I would just like to point out for those guys who may just be starting to work on their first turkey rig or who are converting over to chasing numbers a bit of information that would have helped me 3 years ago when I started chasing numbers.
Pattern your gun in the conditions (weather/temp/wind) you expect to be hunting in. Knowing what your combo will do at 75 degrees on a perfectly still day is great, but you also need to know what your pattern is doing at 40 degrees with a front moving through (if that is what you typically hunt in).
Here in South Alabama, I hunt from March 15 - April 30 and the weather will run from 35 degrees in the morning with no wind to 70 degrees in the middle of the day with a howling wind. As the season wears on, the temperatures naturally climb - so i will end the season in 60's in the morning and getting in the low 80's in the middle of the day.
I pattern my gun in 30 degree weather all the way up through 60 degree weather. I have found once you hit 60+ degrees your patterns are as good as they are going to get. I have also seen as much as a 15% drop in pattern at 40 degrees.
To make a long post short, it is great to turn huge numbers in 75 degree weather but make sure you understand what your combo does in the conditions you hunt in.
Amen!
Thanks,
Clark
I tend to agree. I do all of my hunting patterning just previous to the season so I know what my gun is doing in the less than ideal weather. Number patterning happens during the heat of the season.
:icon_thumright:
Yep :agreed:
Yeah, I like to do my patterning around 60-65to degrees. I feel like that will represent the conditions I hunt in pretty well.
Great post, Daman! I, too, have patterned my loads in temperatures that I hunt, which is generally 35-55 degrees as that is what the temps are up here in the U.P. of Michigan in the spring. I am glad that you pointed that out, especially to the newbies. John
Excellent post! :icon_thumright: