To preface: forgive me for getting on my soapbox for just a minute...
This topic is directed more at newer guys that may be thinking about taking up turkey hunting, but also for those "casual" guys that grab whatever shotgun they may have and go turkey hunting on occasion. (I know a number of them)
Right now...or between now and turkey season...is the time to take your gun to the range and learn how it shoots! At the very least, get a box of inexpensive game loads or less-expensive turkey loads, set up targets at various ranges out to forty or so yards, and see where your gun patterns and how it patterns. If that pattern is not centered based on the way YOU aim your gun, either change guns or put some sort of sighting device on your gun and get comfortable using it.
I have just seen too many turkeys missed...or worse yet, possibly crippled...from guys that just pick up whatever shotgun they own, grab a box of cheap "turkey loads" from Walmart, and go hunting. If you are gonna go, at the very least learn how (and where) your gun shoots. The turkeys you might shoot at deserve as much.
...now jumping off soapbox...
