I shot my gun with a titewad choke and a #8 dove load and all I can say is wow! Would anyone consider hunting with this load as long as shots are keep at 30 yards and under? Where I turkey hunt I don't get many over 20 or 25 yards.
know a guy that uses #7 dove loads. kills 2 birds a year(our limit) keeps his shots to 30 and in but he said he killed one at 35 and has a good pattern at 35.
I believe in shooting them with a very big load from a very big gun. I have shot doves with #8 and #9 shot and watched them flutter for a second in mid air only to recover and pitter patter away out of site. I then only purchased #7.5 dove loads to knock them down and not mess up the meat. So a dove load in my opinion would not be an ethical kill load. However, if you fill up a 3.5" hull with #8's and fill it full of powder...I'm certain it would knock a turkey arse-over-tin cups at a close range! LOL
I cant see why you would want to use it. At the yardage your talking about any turkey load should give you a great pattern. I mean my friend actually took a shot the other day (at the pattern board) with no choke in his gun and still had a killable pattern.
I can say from personal experience that a 1 1/8oz load of 8 lead will kill a turkey.It is by no means meant for the job. I was working one day heard a bird gobbling like crazy knew the land would allow me to call him into killing distance grabbed a tube call from the truck and borrowed a single barrel h and r and a dove load the shot was only 25 yards but it worked. Would not recommend it my wife has killed a few with high brass game loads but keep those under 30. She now shoots hand loaded 2 3/4 in #6 he I shot way more effective
I know a couple of old timers that only used quail loads on turkeys. They said they work just fine when ya shoot 'em in the head. :laugh:
Again, why not use #6s at that range?
You can blow ones head off with #9 shot if it is close enough but what is the necessity of using #8 shot? The point is penetration and breaking bone of which #8 lead shot is not desirable for either.
Not sure why anyone would want to shoot a turkey with #8 dove loads. You can buy a box of winchester super x 3/ 1 7/8/ 6's.. $9.99 for a box of 10. A box of winchester 2 3/4 1 1/4 ounce 6's..box of 25 at wal mart (10.99).. would do better than #7,#8 dove loads. Those 2 3/4 6's actually shoot awesome 30yd patterns out of my 870's. My son will probably shoot his first turkey with the 1 1/2 super-x copper plated 6's.
One good reason to shoot the light load is recoil. Pb 8s have plenty of penetration to kill a turkey to 30 yds, 7.5s to 35 and the patterns would be devastating and the recoil negligible. I shoot Pb 7.5s out of the open barrel of my O/U (1.25 oz buffered handloads). It's lights out if they are in the decoys. But I would recommend high quality target loads in 7.5 if you go that route, for the extra hard (read better patterning) shot. Here's what a WW Super Sporting load (1&1/8 oz of 7.5s @ 1300 fps) looks like at 30 yds. No turkey is going to survive that.
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll207/wesgar/TargetLoad.jpg) (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/wesgar/media/TargetLoad.jpg.html)
40 years of turkey hunting experience tells me there are much better options for turkey hunting than light loads of #8 dove shells. I would not recommend anyone shoot that at turkeys. There are allot of new turkey hunters on this website and I would hate to give them the impression that going out in the woods with #8 dove shot in their gun would be an adequate turkey load when their options for effective turkey loads are so many. Turkey is close enough you can kill him with a broom..but I always try to set folks up with effective equipment to 40yds. Allot of folks don't judge distance sitting on the ground very well and I've seen some of the best misjudge distance. Hunting with light 1 1/8 #8's would be asking for trouble for no apparent reason. As a general rule if it reads "turkey loads" on the box.. It's a little more suited for shooting at turkeys.
Quote from: Longshanks on May 21, 2013, 10:39:11 PM
40 years of turkey hunting experience tells me there are much better options for turkey hunting than light loads of #8 dove shells. I would not recommend anyone shoot that at turkeys. There are allot of new turkey hunters on this website and I would hate to give them the impression that going out in the woods with #8 dove shot in their gun would be an adequate turkey load when their options for effective turkey loads are so many. Turkey is close enough you can kill him with a broom..but I always try to set folks up with effective equipment to 40yds. Allot of folks don't judge distance sitting on the ground very well and I've seen some of the best misjudge distance. Hunting with light 1 1/8 #8's would be asking for trouble for no apparent reason. As a general rule if it reads "turkey loads" on the box.. It's a little more suited for shooting at turkeys.
X2 I have misjudge yardage many of times . I think we all have a time or two . :icon_thumright:
Quote from: Longshanks on May 21, 2013, 10:39:11 PM
40 years of turkey hunting experience tells me there are much better options for turkey hunting than light loads of #8 dove shells. I would not recommend anyone shoot that at turkeys. There are allot of new turkey hunters on this website and I would hate to give them the impression that going out in the woods with #8 dove shot in their gun would be an adequate turkey load when their options for effective turkey loads are so many. Turkey is close enough you can kill him with a broom..but I always try to set folks up with effective equipment to 40yds. Allot of folks don't judge distance sitting on the ground very well and I've seen some of the best misjudge distance. Hunting with light 1 1/8 #8's would be asking for trouble for no apparent reason. As a general rule if it reads "turkey loads" on the box.. It's a little more suited for shooting at turkeys.
Your point is well made and well taken. But you will have to admit that recoil from most 12 ga lead turkey loads is substantial. For anyone that is sensitive to recoil for whatever reason, be it age, gender, shoulder or eye surgeries, etc. a quality target load of 7.5s is a low cost (30 cents), low recoil option that is 100% effective inside 30 yds.
I have experimented with game loads and high brass 2-3/4 shells in my different chokes over the years
I have taken several birds over the years using low brass 1-1/8oz #7.5 shells with no problems,at 30 yds or less.
:-\
Quote from: BandedSpur on May 22, 2013, 08:58:16 AM
Quote from: Longshanks on May 21, 2013, 10:39:11 PM
40 years of turkey hunting experience tells me there are much better options for turkey hunting than light loads of #8 dove shells. I would not recommend anyone shoot that at turkeys. There are allot of new turkey hunters on this website and I would hate to give them the impression that going out in the woods with #8 dove shot in their gun would be an adequate turkey load when their options for effective turkey loads are so many. Turkey is close enough you can kill him with a broom..but I always try to set folks up with effective equipment to 40yds. Allot of folks don't judge distance sitting on the ground very well and I've seen some of the best misjudge distance. Hunting with light 1 1/8 #8's would be asking for trouble for no apparent reason. As a general rule if it reads "turkey loads" on the box.. It's a little more suited for shooting at turkeys.
Your point is well made and well taken. But you will have to admit that recoil from most 12 ga lead turkey loads is substantial. For anyone that is sensitive to recoil for whatever reason, be it age, gender, shoulder or eye surgeries, etc. a quality target load of 7.5s is a low cost (30 cents), low recoil option that is 100% effective inside 30 yds.
20 guage with turkey loads would be a more effective option. Very little recoil and a 40 yd gun with the right choke/ shells.
Used #8's out of a cylinder bore 12ga this year. Effective pattern to 20 yards, worked well.
Quote from: 30_06 on May 23, 2013, 11:47:02 PM
Used #8's out of a cylinder bore 12ga this year. Effective pattern to 20 yards, worked well.
Killed one at 15 yds with lead 7.5s with a Lt Mod from my O/U this year. I can shoot anything I want, and I do. I shoot $7/shell TSS handloads in the "tight" barrel of that gun. I use whatever the best option is, and a light load of lead 7.5s is the best option in the "open" barrel of that O/U. I neither need nor want a tight patterning, hard recoiling turkey load to swat turkeys inside 30 yds.
I have shot dove with lead #8 at 20 yards with feathers flying off them for them to just keep on going. If a dove can do it then don't you think a turkey can? I am not saying that a turkey cannot be killed with lead #8 in the right circumstances but personally I do not see it as ethical to be promoting shooting turkeys with lead #8s and see it no different that the conversation of shooting birds over 40 yards with denser than lead shot. Can it be done yes, but is it smart to do? A box of 2.75" lead turkey loads run around $10 bucks and if you are staying under 30 yards then they will do what you want with a lot more pop than a dove load. You say you have shot plenty of turkeys with them and killed them, well I have driven 100 mph with no seat belt in rain, but since I lived through it was it still a smart thing to do? Just my opinion and I will bow out here. Thanks!
Davisd9 is right on the money. Good to see a turkey hunter focused on ethical kills. I personally am not willing to see what is the lightest load I can kill a turkey with..out of respect for the wild turkey, the sport of turkey hunting, and the message that conveys to new turkey hunters. The worst possible situation in turkey hunting is a crippled bird. I go to great lengths to avoid that. Whether its light weight dove loads or long distance shooting...neither is good for the sport. Better shooting turkey guns/shells/chokes for more ethical kills seems to be why allot of folks participate in the turkey gun section of this website. Thank you to the members of Old Gobbler for all the help with my guns. :icon_thumright:
The only time I use cheap dove loads is to sight in my gun , other than that I wouldnt use them on gobbler unless they were the last bird shot shells in the state- I'm sure its been done plenty of times , but I can't see the point of avoiding magnum power shells as your go to shell on such a tough animal like a gobbler- over and under looks like a possible scenario , but in a single barrel I would avoid it
I'd use 1.125 ounces of #7.5 at 1300fps in close. The shot is hard and they pattern tight.
#8's are better on paper, but I'd use the #7.5's