What load for ill-equiped hunters?

[Cut N Run]

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

[Gobblerjim]

Let him miss once and he will be better prepared next time. Sometimes people learn better from mistakes they've made.   


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[Spitten and drummen]

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.

[bamagtrdude]

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

[RutnNStrutn]

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.

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.

[Marc]

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).

[bamagtrdude]

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

[surehuntsalot]

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