I don't get the turkey choke obsession

[Ericbrooks]

You are not missing anything except a lighter wallet.
I have killed multiple birds in the 50s with the factory extra full that came with my 835 and 3" shells.
When my dad started turkey hunting years ago it was with a full choke and 2.75" shells.
The hunting industries marketing is geared around making the consumer believe if they buy this product, being successful will be easier.



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[daddyduke]

Lots of money has been spent trying to overcome boredom. 

[1iagobblergetter]

Not an obsession really, its our ethical obligation to the animal. If your stock choke gives you a good pattern at the max distance that you will shoot, you are done. If not, try till you do. Everybody has a conscience, some just don't listen. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck everyone, Al Baker

^^^^Amen^^^^

[bbcoach]

Not an obsession really, its our ethical obligation to the animal. If your stock choke gives you a good pattern at the max distance that you will shoot, you are done. If not, try till you do. Everybody has a conscience, some just don't listen. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck everyone, Al Baker

^^^^Amen^^^^

X2.  If people will read and listen to the Posts and Knowledge on this site, 99% of the work is already done for you.  Take your gun model, look at what chokes and ammo work well together and pick one.  DONE!  NO CHASING!!!!!!!  NO OBSESSION!!!!!!

[g8rvet]

Not an obsession really, its our ethical obligation to the animal. If your stock choke gives you a good pattern at the max distance that you will shoot, you are done. If not, try till you do. Everybody has a conscience, some just don't listen. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck everyone, Al Baker

Dang man, I don't think it can be said any better than this.  Well said Mr. Al.  Worth way more than 2 cents brother. 

[chow hound]

Not an obsession really, its our ethical obligation to the animal. If your stock choke gives you a good pattern at the max distance that you will shoot, you are done. If not, try till you do. Everybody has a conscience, some just don't listen. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck everyone, Al Baker

I get your point, but I am curious if anyone actually bought a turkey choke because their factory choke would not put at least a couple BB's in in the vertibrae/brain area every time at 40 yards?   

[GobbleNut]

On this subject, I really don't have any strong feelings one way or the other.  I am not a pellet counter, but I can see how being one could be beneficial,...and it has nothing to do with whether you get 100 or 500 holes in a 10" circle at 40 yards.  It is common sense that, for most of us, the more you do something, the better you are at it.  Guys that go out and shoot their shotguns all the time are probably better and more consistent shooters than those of us that don't. 

I, for one, don't enjoy getting the snot kicked out of me shooting umpteen turkey loads to the point that my shoulder looks like ground, bloodshot hamburger to see if I can find a gun/choke/load combination that will put a few more pellets in a target at whatever range.  And even though I have hunted turkeys for a way long time, I still get excited enough when a gobbler shows up that I want to have a little forgiveness in my shotgun pattern so that if I am off an inch or two one way or the other with my aim, he is still going to be as dead as the guy that can blow his punkin head off at that very same range,...if indeed that guy can control his emotions enough to be able to center his shot every time on a gobblers head when he pulls the trigger. 

From what I have seen in my turkey hunting lifetime, those guys are pretty rare.  If you are one of them, good for you.  If you are like me (and most guys I know) and are not, you are probably better off shooting a gun/choke combo that will accommodate your excitement when that gobbler shows up.  That accommodation does not come in the form of a gun/choke that shoots a baseball-size pattern at twenty yards.  It comes more in the form of a basketball size pattern,...or even a beach-ball size pattern. 

True, you may not get 200 or 300 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards or more, but you probably will also not feel the frustration of having a gobbler that you missed at twenty run or fly off while you sit there dumbfounded that he is doing so. 

The point to be made is that there is a balance to be had in this endeavor.  Pellet count at 40 yards is not the "end all be all" for most of us turkey hunters. As others have said, the goal is to be certain, within the realm of reasonability, that when we pull the trigger, that gobbler is going to go down and stay there.  For some, that comes in the form of delving deeply into the finer points of shotguns, chokes, and turkey loads and counting pellets at 40 yards, but for many of us, it does not.

Neither attitude is necessarily wrong....   

[Cut N Run]

I get so little free time to pursue turkeys in the Spring that I need to make the most of my hunting opportunities.  I want a thick, kick @$$, dense cloud of shot that will wallop a turkeys head and not force me have to go looking for him.  I don't think there's anything wrong with that and I'm willing to pay to make it happen.

Is there a worse felling than wounding & losing a gobbler you thought enough of to drop the hammer on?

I spend money and time making sure my gun is dead on and as lethal as it can be at all normal hunting ranges.  I haven't ever shot a turkey beyond 36 yards, but if I ever need to, I know what the gun will do.  I have also killed more inside of 25 yards than beyond, with plenty of single digit distance kills.  What's wrong with having your pattern as good as you can possibly get it?  I stopped shooting lead because I had a gobbler carry some off one day, that I never found, and never saw him again.  He probably became raccoon food and that was unacceptable to me.  I felt miserable and decided to bump my lethality up to as good as I could get it.  Since than, every turkey I shot at has dropped and gone home with me & I like that.


Jim

[daddyduke]

Well said GoobleNut

[LaLongbeard]

If you watch any of the old Primos videos when he's using the wood stocked 870....that's a fixed  modified barell and he killed a bunch on camera out to 40 yards with it. I don't have a scope on my gun and I don't have a problem not shooting at turkeys past 40 yards without a scope a turkey at 40 yards isn't much of a target to aim at I don't understand the people shooting at 50-60 yards and saying they missed judged it... get a range finder lol. I like a even pattern out to 40 but not softball size at 20. I've killed way more around 25-30 than 40.

[bbcoach]

Not an obsession really, its our ethical obligation to the animal. If your stock choke gives you a good pattern at the max distance that you will shoot, you are done. If not, try till you do. Everybody has a conscience, some just don't listen. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck everyone, Al Baker

I get your point, but I am curious if anyone actually bought a turkey choke because their factory choke would not put at least a couple BB's in in the vertibrae/brain area every time at 40 yards?   

Here is the problem.  Most people will say, "I'm going turkey hunting", grab their trusty shotgun with a full choke, grab the first box of shells they can find, shoot one shell at a 11 x 14 turkey target, get a half of a dozen shot in the head and neck and call it Good.  No Way!  As Al said, we need to be ethical hunters and make DARN sure when we pull that trigger we make an ethical kill.  As I stated, use the Knowledge on this site to have a Gun, Choke and Ammo to get that ethical kill.  You don't have to spend a ton of money or chase numbers to kill a turkey, just Listen and Learn.

[MK M GOBL]

 Not missing a thing, I too was sucked into the whole choke, load, pattern deal 20+ years ago as that is what I was being taught. In the end for me it doesn't make a difference a turkey choke and load and I'm killing a bird. I/we kill sub 20 all the time we hunt in the 15-17 yard range. Thing that came out of this was the need for a scope at that range, I am sighted dead on at 15 yards and no missing with this, works great for the kids. Put the circle on the neck and dead bird.

MK M GOBL

[Happy]

You are fine with whatever you choose be it tss or #7 lead as long as you follow a few basic principals. Be familiar with your effective range, practice with your gun and have some self control. The last part is the one most struggle with in my opinion. I include myself in that statement. I have been there and done that and learned from it. Better to leave him to gobble another day then leave him rotting in the woods with no hope of a rematch.

[g8rvet]

Not an obsession really, its our ethical obligation to the animal. If your stock choke gives you a good pattern at the max distance that you will shoot, you are done. If not, try till you do. Everybody has a conscience, some just don't listen. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck everyone, Al Baker

I get your point, but I am curious if anyone actually bought a turkey choke because their factory choke would not put at least a couple BB's in in the vertibrae/brain area every time at 40 yards?   

Here is the problem.  Most people will say, "I'm going turkey hunting", grab their trusty shotgun with a full choke, grab the first box of shells they can find, shoot one shell at a 11 x 14 turkey target, get a half of a dozen shot in the head and neck and call it Good.  No Way!  As Al said, we need to be ethical hunters and make DARN sure when we pull that trigger we make an ethical kill.  As I stated, use the Knowledge on this site to have a Gun, Choke and Ammo to get that ethical kill.  You don't have to spend a ton of money or chase numbers to kill a turkey, just Listen and Learn.

Personally witnessed this at WMA near me.  I was set up and calling a gobbler.  First light.  I heard a hen behind me and thought this could be good.  Little did I know it was some dude that had walked right past my truck and set up 100 yards behind me.  No other gobbling birds in my hearing range.  He should have known where I was.  The bird looped around me towards him (he was calling more as the bird got closer and I realized what happened).  I then heard BOOM BOOM BOOM and watched the tom fly out of sight.  Walked over to where he was and he was gone (looking for the bird I reckon).  There was one #6 and two #7.5 dove load hulls where he had shot.  I picked them up and placed them on the hood of his truck neatly in a row as I left.   I had to drive back by as I left and he was at hisd truck.  I stopped and chatted.  Asked him if he found his bird.  He was surprised I knew it and said no.  I asked what choke he was using and he did not know.  We never discussed the hulls.

I agree we overthink this, but knowing our gun and our abilities is our obligation.  My first spring bird was with an 870, modified choke and some high brass #5s.  But my buddy called him into my lap and told me to hold until about 20 steps. 

[fallhnt]

Same can be said about anything out there. Some like fast cars and soup them up for high performance while some drive stock cars without doing anything but gassing it up and changing the oil. Some cultivate their gardens and some feel a hoe does just fine. Some run non ethanol fuel while others don't.
Fanning vs non fanning.  Dekes vs no dekes.  It's all personal preference and what you feel works for YOU. We were never meant to understand why someone else does something. Shoot whatever you want and be happy.

If I had a garden my "hoe" would be working it

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