Hunting Turkeys with a Skeet Choke!!??

[Joe2Kool]

Sitting between the hay bales and woodpile on the edge of a pasture yesterday morning, I realized I didn't have my turkey choke tube in!  Couldn't remember if it had a skeet or modified installed, so I decided I would limit my shots to 30 yards.

About 9:30, I was getting ready to leave when a turkey gobbled around a corner.  Very thick brush between us, and he was on the edge of the pasture.  Ranged the open fence gate at 30 yards and called.  In he came...BOOM!!

Looked like it hit him good, but he flew off.  Needless to say, I was shocked!  He went over a small hill into a pasture with strips of uncut areas.  I looked for about an hour, back and forth, to no avail.  There were a few feathers back at the gate, but no blood.  Hoping he made it.

Checked tube when I got home...skeet.  Sad thing is I could have moved to 10 yards from the gate because of all the thick brush along the edge of the pasture.  Live and learn.  Turkey tube installed last night.

[snapper1982]

This is the very reason we pattern our guns so that we know the effective range of a load/choke combo. I would never assume my gun is good at any distance if I had not shot it to know. 

[captin_hook]

Yeah, it's  time

[mgm1955]

This is the very reason we pattern our guns so that we know the effective range of a load/choke combo. I would never assume my gun is good at any distance if I had not shot it to know. 

[deadbuck]

Catch and release!

[born2hunt]

I wouldnt have tried it, much less posted my results on here.

[Snoodsniper]

Could tell by the title I wasn't gonna like it......

[budtripp]

Stuff happens sometimes.  I had a friend who cleaned his gun then went out duck hunting the next day. Couldn't figure out why he was missing and crippling everything.  Then he noticed he forgot to screw his choke back in after cleaning the barrel.

[owlhoot]

This is the very reason we pattern our guns so that we know the effective range of a load/choke combo. I would never assume my gun is good at any distance if I had not shot it to know. 

Agreed

And not to KOOL

Try keeping spare choke tube and wrench in the truck, add some turk loads.

[Spitten and drummen]

Just curious and not to bash you , but how the ---- do you forget to change a choke to go turkey hunting. That just seems unbelievable to me. It's like going deer hunting and not checking you scope before going. My shots are limited year to year , and when I get them I'm going to have my ducks in a row. My equipment is always checked and rechecked. If I goof up , it will be because of something that most likely out of my control. We all make mistakes. Just learn from it and don't repeat that one. Hopefully the bird will be ok. Good luck on the rest of your season.

[101st501]

That sucks, but crap happens.

[zelmo1]

  Details

[Joe2Kool]

Dang guys, I'm sure none of you have ever made a mistake or forgotten anything.  And I'm sure all of you keep extra choke tubes in every pocket, and have patterned every possible combination.  I made a mistake, realized it, and made adjustments.  I didn't adjust enough.

The most sickening feeling (for me) as a hunter is to wound game and not be able to find it.  I grid searched the adjoining pasture and thickets for well over an hour.  IMO, that turkey survived.  You may have a different opinion.

Lesson learned, don't post shortcomings on OldGobbler.com.

[TRG3]

My Remington 870 doubles as a deer drive shotgun and turkey gun. The rifled choke makes for some accurate slugs at 50 yards and almost accompanied me to the turkey woods before something told me to check it. At that point, I switched it out for my turkey choke called "The Undertaker" which has not missed a turkey since I started using in 5+ years ago. I usually work off of a list as the hunting seasons change and add to it annually as new things develop. Having said that, some of the stuff on my list got there because I forgot to include it before needing it.

[jakesdad]

Dang guys, I'm sure none of you have ever made a mistake or forgotten anything.  And I'm sure all of you keep extra choke tubes in every pocket, and have patterned every possible combination.  I made a mistake, realized it, and made adjustments.  I didn't adjust enough.

The most sickening feeling (for me) as a hunter is to wound game and not be able to find it.  I grid searched the adjoining pasture and thickets for well over an hour.  IMO, that turkey survived.  You may have a different opinion.

Lesson learned, don't post shortcomings on OldGobbler.com.

We've all made mistakes its just that a vast majority of us shoot our turkey guns well before the season starts to check if all is well. Im not sure I could handle just grabbing a shotgun out of the safe and going hunting without knowing how the gun is shooting.