Pro Eco Wad. This cartridge ensures a sustainable future remains for old English shotguns.

5. Eley VIP Steel Pro Eco

Eley Hawk’s VIP Steel Pro Eco cartridges have changed the game for lead-free loads. The first of their kind loaded by a UK manufacturer, VIP Steel Pro Eco cartridges allow wildfowlers, game, and clay shooters alike to be able to shoot steel safely with a non-plastic wad. (Read Sporting Gun’s full review here.)

All the above cartridges for pheasant are available now in Eley stockists and from online cartridge retailers.