Goodbye Hevi 7's

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Well I just gave a couple of my friends some of my 7's that I have stashed.  They have never used the stuff.  I told them they will kill a gobbler stone dead even if he flops like a chicken does with his head chopped off.   

[lmbhngr]

Rooster, Great post!! I am kinda on the fence along with you. I hit a bird last year with the 7`s out of a 20 ga. and I will say they won`t penetrate feathers!!! He was within 25 yds. Your opinion is your opinion; you don`t like em  that`s that.

[HogBiologist]

At 25 yards hevi #7 will decapitate a bird.  The pattern is the size of a softball.   You straight up missed that bird.

[Longshanks]

The issue here is the shots that people are taking rather than which shell is more productive and efficient for harvesting a turkey.

[roosterpull]

Big Hevi 13 fan here. Best load for my Beretta 390 is the 3-inch #6 of 1.75 ounces. We can all kill those 60 yards birds on occasion. The problem is, when we knock one down it encourages us to take a shot of that distance again. But we should be limiting our shots to something less than that. I try for 35 and in, but occasionally I squeeze off further than that.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Well I just gave a couple of my friends some of my 7's that I have stashed.  They have never used the stuff.  I told them they will kill a gobbler stone dead even if he flops like a chicken does with his head chopped off.   

Well 2 of those guys went out and killed 2 turkeys with those 7's I gave them.  They said they never have hit one any harder.  One of them never even flopped.   

[CAMONICK]

Some of you guys say the funniest stuff I swear. If you aint killing him with 7s, then you need to go to tss 8s or 9s. Claiming to have hit a bird at 25 yards and loseing him is some funny stuff. Hell you could shoot him with a reduced recoil target load at that distance out of my gun and it would still roll him. Moving up to 6s isnt going to help you any, but if thats what helps you sleep at night than go ahead and do it.

[roostershooter]

Update..

Went out this mornin on coyote control since I am out of tags thanks to the hevi 6's. I spotted somethin odd off to the side of the trail, a dead turkey. But not just any dead turkey, specifically the last turkey I shot with the hevi 7's that was within 40 yards ranged. There he laid close to 80 yards away from where I shot him almost a week ago. Call it a bad shot or maybe I hit some brush that I didn't think was in the line of shot or maybe he moved as soon as I pulled the trigger. Whatever it may have been I will say that the 7's took him down, after an 80 yard flight over a creek  and crash landing through the trees. I searched for him best I could that day as I was confident that the shot should have been right on. It is hard to say what exactly happened or went wrong. I know the 6's won't fix any of those problems mentioned but let's face it, sometimes it seems you can do everything right and still get a marginal outcome, no matter what you are shooting. Just too many variables that you can't control. Thats just hunting for ya. I'm glad to say thats one less bird I lost with the 7's this year though. The bugs had worked him over real good so I couldn't see where the shot had hit. Still clueless as to what the problem was exactly but atleast I've got some closure on that one.

[duckaholic25]

Just one more story of how the hevi 7s failed us once again.

[roostershooter]

Still not blaming the 7's. I blame myself or unforeseen circumstances; either or..  doesn't change the outcome. The shot doesn't always go as planned. I know nothing makes up for a bad shot but maybe the 6's would make the difference when those unforeseen circumstances arise like light brush in the way or the shot being a little more range than originally thought or the shot missing the mark a little. I guess thats all the more reason I'm liking the 6's. Maybe they will take up the slack on those not so perfect shots. Can't be too dead but they sure can be not dead enough. I know the 7's should cleanly kill at 40 yards, that being the case theres no doubt the the 6's will too.. .Speaking of 6's, just had a visit from the fedex truck with 2 more boxes of em. Thank you hevi-shot.

[Spurcollecta]

It sounds to me like a poor shot followed by an even poorer tracking effort. Trust me when I say that I'm not casting stones cause I've been guilty of both. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Good luck in the future!

[roostershooter]

I will say that i would have looked harder had a bad electrical storm not rolled in hard on top of me that morning. It was no easy track by any means though. He crashed in some thick stuff with zero visibility. What led me to him was the smell a week later. I searched all I could the morning I shot. Sometimes it just doesn't go according to plan. I will say that I have dropped birds at well past 40 due to misjudged range this year with not so perfect shots and the 6's. By not so perfect shots I mean the shot dropping a little from poa because of the range. I do carry a range finder but sometimes its just too late to put it to use.

[spaightlabs]

On another note I have dropped three birds this year. One at 35 yards and two at over 45 yards. All three with the same gun and choke combination but with the hevi 6's. So no worrys hevi-13, you still have my business, just not with the 7's.

Any thoughts? Bad round of 7's maybe?

Well, now you're at 4, probably at 6 when ya add the other 2 hit and lost...not sayin' ya did anything wrong - it's tough to count a bird as part of your bag when you didn't get a chance to put a tag on it.  Been there.

[roosterpull]

Patterning any gun is a touch and feel proposition. I finally discovered that my Beretta 390 shooting through a Hastings .681 patterns the Hevi 6s best when using the 1.75-ounce shot load instead of the 2 ounce load. Took me a while to figure out the best choke too. It ain't cheap patterning a bunch of Hevis, but once you get to where you need to be you'll be jellynecking them on a regular basis. Still pays to get 'em as close as possible.

[paradis1142]

I would think that a solid hit with the 7s would flatten them.