Turkey loads?

D

DaveC

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Not much for options here in Edmonton. :(

I picked up some 3.5" Kent #4 turkey loads with a 2 ounce payload :D

Devastating on both ends! LOL

The closest thing in a 3" was some Remington Nitro Mag 1.25 ounce #6 (pretty slow at 1220 FPS and some Prairie Storm #5s with both nickel plated "flightstopper" shot with some funky cutting disks on them and copper plated round shot. They are supposed to be for pheasants. Now, I wonder if you can shoot plated lead shot through a turkey choke that says lead only, or is that a bad idea?

I'm heading to Ontario in a week and a half to smack a couple gobblers, and wonder if I should keep trying other loads, or just stick with the Kent Evil Swath of Death shells that I already have. I'll only have to shoot a couple shells, so I could just take my beating with a smile.
 
Plated shot will be fine through a turkey choke. I would be tempted to switch to #5 shot, just to help out with the pellet count. Throw up some cardboard and pattern a few of the Kent shells, if the 4's pattern nicely go hunting. If not, maybe try some #5's.
 
Fracture said:
Plated shot will be fine through a turkey choke. I would be tempted to switch to #5 shot, just to help out with the pellet count. Throw up some cardboard and pattern a few of the Kent shells, if the 4's pattern nicely go hunting. If not, maybe try some #5's.
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I did pattern them. They are good to 45 yards, and will probably decapitate the damn thing out to 30 yards! There must be a hell of a lot of pellets in 2 ounces of shot!

Kicks like a friggin' mule though!
 
3" Federal Premium 2 oz plated #4's and 5's are what I bought. I understand the beating on both ends. I have a pile of 3.5" nitromag 1.5 or 1.75 oz tungsten rounds too, but I think the 3" federal ones are hotter.
 
DaveC said:
There must be a hell of a lot of pellets in 2 ounces of shot!
Kicks like a friggin' mule though!
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335-345 of #5
268-272 of #4

Yes I counted.....I role my own turkey loads,far cheaper than you can buy them...I have all the goodies from back when lead was a go for waterfowl...Even if I had to buy new, it would only cost me around 70 cents a round...Better than paying $3.50-$4.50 a shot...
 
My new favorite turkey load is 7/8 oz #6 shot from a full choke. Mangles their ugly faces.

Most people aim for the head and neck and most over look the fact that a trap gun is about perfect. Place bead on base of neck squeeze trigger ruin turkeys smile.
That said I also use a 10ga sxs with 2 1/4" #4 in the late season
 
DaveC said:
Not much for options here in Edmonton.
I picked up some 3.5" Kent #4 turkey loads with a 2 ounce payload...
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Your Kent loads will do fine... but we prefer #5 3.5" 2 1/4 oz. Winny loads... really stacks the pellet count over 2 oz of #4... but as you say, they kick like a mule... fortunately you only need to pull once a day for two days! :D

brybenn said:
My new favorite turkey load is 7/8 oz #6 shot from a full choke. Mangles their ugly faces.

Most people aim for the head and neck and most over look the fact that a trap gun is about perfect. Place bead on base of neck squeeze trigger ruin turkeys smile.
Click to expand...

You won't ruin their smile... you'll ruin their breast meat! Don't aim for the base of the neck ever... wait until the head is up and aim at the neck about 4" under the head (depending on the range)... maximize the lethal pellet count and minimize the dental bill! ;)
 
If you are shooting at a gobbler you probably won't feel the shot much anyways because of the excitement. Shotgun shells are readily available in most towns in Ontario anyways if you decide to change. Good luck!!
 
hoytcanon said:
Your Kent loads will do fine... but we prefer #5 3.5" 2 1/4 oz. Winny loads... really stacks the pellet count over 2 oz of #4... but as you say, they kick like a mule... fortunately you only need to pull once a day for two days! :D

That's what I was thinking! Holy crap! 2 1/4 oz?!?! I'm hoping I'm not still sore this weekend for our first 3-gun match.

You won't ruin their smile... you'll ruin their breast meat! Don't aim for the base of the neck ever... wait until the head is up and aim at the neck about 4" under the head (depending on the range)... maximize the lethal pellet count and minimize the dental bill! ;)
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I was aiming at the eyeball of the patterning target, and it was dead meat out to 45 yards. I would like to keep as much shot out of the breasts as I can. I usually use a 12 g for grouse, and aim over their heads. I rarely put a pellet in the breasts of a bird that's ground sluiced :D

We're hunting with Wingfeather Outfitters near Walkerton.

I'm really looking forward to it!!
 
waltman said:
If you are shooting at a gobbler you probably won't feel the shot much anyways because of the excitement. Shotgun shells are readily available in most towns in Ontario anyways if you decide to change. Good luck!!
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Oh yeah! I need to use my lead sled for my .338 at the range, but don't notice the recoil at all when I'm hunting!
 
DaveC said:
Oh yeah! I need to use my lead sled for my .338 at the range, but don't notice the recoil at all when I'm hunting!
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I hate to admit it, but I put the proverbial "smile" in my eyebrow on my first shot at a gobbler a few years back (scoped 870)... I had been all concerned about my 12 year old son shooting 3 1/2" 12 gauge loads... he was fine... but 6'4", 260 pound me, almost got knocked unconscious!

0803-1.jpg
 
So sweet! Nice pic!

So, you do the camo head to toe, and back up against a tree when you are calling? I put a Vortex Sparc on my 870. It has a magnifier for it (2X, I think), but I wasn't planning on taking it. Does a scope actually help for turkeys? I could take my 1-4X24 if I had to. I hate being new at something.... :bangHead:
 
DaveC said:
So sweet! Nice pic!

So, you do the camo head to toe, and back up against a tree when you are calling? I put a Vortex Sparc on my 870. It has a magnifier for it (2X, I think), but I wasn't planning on taking it. Does a scope actually help for turkeys? I could take my 1-4X24 if I had to. I hate being new at something.... :bangHead:
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Camo is important, Luke should tell you all this stuff, tell him I told him to smart n up :D

Some people like scopes and some don't . I happen to be one that does and haved a scoped turkey gun for 18 years...
 
hoytcanon said:
Your Kent loads will do fine... but we prefer #5 3.5" 2 1/4 oz. Winny loads... really stacks the pellet count over 2 oz of #4... but as you say, they kick like a mule... fortunately you only need to pull once a day for two days! :D



You won't ruin their smile... you'll ruin their breast meat! Don't aim for the base of the neck ever... wait until the head is up and aim at the neck about 4" under the head (depending on the range)... maximize the lethal pellet count and minimize the dental bill! ;)
Click to expand...

I meant that when using a trap gun to aim at the base as the guns pattern high. Holding the bead on the base of the neck at 30 yards should pattern right in the face. Field guns shoot differently then trap guns
 
I had great success with 3.5" remmy HD in 6s. Patterns well for 3 of the guns I tried with factory chokes out to 40-45yds depending on the gun.
 
Scoped 870 turkey gun with factory rem xtra full choke puts enough Winny Supreme Elite #5's into an area that ruins a turkey's day for a decade now.
Very hard to find these shells now though.

jf
 
DaveC said:
Not much for options here in Edmonton. :(

I picked up some 3.5" Kent #4 turkey loads with a 2 ounce payload :D

Devastating on both ends! LOL

The closest thing in a 3" was some Remington Nitro Mag 1.25 ounce #6 (pretty slow at 1220 FPS and some Prairie Storm #5s with both nickel plated "flightstopper" shot with some funky cutting disks on them and copper plated round shot. They are supposed to be for pheasants. Now, I wonder if you can shoot plated lead shot through a turkey choke that says lead only, or is that a bad idea?

I'm heading to Ontario in a week and a half to smack a couple gobblers, and wonder if I should keep trying other loads, or just stick with the Kent Evil Swath of Death shells that I already have. I'll only have to shoot a couple shells, so I could just take my beating with a smile.
Click to expand...

So, How did your hunt go?
 
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