Been thinking about this since last season and have come to the conclusion that I have digressed as a turkey hunter since I started using TSS. This will be my 4th season using it and I will continue using it only in my 20 gauge. The 400 + pellet counts at 40 yds with the 12 are what did me in. When I started I was amazed by the patterns I could get and was overwhelmed thinking about all the birds that slipped by just out of my range that could now easily be claimed by superior shot. After using it for a few seasons I find myself not caring near as much about my set ups. I find myself thinking "I don't need to call him all the way up this hill, just need him to poke his head out into this firebreak, old road, clearing etc.. and I can kill him or why try and get well hidden, by the time he can see me he'll already be dead". The few extra birds I've killed over the past few season isn't worth the losing/ignoring of skills that took years to acquire. I do consider myself a turkey hunter as opposed to someone that simply hunts turkeys, granted I'm not very good but I have been trying to perfect the craft since I was a kid and will continue as long as I'm able to. With that being said, I really enjoy loading the stuff. It truly is so much better than anything else out there, but I won't be looking to see what I can squeeze out of any round. I will be using to keep my 20 gauge a solid option.
Turkey hunting has changed alot in the 20 years I've been doing it. I started out shooting gold box federals through a Hastings choke. 40 yards with the wind at your back was very doable but the ranges we can kill at today were either unheard of or simply unethical. I'm not knocking those guys that Ican drop the hammer at extended ranges and I shot heavy shot for years before going back to lead, but Ill agree there's a lot for knowing how to work a bird and being patient while he closes the distance. Those skills do tend to take a back seat to technology when you introduce a gun that can kill at range. For me those up close and personal kills have always been my favorite.
I've been wondering when this would hit the forum.. I don't have any experience with TSS but when it hit the market I wondered if our turkey calling and woodsmanship skills would take a back seat to 100 yard kills and wounded birds. For many of us it isn't about the kill or number of kills but about calling that bird in close and hearing that thunderous gobble and spitting and drumming. For me it is about the experience and interaction of the hunt not about the distance or numbers of birds I kill. Excellent post Dirt Road
Agree , it's not so much the killing , it's about playing the game with turkeys ... it's about using your skills and what you have learned from those day's that turkeys KICK your butt.... Every time you go turkey hunting you learn something new ... I do feel with all this new equipment it can up your game also...
I shoot TSS and have really enjoyed it. I love shooting my 20. I killed a bird years ago with it and lead 5s so I know it is not needed. I kind of learned about what you are talking about with Hevi shot. There were times I would stretch my limit a little farther than I should have. Almost having a bird get away after being shot taught me I needed to stop it and that I was doing myself a disfavor by doing it. I have since stuck to my self imposed limit and enjoy it. You know the fields I hunt and sometimes it can be hard not to shoot, but I want the game to be fair and want to be a turkey hunter and not a turkey shooter.
TSS has added an extra component to my pre-season. I enjoy loading it and the friendships it has created. It gives me something to do as I anticipate the season coming in. It is that small shot in the arm when the fever is becoming unbearable. I kill birds with lead and I have not doubt I could do it again if I needed to, but I have spent a lot of time, energy, and resources into it that when the moment of truth comes I want the best I can have to finish the job.
One definitely has to watch they do not get over confident because of it. I am kind of sad that it went mainstream and kind of wish it was never invented with the way it has allowed anyone to be able to kill a turkey. There has been plenty of birds kill the last few years that would have never died before TSS and that bothers me. I guess there are pros and cons to everything and all I can do it hold myself to my own standards and enjoy what comes from the hunt and not just a kills.
Quote from: bbcoach on January 14, 2019, 01:04:58 PM
I've been wondering when this would hit the forum.. I don't have any experience with TSS but when it hit the market I wondered if our turkey calling and woodsmanship skills would take a back seat to 100 yard kills and wounded birds. For many of us it isn't about the kill or number of kills but about calling that bird in close and hearing that thunderous gobble and spitting and drumming. For me it is about the experience and interaction of the hunt not about the distance or numbers of birds I kill. Excellent post Dirt Road
People pop shot and sniped turkeys way before TSS. Just listen to many of the Longbeard crowd and what they say. I guess if I had to choose between lead and TSS to snipe a turkey I would prefer the TSS and it will actually have a better chance at killing the bird rather than it flying off to die. Neither is good for sure!
I have heard the hype on the longbeard ammo but testing in my gun showed that 50 yards is the max range I would feel confident with it. That's with 2 oz #5's. I am sure some of it is the way I have it set up but there is a lot of marketing hype that is really detrimental to the sport with most ammo companies.
Quote from: Happy on January 14, 2019, 01:41:02 PM
I have heard the hype on the longbeard ammo but testing in my gun showed that 50 yards is the max range I would feel confident with it. That's with 2 oz #5's. I am sure some of it is the way I have it set up but there is a lot of marketing hype that is really detrimental to the sport with most ammo companies.
Well said
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A turkey shot at it's maximum range withTSS leads to a long walk to pick him up.
Couldn't agreee more. I started chasing numbers, building guns to shoot like rifles, and lost touch with reality for a bit myself.
I've since went back to lead shells and probably won't shoot HTL again, at least until they ban it completely.
Not a thing wrong with any of it, just seemed to make it less fun for me.
Every single time you cut a corner or try to make it easier your cheating yourself and the Gobbler. That goes for fanning, long range shooting, decoys, bait etc. There's a lot of people that call themselves turkey hunters...but if you limited them to a gun and a turkey call they would be hopeless. They just had to have a dead turkey so they jumped on every gimmick to make it easier now there 5 or 10 years into it and couldn't hunt and kill a Gobbler fairly to save ther life because they relied on crutches and never learned to hunt. And now they can't go back and start over and learn to hunt them right because they think they have a reputation as a turkey killer. They have missed the best part of the sport.
I use TSS in my .410. I've killed birds with it using lead but I gained 5 extra yards now. 20yrds. is max. Lead in my 12 ga. works fine. Arrows have killed the majority of birds for me, so I judge yardage as " bow range". A longbeard I arrowed this Fall had 6 pieces of TSS in it,most likely a long shot from the Spring season.
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I don't use TSS, probably never will, and last year I quit using decoys. To me, the enjoyment and satisfaction of turkey hunting is in the hunt, not the killing. There have been several years in which I did not kill a single bird but they were some of my most memorable. Every time I get out smarted by a long beard, which happens quite often, it makes me think about what I could have done differently which in turn makes me a better turkey hunter. I don't have a problem with people who use TSS and shoot birds at 40+ yards. I think the definition of the term "fair chase" and what gives one the most personal enjoyment and satisfaction with one's self is a personal matter which we each have to decide for ourselves.
Just like many other things if you use TSS as a cheat code your going to miss learning opportunities. I've shot a 2.5oz load of TSS the last three years and believe the last three years I've become a more efficient turkey hunter and that has nothing to do with shooting birds at stupid ranges.
Quote from: silvestris on January 14, 2019, 07:06:47 PM
A turkey shot at it's maximum range withTSS leads to a long walk to pick him up.
:agreed:
Quote from: Happy on January 14, 2019, 01:41:02 PM
I have heard the hype on the longbeard ammo but testing in my gun showed that 50 yards is the max range I would feel confident with it. That's with 2 oz #5's. I am sure some of it is the way I have it set up but there is a lot of marketing hype that is really detrimental to the sport with most ammo companies.
Agreed. I shoot longbeards but am well aware of their limit in my gun. The marketing/adds on these when they came out was unethical in my opinion.
I've been on the TSS Train for a few years now. Honestly It's picked up some yardage but out of the 20 or so birds I've taken in the last 3 years, I only can think of one bird that those extra steps made a difference on. That said I'll keep using it and enjoying it.
I shoot tss out of my 20ga and enjoy loading them. I am a turkey hunter and dont use it to extend my range. I use it because in my opinion it is the most effective in energy and patterns that i have found. I shoot birds no farther than i have over my 40 years of turkey hunting. I have let birds walk that i know i could have most likely killed with it because i felt they were past 45 yards. I still have what i feel are acceptable goals. Thats to play the game and get them in close. Even though they are in effective range for tss , i still feel i did not beat the bird so he lives to do battle with me again. Just my 2 cents.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on January 14, 2019, 10:23:43 PM
I shoot tss out of my 20ga and enjoy loading them. I am a turkey hunter and dont use it to extend my range. I use it because in my opinion it is the most effective in energy and patterns that i have found. I shoot birds no farther than i have over my 40 years of turkey hunting. I have let birds walk that i know i could have most likely killed with it because i felt they were past 45 yards. I still have what i feel are acceptable goals. Thats to play the game and get them in close. Even though they are in effective range for tss , i still feel i did not beat the bird so he lives to do battle with me again. Just my 2 cents.
Totally agree, great post....
I remember back 18 or 19 years ago I hunted a bird 13 or 14 mornings in a row. He was using a guys farm that has 3 creeks running through it. The creeks ar more or less parallel and about 100 yards apart with mostly pasture between. I never could get that bird to cross any of the creeks and he would roost and then fly down in a completely different place every day. There were times I could've easily killed him with what is available today but I learned more from that one gobbler than any other single bird. I will never forget killing him at 12 steps or the sadness I felt the morning after knowing he was gone. I like killing them, but that's not what it is about. Some of my best memories are birds I never laid eyes on.
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Quote from: Gobbler2577 on January 16, 2019, 08:52:52 AMSome of my best memories are birds I never laid eyes on.
Ain't that the absolute truth.
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