If you are content with getting a bird within 30 yards and know that pattern , then why worry over a 40 yard pattern? My lead loads at 40 don't look too sporty but you look at my 30 and even some 35 yard patterns and there is no question that the bird will be right there to pick up after the shot.
I have been on here for years and for some "authorities" seem to poo poo anyone shooting at a turkey if they can't get 200-300 pellets inside a 10" circle at 40 yards , regardless of load, and furthermore, just a few more started looking down on anyone who still uses lead to shoot turkeys.
It is not about the cost of a shell for me and yes, I do agree that my favorite 20 gauge load is the Federal HW #7 in 2 3/4" or 3". Would that keep me from going turkey hunting if all I had was lead loads? Not hardly. :popcorn: :TrainWreck1: :z-dizzy:
It wouldn't slow me down. What ever I may use,I know my limitations. Just give me a good even pattern,I'm very happy with my 30/35 yard lead patterns.
Turkey guns and loads are all about knowing their limitations.
So if a lead load in a 20 gauge doesn't give you a satisfactory pattern at 40 then so be it.
If you want to shoot a lead load in a 20 just know it's limits and hunt and have fun.
If you want to shoot to kill at 40 , I like the HW 7's.
I hunt turkey's with a twenty gauge and lead loads. Just have to know the range to old tom. If he's to far then hunt him another day. Some day someone will post a picture of a 100 plus 40 yard number six shot pattern. Winchester needs to get the lead out if you know what I mean!!! It's coming to a movie theater near you if you know what I mean. Cluck
I think we over emphasized the 40yards and 10in circle to a point it's become a craze. I understand completely the more dense and even the pattern the better, but when did 99 pellets on paper quit killing turkeys when a few well placed ones on his noggin does just fine.
Turkey crazes that we've started
1) 3in mag
2) 3.5in mag
3) HTL and TSS
4) Lead quit killing
5) 10in circles (even if 8inches off POA)
6) Turkeys don't die at 41 yards. Granted I perfer 30 or closer for the sport of it
7) Grand Slams and commericalized hunting
7.5 dove loads will kill them all day long, as long as the shots are not a mile away! Even with with lead shot the 20ga is deadly in the hand of someone with experience.
been turkey hunting a long time, 30-35yd shots is what I'm facing 90% of the time
I like shooting lead shells in my 20 or 12
I would have killed both birds this year had I been shooting lead from my 20 - no doubt. Last year I shot one at 38 yards and probably would not have taken the shot with lead.
So sanity is still alive with the 20 gauge guys. Thanks for the many good points made here.
Enjoy the sport whatever it may be. A bream on a cane pole with a cork and cricket ain't no Orvis fly rod and $XXXX reel but for many it is still fun watching that cork ease under . Know what I 'm saying?
I did not get to shoot again this year but gave a few people fond memories and I can still make em gobble hard.
Quote from: RAJ on May 14, 2016, 11:06:51 PM
Enjoy the sport whatever it may be. A bream on a cane pole with a cork and cricket ain't no Orvis fly rod and $XXXX reel but for many it is still fun watching that cork ease under . Know what I 'm saying?
Wow Raj,This is Awesome! ^^^^^ K.I.S.S
I appreciate and admire fellas that are content with 30 yd shotguns. And I'm all about carrying a lightweight wand, but I don't want to give up a single yard of killing distance, which is of course why I load TSS.
I like my stuff to work when everything else is wrong. I've killed very few birds over 40yds, most are 30 and in but there are those few that just won't cooperate or there was some brush I didn't see or I misjudge the yardage. I am for shooting the best ammo I can, not what just will work, but they best I can get.
I'm there to turkey hunt and when I can kill a few. I love the days in the woods, the great early mornings, all the adventures you get yourself into while stomping the spring woods. I'm there to get them in my sights, kill them and pack them out. I know lots of guys will let them win, I'm not one of those guys.
Quote from: Tom Foolery on May 17, 2016, 08:43:09 PM
I like my stuff to work when everything else is wrong. I've killed very few birds over 40yds, most are 30 and in but there are those few that just won't cooperate or there was some brush I didn't see or I misjudge the yardage. I am for shooting the best ammo I can, not what just will work, but they best I can get.
I'm there to turkey hunt and when I can kill a few. I love the days in the woods, the great early mornings, all the adventures you get yourself into while stomping the spring woods. I'm there to get them in my sights, kill them and pack them out. I know lots of guys will let them win, I'm not one of those guys.
Well said. Pretty much how I feel and hunt. I really like eating them. A lot. When I get the chance, I squeeze the trigger. I have plenty of people that I can take and leave the gun at home. My season was done in 10 days this year on the trigger, but I was in the woods until the very last day. Hunted every chance I got, just did not have the gun.
I use lead loads in my 20 ga. I will not shoot past 35 yards. 25 to 30 is better.
hey guys I guess I am from a different breed, my wife and I are dedicated decoy hunters and she cant sit still so that
makes us blind hunters too...my decoys are set up 12 steps from the blind and our guns are set up and pattern to 25yds
so we shoot lead all the time and we have killd some birds, I know everyone has their own reason for what they shoot
out of their guns, but lead is still dead and that works for the both of us, good luck to all, russ
True. Pattern your gun and know your maximum range and get after 'em.
I shoot Fiocchi Heavy 6's in lead (1.25oz) loads for sighting in each year.
They throw a real good 30 yard pattern.
I've never tried 35 but it would probably be good. They are a bit thin for my taste at 40 but I may find their max range and hunt with them some next year. A box of 25 costs less than a box of 5 Federal HW 7's.
Use the best you can afford. In my college days, it was whatever came off the sale rack. Now, I am about to buy a new 870 compact, Burris fast fire, 2-3 chokes, and start punching holes with some TSS.
Will I look down on someone shooting #5? Heck no!!! Been there myself.
Only thing I look down on is when I heard a hunting partner say he hasn't patterned a single gun in his life (this man is my fathers age). He isn't the best hunter in the woods and has only had a handful of birds in shooting range in the past 6-7 years, most of which were called in by my dad. Luckily those were all clean misses. When I did finally talk him into patterning, he was getting 75 in 10"@40 with a 12g 3" combo.
This to me is unacceptable.
To end, I helped him out with a RemVentillator and got him the Longbeard #6 and he killed his first bird by himself in probably 10+ years.
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5) 10in circles (even if 8inches off POA)
I like this example. I never understood the pattern pictures. They say they will adjust their POA later. The POA would be my first concern. I never count holes, you can eyeball a killing pattern.
It's just another enjoyable aspect of the sport! Whether you want the best 30 yd pattern or 50. We all do it our own way and are blessed to be able to do it at all.
I don't mean I don't agree with pattern your gun. That's the most important thing.
I have adjustable sights so POI isn't important to me. I shoot 3 shot and count to make sure I have consistency and then I adjust my sights to center the pattern. It's no different than working up a load for a rifle. I don't chase bullet holes. I shoot a group, find an accurate load and then zero my rifle to that load.
Quote from: worth612000 on February 12, 2017, 05:03:54 PM
5) 10in circles (even if 8inches off POA)
I like this example. I never understood the pattern pictures. They say they will adjust their POA later. The POA would be my first concern. I never count holes, you can eyeball a killing pattern.
I adjust my sight to POI and count the center 10 circle, even perfectly dialed in at 40 off a bench my patterns is going to drift a bit off center from shot to shot. out of a 20ga I enjoy a 150 in 10 pattern that seems to be the not too tight but plenty at 40
Quote from: RAJ on May 14, 2016, 11:06:51 PM
Enjoy the sport whatever it may be. A bream on a cane pole with a cork and cricket ain't no Orvis fly rod and $XXXX reel but for many it is still fun watching that cork ease under . Know what I 'm saying?
Right on....Man that is so true! :icon_thumright:
As I write this I can only imagine the grief I am going to catch. The older man who got me hooked on this addiction of turkey hunting that I love said grab a 12 guage with some #5s and your good to go. First time we went he called in 2 birds we got a double. What I am saying is this:
1) we never patterned our shotguns, he has never patterned a shotgun and probaly has killed 100's of birds
2) we did not have any optic
3) we did not have any tss or htl
4) we did not have any 3.5 inch shell
5) we did not have any turkey choke.
Now am I saying this is the right way? NO. What I am saying is it worked, when I went to pattern the fun I killed my first birds with (I didn't even know there was such a thing as patterning a shotgun) I said wow I had just a couple pellets on the target at 20 yds. I was amazed at how I had even killed the birds I killed. But then again they didn't say sir I wish you would have shot.me with 400 tss #9s, or heavyweight #7s, sir I sure wish you would have used a 3.5 inch, sir I wish you woulda had the ff3, sir I wish you woulda had that sumtoy, ic, truglo, jebs,pattern master, etc.
They actually gobbled then boom and next thing I know I was skinning them!
That being said I like a hunting pattern a pattern that is denser and even out to 30 yds even tho I hope to never shoot a bird farther then 20. When you get these patterns so tight at 40 you are shooting bullet holes at 20 and that is more opportunity for a miss (just as if your fun wasn't shooting POA/poi). I like my guns to shoot good at 10-35 and anything beyond that praise God! But I like to be up and close with the game. I do use a ff3, I do use a sumtoy choke, I do use htl. Only because I see the advantages of it. But I DO NOT count pellet holes in a 10 inch ring at 40 yds.
The older man who got me into turkey hunting is still shooting his ol faithful Remington 1100 12 guage with a modified choke and #5 cheap Walmart lead turkey loads and he still smokes em every year and hasn't ever patterned his gun and thinks I am crazy lol, but we still hunt together and I love him dearly for showing me the basics. He can call some birds.
Personally, I like the taste of htl over lead in my turkey :funnyturkey:
FACTS.... You don't have to do all or ANYTHING to see how your turkey gun patterns.....if you don't mind being a half-a×€ hunter. What I mean is WE as outdoorsmen & women OWE it to the game we hunt to do EVERYTHING we can to kill our quarry as quickly and cleanly as possible. PERIOD. Patterns, sights,chokes,htl,lead ammo, 10" circles,etc....etc.....etc.....are all TOOLS we have to use,and in my HUMBLE opinion,I believe we should buy/use the best of these tools each one of us can afford. I ,myself like to tinker,and ifn I have a gun that puts 500 hits in a 10" circle @ 60 yds then I will try and find another set-up that will put 501 in a 9" @ 61yds. But that's me ,not Jon,or Jack,Harry,Henry, Slim ,or Bubba.... thing is....MOST important thing is.....get out and hunt,have fun,but KNOW your limitations of what you AND your equipment are capable of !!!!!!! HAPPY HUNTIN EVERYONE! !!!!!! !
I don't reload, my Nitros #7 3in does 230s in the 10@40yds. I got 10rounds of apex loaded tss #9 to try. I'm not one to chase numbers or distance but I'm not taking a gun either that I feel handicapped with. My 20s both are consistent 40yd hammers. I like the show but when a bird hits 35 to me he's plenty close enough. I shoot high price high performance premium shells I'm mad at turkeys enough I feel you can't kill em dead enough. 20ga is a heck of a hammer especially when I can get 12ga performance out of a lighter smaller gun that don't knock my fillings out when it goes off. This sight doesn't advise long distance shots on Turkeys. My lil 870 and my Winchester are stone cold killers 40yds or less. After 40 is sniping an I don't condone that 1 bit. One thing that blows my mind is the longbeard #6 1000fps lead is bad news if one misjudges a few yards on a 35yd bird. That speed can't be producing much energy at 40yds. Any one with field experience on this load is welcome to DM me.
Quote from: BottomLand54 on February 26, 2017, 02:01:17 PM
As I write this I can only imagine the grief I am going to catch. The older man who got me hooked on this addiction of turkey hunting that I love said grab a 12 guage with some #5s and your good to go. First time we went he called in 2 birds we got a double. What I am saying is this:
1) we never patterned our shotguns, he has never patterned a shotgun and probaly has killed 100's of birds
2) we did not have any optic
3) we did not have any tss or htl
4) we did not have any 3.5 inch shell
5) we did not have any turkey choke.
Now am I saying this is the right way? NO. What I am saying is it worked, when I went to pattern the fun I killed my first birds with (I didn't even know there was such a thing as patterning a shotgun) I said wow I had just a couple pellets on the target at 20 yds. I was amazed at how I had even killed the birds I killed. But then again they didn't say sir I wish you would have shot.me with 400 tss #9s, or heavyweight #7s, sir I sure wish you would have used a 3.5 inch, sir I wish you woulda had the ff3, sir I wish you woulda had that sumtoy, ic, truglo, jebs,pattern master, etc.
They actually gobbled then boom and next thing I know I was skinning them!
That being said I like a hunting pattern a pattern that is denser and even out to 30 yds even tho I hope to never shoot a bird farther then 20. When you get these patterns so tight at 40 you are shooting bullet holes at 20 and that is more opportunity for a miss (just as if your fun wasn't shooting POA/poi). I like my guns to shoot good at 10-35 and anything beyond that praise God! But I like to be up and close with the game. I do use a ff3, I do use a sumtoy choke, I do use htl. Only because I see the advantages of it. But I DO NOT count pellet holes in a 10 inch ring at 40 yds.
The older man who got me into turkey hunting is still shooting his ol faithful Remington 1100 12 guage with a modified choke and #5 cheap Walmart lead turkey loads and he still smokes em every year and hasn't ever patterned his gun and thinks I am crazy lol, but we still hunt together and I love him dearly for showing me the basics. He can call some birds.
I understand what you are saying. I killed my first spring bird with high brass #5 borrowed from a buddy at 26 steps with a modified choke. I spend enough time and energy to turkey hunt now though that I like to be sure I will kill a bird cleanly inside 40 yards. By patterning a little, I now know that.
Couldn't agree more. My last 6 birds have been less the 20 yards. The furthest bird i've ever killed was 35. I've actually missed more in tight then i've had the opportunity with past 40.
Closer the better for the shot. Like a pattern with some margin for error at 20-25yds and also a killing pattern to 40yds. That said, I still turkey hunt the same way that I did 40 years ago with my dad, try to get the turkey inside 30yds and 35 is about as far as I like to shoot. Regardless of whether it's a 20 or 12. The pattern to 40 is just in case I misjudge distance which is easy to do sitting on the ground moving to multiple set ups to get in position on a turkey. All I know is hunting this way puts more turkeys on the ground than trying to stretch shots. I have seen this guiding where guys come in with hot rod turkey guns and take the shot too soon cause they have patterned their gun at long distance. In the turkey woods its a little different than shooting paper.
Quote from: rainingmallards on July 23, 2017, 11:23:28 AM
Obviously, closer is better but I think that we have all had birds
get "hung up" at 50 or 60 yards and have no choice but to
take a longer shot. This is the reason Magnum Blends are my choice
You could choose not to pull the trigger at 50 or 60 yards and hunt him another day... just sayin'. If I have a bird that "hangs" at that distance - he wins that round.
The longbeard #6's out of .555 IC are 40 yard loads all day as far as lead loads go.
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Quote from: rainingmallards on July 23, 2017, 11:23:28 AM
Obviously, closer is better but I think that we have all had birds
get "hung up" at 50 or 60 yards and have no choice but to
take a longer shot. This is the reason Magnum Blends are my choice
That's called self restraint and respect for the game you hunt! Raining brown ducks you make yourself sound like your a sky buster that would shoot at 60yd high mallards instead of finishing them to the water.
I shot lead for years and when I started turkey hunting that's all there was and I have killed many, many birds with lead shot, then I moved to hevi shot and had great success with it and now I shoot TSS. Like somebody else said, I want to use the very best shell I can and TSS is it, not because I can kill a turkey at 80 or 90 yards because nobody should be shooting that far at a turkey it's because of the much denser patterns and it is very forgiving. If you misjudge your yardage by 5 or 10 or even 15 yards TSS will cover you unless you are shooting a ridiculous distance to begin with, if you think he is 35 and he is really 52 you are good because TSS will cover you. I have killed a bunch of turkeys in my life time and I am not the best at judging distance (especially in a field) and the TSS hasn't let me down yet.
The "Best" is what kills the bird at the range you choose to limit your shots to. I like mine up close and personal. I have no problem letting a bird walk when it's not in range and my goal is to enjoy the time spend in woods.