Your friends show up to camp with nothing but their regular full-choke guns and an assortment of 2 3/4 shells :OGturkeyhead:. Which of these standard loads would you expect to perform best?
2 3/4 HighBrass #4
2 3/4 HighBrass #5
2 3/4 HighBrass #6
Will a #4 which misses the neck but strikes the body be fatal on a OG?
Id find a new friend to turkey hunt with.
More important than the load is the maximum distance that hunter should shoot. With those choices, I would say that he should not shoot more than thirty yards with any of them,...and of course, head and neck shots only. A body shot with any of them would likely result in an escaped, wounded gobbler. Having to make a choice on one of the three shot sizes, I would say use the 6's and keep the range under thirty yards.
Quote from: GobbleNut on February 22, 2015, 11:54:42 AM
More important than the load is the maximum distance that hunter should shoot. With those choices, I would say that he should not shoot more than thirty yards with any of them,...and of course, head and neck shots only. A body shot with any of them would likely result in an escaped, wounded gobbler. Having to make a choice on one of the three shot sizes, I would say use the 6's and keep the range under thirty yards.
This
Quote from: GobbleNut on February 22, 2015, 11:54:42 AM
More important than the load is the maximum distance that hunter should shoot. With those choices, I would say that he should not shoot more than thirty yards with any of them,...and of course, head and neck shots only. A body shot with any of them would likely result in an escaped, wounded gobbler. Having to make a choice on one of the three shot sizes, I would say use the 6's and keep the range under thirty yards.
Agree...shooting bead sight, assuming the PoA matches the PoI...Call them close rule of the day at that camp.
I killed a bunch of them with XX Magnums in the 70s with a setup like that. The XXMagnums were nothing but high brass shells with buffer. I did have the sense to do some rudimentary patterning to have an idea of what my killing range was.
Quote from: vpsalin on February 22, 2015, 11:44:19 AM
Your friends show up to camp with nothing but their regular full-choke guns and an assortment of 2 3/4 shells :OGturkeyhead:. Which of these standard loads would you expect to perform best?
2 3/4 HighBrass #4
2 3/4 HighBrass #5
2 3/4 HighBrass #6
Will a #4 which misses the neck but strikes the body be fatal on a OG?
I shot 3" lead 5's for years shooting my factory full or factory turkey choke. Patterning was done on a paper plate at 30 yards or so. To answer your questions, I pick the 6's.
Yes, 4's will kill body shooting, but he best be inside of 10-15 yards and you better be able to run.
With out checking the pattern I would not be fully confident to 30 but its almost safe to say that just about any 12 gauge and a high brass 6 will suffice to 20 or a tad over. I think that all pellets in the body can help but it aint a sure thing with out a few in the neck and noggin.
The bad thing, is that a ton of folks do this each year. Way to many people go to the woods with no idea about there pattern, and kill birds with the lucky pellet. I know a few guys who tote their Modified and Improved choked guns hunting (witch is perfectly fine if thats all ya have) but they have no range limitations set. I can preach to them till blue in the face but they just cant get it. And once they come back bragging about the bird they "luckily" killed at 40 yards they sure don't see any reason for change then. Its just a matter of time till they feed the coyotes some fresh turkey. The good thing is that they cant call either so their encounters are rare :happy0064:
I would walk in and grab a shotgun to hand them to hunt with. Then instruct them this is their last hunt with me if then cannot become "better prepared".
Sent from the Strut Zone
I'd say get out the patterning board and show them their effective range. With a full choke, I would guess that the 4s would be the ticket.
I have an old single shot Iver Johnson gun that was my great uncle's that I intend to kill a bird with. It has a full choke and does pretty well at 30 yards with 2 3/4 number 4 federals with the flight control wad. Yes they are turkey loads, but until I found them I was planning on using Remington Express high brass 4s, they were fine at 30 yards, too.
Quote from: vpsalin on February 22, 2015, 11:44:19 AM
Your friends show up to camp with nothing but their regular full-choke guns and an assortment of 2 3/4 shells :OGturkeyhead:. Which of these standard loads would you expect to perform best?
2 3/4 HighBrass #4
2 3/4 HighBrass #5
2 3/4 HighBrass #6
Will a #4 which misses the neck but strikes the body be fatal on a OG?
I wouldn't get my knickers in a wad if they showed up with a full choke and high brass 2 3/4--there has been a ton of turkeys killed with this set up. In the early days, I killed a ton of turkeys with a 28 inch modified barrel using 3 inch #4s.
1st thing I'd try to actually pattern the gun. If that's not an option then I'd shoot the 2 3/4" 6's & hold the shot at 30 yards.
Quote from: vpsalin on February 22, 2015, 11:44:19 AM
Your friends show up to camp with nothing but their regular full-choke guns and an assortment of 2 3/4 shells :OGturkeyhead:. Which of these standard loads would you expect to perform best?
2 3/4 HighBrass #4
2 3/4 HighBrass #5
2 3/4 HighBrass #6
Will a #4 which misses the neck but strikes the body be fatal on a OG?
Can't be any worse than having a guy show up(on an out of state hunt nonetheless)in camp with a 12 gauge with a modified choke and a box of steel 4's he used duck hunting."Good enough to kill ducks with oughta bring down a turkey". He went home empty handed and I dont plan on sharing any camp again with him soon.
No matter what they use, pattern it. At least they brought an assortment to try.
Full chokes , that is good. High brass is good. 4, 5, 6 is good. Lots of us started and killed lots of turkeys before with modified or full choke guns and high brass or magnum 2 3/4" shells which have more velocity than some of the longer shells loaded with heavier shot charges now.
At least no 7 1/2 dove and quail loads were to be used.
I've been there. All you can do is ask if they patterned the gun and know its limits. Maybe offer one of your proven guns for them to use.
Some people just don't take it as serious as the rest of us. Or maybe don't have the money to invest at that time.
I have given my gun to several people in the past, then just set up and called for them. Probably the best thing you can do if you planned to hunt together, as in setting up on the same bird.
Or just send them up the ridge on the other side of the road, wish them luck. Bout all you can do...
I used to hunt with an Ithaca 37 that was chambered in 2 3/4. I never lost a bird with it. It took learning and understanding the pattern limitations, then making my shots count. I shot Winchester XX 5s or 6s. It is not the ideal combination, but it got the job done. It doesn't take 3.5 inch shells to kill a turkey.
A guy who owned the land my best friend and I used to lease, never used to buy turkey ammo. Instead, he'd bum them off my friend and me. He never patterned his fixed full choke gun either. I called in several birds for him, which he killed, but I understand that he's lost a few since we no longer hunt there.
The way I see it, If you're not dedicated enough to take the time, effort, and expense to be the most lethal turkey hunter possible, you don't deserve the right to hunt them.
Jim
Let him miss once and he will be better prepared next time. Sometimes people learn better from mistakes they've made.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
give him your gun and call for him if he is a good friend. I would bet that he doesn't know much about turkey hunting or calling up birds if he shows up like that. try to educate him about the sport. he could kill a bird with his setup but I would hate for him to cripple one by not taking the time to pattern and know his effectiveness. jmo.
Quote from: drum817 on February 22, 2015, 09:12:39 PM
1st thing I'd try to actually pattern the gun. If that's not an option then I'd shoot the 2 3/4" 6's & hold the shot at 30 yards.
+1
Quote from: jblackburn on February 22, 2015, 08:27:25 PM
I'd say get out the patterning board and show them their effective range. With a full choke, I would guess that the 4s would be the ticket.
:agreed:
Since we are not talking about turkey loads, I'd stick with the #4's for more knockdown power per pellet. There are, of course going to be fewer pellets actually on target, since we aren't talking turkey chokes or loads.
Pattern what they brought, then stick to their effective range.
I know guys that hunt em' with a .410 and a full choke with #6's... Of course these are close shots.
I shot standard pheasant loads out of a standard full-choke shotgun, and never had an issue killing birds out to 35 yards... Of course it will depend on how his particular gun patterns with a full-choke.
But a full choke and standard #6's should be more than adequate to kill a bird out to 30 yards, and should even work out to 35 yards if a judgement error is made on range (as happened with me).
Before the advent of turkey chokes and 3.5" or even 3" shells were on the market, an awful lot of turkeys were killed with standard 2 3/4" #6's... And having patterned such loads in the past (although it has been a few years now), the #6's put up a much better pattern than the #4's or even #5's as far as pattern density (and thus giving the opportunity for a head/neck shot).
Quote from: Marc on February 23, 2015, 12:33:16 PM
Before the advent of turkey chokes and 3.5" or even 3" shells were on the market, an awful lot of turkeys were killed with standard 2 3/4" #6's... And having patterned such loads in the past (although it has been a few years now), the #6's put up a much better pattern than the #4's or even #5's as far as pattern density (and thus giving the opportunity for a head/neck shot).
There's a guy that I work with here that uses his grand-daddy's old Browning shotgun, 2 3/4 only gun, using heavy dove loads, and the barrel is either a modified or improved cylinder, and he takes birds with it, no sweat. Kinda made me re-think a few things about my own ... methods. :)
To this point, I got a new Remington 870 turkey gun & shot dove load through it at 20 yards, and it BLEW UP the target; no doubt in my mind I could kill a bird with it that close... What you sacrifice with non-turkey loads is distance... The videos that these guys are posting with the fanning/Chicken-on-a-Stick, man -- all I would consider using would be dove loads in a scenario like that 'cause the birds are ALL up on you.
BGD
2-3/4 high brass shells will kill a bird just as dead as any 3 or 3.5" magnum as long as you don't try and stretch the range to far