What's your range?

[MK M GOBL]

This year will mark my 26th year turkey hunting and I have gone through a lot of changes in how I hunt, but for the last 15 years my turkey hunting "challenge" has been calling birds in close, in your lap close! There has not been a bird that has been over the 20 yard mark with the shotgun and they are typically at the 15-17 yard range, with the bow we are at 10-12 yards. This accounts for the last 181 birds taken in that timeframe.

So what's your "range" ?

MK M GOBL

[davisd9]

Shooting range, when I can see his eyes clearly he is 40 yards or pretty dang close to it and I take the first good shot, well not always a good shot  , that is given to me.

[tomstopper]

at the average yardage for me is between 20-30yards. The closest that I ever shot one was at 10n steps.

[dirt road ninja]

I like the 30 - 35 yard shots, prefer not to let them get inside of 20 if it can be prevented. In the thickets I hunt, most of the time when I see him he is inside of 35 yards. I've let more go from not having a clean shot inside of 40 yards then birds that were out of range.

[trad bow]

With my recurves, within 10 yards. Shotgun I prefer 20-30yards.

[silvestris]

35 yards max.  Will let them get as close as they want if the gun is on them, for the sport and the rush.

[Greg Massey]

Agree 20 - 35 yards the max also..Another thing in killing a turkey is watch his body posture or body language he came tell you a lot just from his movement..and how he's sounds...

[stinkpickle]

Somewhere around 30-35 yards is just fine.

[yelpaholic]

I shoot a 3.5 inch with Mag blends Ill let him get as close as he wants, but if he wants a long distance romance I will oblige him....... don't like to see them walk off..

[TrackeySauresRex]

7 paces was my closest.  25 to 30 is my favorite range. It's enough room for the pattern to open up nice.

[Double B]

Public land bum w 160 less than you dude!   Never really hunted on private.  Wow, that's a pile of em.......I am an under 35 guy fo sho.   As said earlier,  it stinks watching them walk off when you had the shot.  Target panic has settled down in my old age lol, still tough for me to take that gobbling in da face without pulling the trigger.   

[shaman]

While I was posting at T&TH, I gave folks the following challenge:

Take all the birds you've ever thought about shooting-- the ones  you shot, the ones you missed, the ones you got the gun up for, etc.--  and write down the estimated yardages.  Figure out what yardage subsumes 80% of the birds, and THAT is your comfort zone.

Before doing that exercise I would have guessed about 25 yards for myself.  After performing the steps, I came up with 17 yards.  80% of the birds I've ever thought of shooting were inside 17 yards! I thought I was fooling myself and so I did the exercise again. This time I came up with 14 yards.

My point then as now is that most turkey hunters grossly overestimate the range they'll be shooting turkeys.  The reasons for that overestimation are clear:

1)  A lot of turkey hunters get all wadded-up trying to maximize the range of their turkey gun. For me, I've missed more turkeys inside 15 yards because the pattern was too tight  than out past 40 yards, because the choke was too open.
2)  A lot of turkey territory has a lot of obscuring ground cover.  You're thinking 40 yards, you get your gun up at 40, but the head and neck doesn't show itself until 20.
3)  There HAS to be a reason you just blew $800 on a shotgun, $70 on  choke tubes and $300 on 4 different samples of exotic turkey ammo.  That old 2 3/4  trap gun MUST be the reason you missed last year.

[guesswho]

This will be my 48th spring.   Not going to mention numbers, not relevant.  I used to have a hard time letting him get to 30.   Now I'll let him come inside 30 and stay as long as he likes, and will allow him to get as close as he wants.   But once he decides to leave I try to end our encounter on a sour note for him.  Closet one last year was about 9-10 feet.  If they don't booger when they decide to leave I like to shoot them around 20-30.   

[Hooksfan]

This will be my 48th spring.   Not going to mention numbers, not relevant.  I used to have a hard time letting him get to 30.   Now I'll let him come inside 30 and stay as long as he likes, and will allow him to get as close as he wants.   But once he decides to leave I try to end our encounter on a sour note for him.  Closet one last year was about 9-10 feet.  If they don't booger when they decide to leave I like to shoot them around 20-30.

[762]

I shoot him once his toes touch the 40 yard line,provided I have a clear shot.