Turkey load patterning

[bcsteve]

No worries CROW. I'm new to turkey hunting and patterning shotguns. I've been looking on the net for the last couple weeks for turkey hunting info and I found that this seems to be the way most guys do it (Americans anyway).

I never realized that shotgun could be almost a picky about their load as rifles. From the research I've bee doing, I've learned that different combos of shells and chokes can make a big difference in the tightness of your patern and your point of impact. And like rifles, what works in one shotgun may not not work in another.

 

[CROWCA]

Steve now we are friends again, why would you not start to pattern your shot gun a twenty yards.
Your gun is shooting low and left.
When you put on the sites and adjust after shooting at 40 yards,you might be off at 20 yards were I think most turkeys get shot at.m2c

 

[Timberlord]

Steve now we are friends again, why would you not start to pattern your shot gun a twenty yards.

Hellya ,
The majority of the birds I've taken is at 25yd , give or take.
With that tight pattern , missing is all too possible with those close-up shots.
...thats when you blame your gun

 

[bcsteve]

Steve now we are friends again, why would you not start to pattern your shot gun a twenty yards.
Your gun is shooting low and left.
When you put on the sites and adjust after shooting at 40 yards,you might be off at 20 yards were I think most turkeys get shot at.m2c

I was trying to figure out what was the density of my patterns. Most of the information I found on American turkey hunting sites show guys comparing their patterns in a 10' circle at 40yds. It seems to be their standards. They like a very minimum of 100 hits in a 10" with 150 to 200+ being the norm. I wanted to see how my setup compared against this standard.

Have a look at this site http://oldgobbler.com/TheForum/ . Some of these guys take their turkey patterning VERY seriously .

I guess once I set sights on it, I'll have to figure out if the point of impact changes much between 20 and 40 yds.

 

[CROWCA]

Most of the guns you see shooting rifle like patterns have been customized by back boring(I think this is the term)and other work.

 

[Adrian J Hare]

In my humble opinion one should try to deliver as many shot into an area around the vitals of the turkey at 40 yards. This means placing about 75-80% of the shot from a shell into a 12 in circle and done as even as possible. This is not to extend your shooting range, but to understand that your gun is going to take down the bird at your max range properly. A good shooting turkey gun is near the same as shooting a rifle. Some guns are fixed with optics that can make for better shooting at a small target like the head of the bird.

Hevi shot loads tend to pattern much better over the copper loads on the market. Hevi 13 is one ammo brand that I will stand behind as for a great pattern with the proper choke. Remember that Hevi shot needs to be shot from a choke that is rated for hevi loads.

Here's a pic of what Hevi 13 looks like,

Here is a scoped turkey gun and the range,

Here is 3 different patterns from different chokes,

The patterns are off the aim point a little because the gun is sighted for a different choke.

In my opinion patterning is very important before anyone should leave on a hunt...

 

[Adrian J Hare]

Here is my opinion shaped on 15 years of turkey hunting all over North America, of which five years are as a professional.

I hope my sponsors do not read this.

In all these years I have never found that I needed a super tight turkey choke. I never needed a 3 1/3” magnum gun loaded with super magnum turkey loads.

It’s simple really. All you need is to get up to five pellets into the kill zone (brain and neck vertebrae) of a turkey. Most shots at turkeys are taken at about 25 to 30 yards. I have guided turkey hunters and some attempted to take 40 or even 50 yards shots, because that’s what they read in articles or advertising is possible with a super-turkey-everything-outfit.
This is strictly my opinion. If a hunter "needs" to shoot 40 or 50 yards then he did something seriously wrong with the way he has set up the abush.

I shot for years factory loads, Federal Wing-Shock 3” loaded with copper plated lead pellets #5, pushed though a full factory choke out of a Mossberg (soon to be replaced with a Benelli) 535 ATS 12 gauge gun with a 26” barrel. Do I think this is the best turkey gun and load? No, not by a mile, but it works just fine and has never let me down.

For turkey hunting barrel length has no influence other then that a shorter barreled gun is easier to carry (maneuver) around in the woods and brush.

Any lead load betwen #4 to #6, preferably copper or tungsten coated, packed into 3” shells will do just fine. The coating helps to prevent deformation of the pellets when they are pushed though a tight choke.

My advice to you would be to buy as many loads of different brands from 3” to 3 ½ “ (provided your gun is chambered for 3 ½) with pellet sizes ranging between #4 to #6 as you can afford. Get yourself a few turkey targets and head to range, try all the loads with, different choke combinations, out and the one choke / load combination that creates a pattern which consistently puts several pellets in the kill zone that's the one you want to use. Bingo.

Don’t worry too much about ammunition brands and expensive custom chokes or special turkey loads. Sure, they're fun to have and to shoot but they're not needed in most cases.

Well that turned out to be a much longer answer then I had originally in mind.

I have guided turkey hunters and some attempted to take 40 or even 50 yards shots, because that’s what they read in articles or advertising is possible with a super-turkey-everything-outfit.
This is strictly my opinion. If a hunter "needs" to shoot 40 or 50 yards then he did something seriously wrong with the way he has set up the abush.

Not to knock you here, but as a very successful guide in both the USA and Canada I can not understand why a hunter can not take a bird at 40 + yards cleanly if he or she has properly patterned their turkey guns for that range. I will say that 50 yards it is to far of a shot and would not allow any client to shoot at a bird at that range at all.

For turkey hunting barrel length has no influence other then that a shorter barreled gun is easier to carry (maneuver) around in the woods and brush.

I have to disagree with this statement, as there is a difference between the 24 and the 26 in barrels of a Benelli. The 26 inch patterned much better in tests with a 20 gauge. With a properly tested gun I see no reason at all to use 3 1/2 in shells. With the right choke and shell, 3 inch can do the job with no problem because you are targeting a small area of the target. I can understand a 3 1/2 for flying birds like waterfowl because you want a spread in the pattern.

I'm not sure if you are going to be at the Edmonton dealer show this coming weekend , but I would interested in chatting if you are, look me up at the Summit/Realtree area...