Goodbye Hevi 7's

[jfair]

Sorry bbcoach.
I went back to what I posted and it may have come off wrong.  It by no means was a shot at you.  You are right about the tightness of some patterns, they are not what a shotgun pattern traditionally is thought of as being.  It seems as though so many are trying to get their patterns so tight, thinking this is going to extend the range of the gun.  Maybe.  A little.  What you then end up with is an inferior pattern at closer distances.  We will all never agree on this.  When the season is over, I want to look back on it and have those experiences of a strutting gobbler inside of 40 yards.  When they gobble, the hair on the back of your neck stands up!  That kind of hunt.  Hiding in a blind at the edge of a field and shooting a bird at 50, 60, 70 yards.  Ehhhh.  Like was said before, doesn't impress me.  Just the opposite.  A compensation for shortcomings.

[longspur]

The next thing I want to clarify is, I DO NOT ADVOCATE taking LONG Shots at Turkeys with a SHOTGUN!!!!  Each of us need to know what our guns are doing at all ranges (just like your Favorite Deer Rifle).  There is a Maximum Range, that each of us need to establish, that we know we can harvest an animal 100% of the time and we need to stay within that range.

How do you establish a maximum range? Mine has always been 40yds. Never had any problem with lead. Now I spend money on another choke and several boxes of high dollar HS. All the HS 7s shooters tell me as far as you have the pattern you can kill him, and that pattern is 100 in a 10" circle. I have 159 but its too far. Spending that money for a more dense pattern at 40yds is ludicrus. 12 pellets through the brain won't kill him any deader than 4 pellets through the brain

[longspur]

Sorry bbcoach.
I went back to what I posted and it may have come off wrong.  It by no means was a shot at you.  You are right about the tightness of some patterns, they are not what a shotgun pattern traditionally is thought of as being.  It seems as though so many are trying to get their patterns so tight, thinking this is going to extend the range of the gun.  Maybe.  A little.  What you then end up with is an inferior pattern at closer distances.  We will all never agree on this.  When the season is over, I want to look back on it and have those experiences of a strutting gobbler inside of 40 yards.  When they gobble, the hair on the back of your neck stands up!  That kind of hunt.  Hiding in a blind at the edge of a field and shooting a bird at 50, 60, 70 yards.  Ehhhh.  Like was said before, doesn't impress me.  Just the opposite.  A compensation for shortcomings.

next year I'm opening mine back up a little so I don't have to worry about those 20 and under shots. I've shot way more of those than past 30 anyway

[jfair]

[/quote]
next year I'm opening mine back up a little so I don't have to worry about those 20 and under shots. I've shot way more of those than past 30 anyway
[/quote]

Just don't give up on the hevi's.  They throw a heck of a good 40 yard pattern.  I got mine pretty open.  200+ in 10"  another 200+ in 20".  Much better than my lead shot.  20 and under are real fun hunts

[TauntoHawk]

first time shooting Hevi this year.. shot one yesterday at 33yds and he didnt flop, didnt move, didnt twitch.. head was crushed with red dots

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Hevi-13 #6's may pack more punch, but the problem I see with them is finding the right combination that will shoot them to the density that most are wanting or looking for.  Why settle for maybe 200 hits when you can have 300 or maybe more?  I'm with reloader that pattern density with multiple hits in the small vital skull and vertebrae neck area of a turkey with a face full of Hevi-13 #7's that still have the penetration power to penetrate this small delicate area on a turkey is way to go even if you have to shoot one past 50yds.  That's if the pattern density is there to do the job. 

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Here's why I shoot Hevi-13 #7's.  How would a turkey unless I missed of course even think about living even if I shot him at 50yds?  Don't even tell me that load won't still kill one very easily. 

[jfair]

I love these long posts.   So far off the original topic.  I am all for a whole bunch of pellets hitting the turkey.  200 - 250 in 10" is plenty enough to ensure a clean kill.  I am not going to argue about how much energy you need to kill a bird.  I don't really know.  This thing about TSS being far superior I'm not too sure about.  If you are comparing 6 shot to 6 shot, then yes it is better.   When you start talking 8's and 9's, that is a different story.  I'm sure the paper is going to look fantastic as that is a pile of pellets.  Why not keep pushing the limits and shoot 18g/cc shot that is the size of a grain of sand.  Numbers will be fantastic, right?  

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Hal those same Hevi-13 7's can blow clean through the body of a turkey at 45yds on some shots.  Now that was only a few.  I really don't care if they didn't myself.  Several 7's will penetrate half way through the body.  And I do mean several.  Again that don't really matter to me much.  The shot that hits the head and neck are what counts.  The 7's have the punch to completely penetrate and pass through the other side on most of all the shots that hit the head and neck area at 45yds.  That is all I care about.  It wouldn't matter to me if they only penetrated half way through the head and neck at that range.  If one can do that with these loads, then what more could you want without shooting TSS which I know you are sold on and you sell it.  The 7's will smoke a turkey and still kill him at a measly 50yds.  And if you can't center your pattern over the head and neck region of a turkey you really have no business shooting at a turkey.  Aim small miss small.  But we all do make mistakes including me.  But we can't blame the Hevi-13 #7's 99% of the time.  

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

I'll add that the Hevi-13 7's will eventually become the best selling load that they make.  More and more people are finding out just how bad this little shot is.    

[gooblnfever]

i dont shoot hevi 7s but i do shoot nitros loaded with straight 7s and i know for a fact that 5 birds have died this year with them and not a twitch out of a turkey yet .so i think shoot what makes you happy and go kill some more.

[K-ZONE]

I know a few guys have put the time in with all the HTL offerings and have become very knowledgable but the diameter to weight ratio works with the #7. The Bird i killed last year at 52yds was hammered pretty good with excellent penetration that was proof enough for me that 7's will do the job.In 27 yrs of turkey huntin anytime i've failed to kill a bird it was always pilot error..!

[roostershooter]

Wow this thing sure got alot of attention. Let me restate that I in no way am blaming the 7's.  They patterned better than anything I have ever shot out of my 835. I did my paper work at the range and got fantastic numbers at 40 yards. But it seemed like everytime I made a shot on a bird within the 40 yards with the 7's something went wrong. I'm not above pilot error as I'm sure thats probably the blame. It just seemed odd to me that I could drop one right under 50 yards with the 6's and lose 3 all under 40 yards with the 7's. In all I dropped 4 birds with the 6's this season. I guess I was looking for some reassurance that the 7's should drop birds stone cold at atleast 40 yards. Yall gave plenty of reassurance on that one. I know they are insanely popular on this site, this is in fact where I first learned about the hevi 7's among several other things.

I've had lots of folks say that 7's just aren't big enough for turkeys and most of them after hearing that i had lost three with them said, "well no wonder you lost em, you are shootin em with dove shot." Now granted that these people are no where near as hardcore about turkeys than the people on this site. But I guess its kind of like the power of suggestion. You hear it so much that you start to believe it somewhat.

I do appreciate all the replies and all the suggestions. I've come to accept that its just coincidence that the times I lost those three I was shootin 7's. It would have more than likely been the same outcome had I been loaded with 6's those mornings. I, keyword I, just couldn't make it happen with the 7's this year for some reason. But I did cleanly harvest 4 birds with the 6's and thats what it is all about.

Good luck to everyone who still has tags left.

[joker]

Roostershooter,

Your last post hit it right on!! It was a (3) coincidence that those birds got away.  Things do go wrong and sometimes we don't know and can't figure out why. That's the way it is sometimes. know your gun/pattern, know your distance, get a clear shot, try not to flinch and sometimes you still miss. Maybe you flinched, lifted your head, sights were off, shell had a problem, you hit something you didn't see, gun was tilted to the side, bird moved, .... or the bird just got Lucky. If it hasn't happened to you, you haven't turkey hunted long enough.

But like most everyone said those hevi 7's will kill easily to 40yds. I do like mine at 1200fps and they will kill easily to 50yds (and a little more). Trust me most people that are turkey hunters and have been for a long time don't know anything about hevi shot and TSS (though they have an opinion on it). And you don't need to know anything about this shot to kill lots of turkeys at 35yds. If you have used lead for 30yrs you have to reteach yourself about  hevi and TSS. Hevi shot has been out for a long time and very few knew the power of the small shot, Untill Now!!!

Steve

[jfair]

Roostershooter.  Anything that gets this much attention is a good post.  You are one of the few that will question the hevi shot.  One of the few that will give an honest, negative opinion.  Thank you for that.  I have never shot much more than 40 yards.  In turn I have never shot at a bird that I did not get.  When I made this comment before, the immediate response was to question how many birds I have ever shot.  Quite a few.  My first purchase of Rem hevi-shot was the 3.5 inch 1300 fps 1.75 oz. 6 shot.  Patterned good, in the 130's at 40 yards.  I shot a bird in a field at 35 yards that year.  I needed all three shots and a head stomp at the end to finish him off.  I cursed that shell up and down.  Still have five left.  Looking back on it, something strange must have happened.  A hole in the pattern that somehow found the right spot maybe.  Who knows.  Went back to lead 6's and continued killing birds.  I changed to hevi 7's this year as the pattern is fantastic.  Season just started so I will do some in the field checking soon.  Thanks for your input as you have me leaning back toward the 6's in hevi now too.  They pattern nice also.   Shoot what you have confidence in.  Don't let anyone tell you different.