“Body punching” turkeys

[Old Timer]

  I`m staying out of this one

[trkehunr93]

I literally thought this was about calling them in so close you could go full Jackie Chan on one....my was I surprised. 

[Gut_Pile]

Those stating how much meat a body shot messes up, have you ever shot one in the body at close range?

[nitro]

Those stating how much meat a body shot messes up, have you ever shot one in the body at close range?

You know I have.   Tenderized, yes. Destroyed? By a bunch of tiny little #9s ?

[Spurs Up]

I guess I'm confused as to why you can hit the body but not the head.

Kill the body and the head will die.

[strum]

 Ive missed more than I want to admit .. BUT every time it was me getting overly excited .  These days Im shooting a 20 ga  indian creek tss #9.. its flippin tight at 20.   I just shot one last week at 15 yards. its wasn't a pretty head .  Body shooting?  no way .   Be calm Grass Hopper. Squeeze. Do not jerk. Breath. Enjoy your un-mangled breast .

[Kylongspur88]

Those stating how much meat a body shot messes up, have you ever shot one in the body at close range?

I haven't/wouldn't do it but seen the aftermath after someone else did first hand. The shot was at maybe 12 yards. One wing was pretty much blown off and that entire side of the breast was mangled. The other side had damage and pellets in it. I guess some of it was salvageable. I mean it was a 12 ga at close range after all

[Wvdanimal]

Let's just end this misery and say nobody is ever gonna body shoot unless it's an accident and  pretend this discussion never happened

[bbcoach]

I'll SAY it.  NOT A FAN!!!!  Too much carnage at close range and you definitely don't want to do it at longer ranges.  One place to shoot IMO, head and neck area only.  If you can't shoot there, then LET HIM WALK!!!!  RESPECT the ANIMAL!  This is turkey hunting not turkey blasting!

[the Ward]

I literally thought this was about calling them in so close you could go full Jackie Chan on one....my was I surprised.

Me Hulk..... Me Hulk smash little turkey!!

[Gooserbat]

I don't even understand why tss would cause a close range miss.  My gun shoots a volleyball size pattern at 20 yards.  That's not tight.  Most people who shoot tss are not shooting 400+/10" but patterns similar to mine. If you are missing up close it's more likely a poi vs poa problem.

Under ten yards is like a slug. Hitting a moving target is pretty hard when it's the size of a turkey head. People are shooting patterns at 40 yards but if you shoot tss in a real tight choke your chances of missing a bird up close goes up the closer it is. A well sighted in red dot would help but like I said, hitting a moving turkey with something the size of a baseball is tough


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All I can say is that in the last 7 years (before tss became a thing) and setting up 5 guns, developing loads for another 4, shooting paper at ranges from up close to 60 yards, and killing around 40 turkeys at ranges from 10 steps to 73 yards, I have learned a thing or two about tss.  First thing is you have to try or get lucky to have a slug size pattern up close.  Second is if you can't hit up close it's probably a poa/poi problem. Next I've never saw any gun shoot under 6" at ten yards. And if the pattern is to tight use a factory full.

My point is that this guy needs to know his setup. Pattern at 10, 20, 30 40 yards and know what his gun will do. If he can't hit a bird in the head at a distance, he doesn't need to shoot at it.
In my opinion it's worse ethically to shoot at a bird over 40 or 50 yards. Chances of crippling the bird go way up. I believe that while TSS loads are great, you still should make sure it's an acceptable range to shoot.
I see all these guys trying to get max counts in a 10 inch ring at 40 yards which is great but they need to know what that pattern looks like up close and make sure their poi/poa is on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk  LO

Agreed.

[HookedonHooks]

I guess I'm confused as to why you can hit the body but not the head.

Kill the body and the head will die.

That's not how that one goes, it's cut off the head and the body will die. ?

[Pluffmud]

A good majority of the people on this thread need to read The Tenth Legion. If youve already read it, you need to go read it again.

[crow]

A good majority of the people on this thread need to read The Tenth Legion. If youve already read it, you need to go read it again.

Also read "The Season" and see how D'artagnon of the 3 musketeers made out with Col. Tom

read Charles Jordan who recommended head shots with #6 shot
but also recommended #3 shot in the left barrel

Henry Davis had no problem with shooting turkeys with buckshot on deer drives

Read Capt. Bogardus's book, he was a Sport hunter, market hunter and World class competition shotgun competitor, He settled on #1 lead in both barrels for his style of turkey hunting

[Sasha and Abby]

You do realize, that you do not HAVE TO SHOOT the turkey...  if you have called him to the gun and he is too close to shoot with a super tight patter (for fear of missing) you can just let him walk off.  At this point, you have WON and not WASTED a valuable and tasty bird.