Done with 7's

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

And good luck to you whatever you choose to shoot.  I hope you don't ever have this same outcome in the future. 

[bird]

And no I'm not worked up at least yet anyway lol.  What happen to you I don't know, but anyone on here who puts a pattern like the one I showed over the neck of a bird at 45yds and centers it the outcome will be exactly the same every single time.  It's that simple.  

That was my opinion prior to this happening also.  I was on the bandwagon talking them up to my friends, showing off the pattern papers.  Looks devestating on paper, there was no way a bird could get away.  I knew this post would come to this,  he pulled the shot, operator error, didn't hold in the right spot, and so on.  I'll be the first to admit, it is hard to believe an opinion when it is not your own.  I know what I did.  I have been turkey hunting a long time.  I saw for myself the penetration into the breast.  The shots I found under the skin were just that, under the skin.  The picture you show may very well be from the opposite side.  Just seems funny they passed all the way through the meat and then stop right there.  Looks like four of them.   My opinion is what it is.  My opinion.  This is what the board is for, I think.

jfair,

I agree with you.  I may not be done with Hevi-13's but I am done with the 7's.  They pattern great on paper but I think they lack something when it comes to adverse weather conditions.  I may try the 5's or even look the Winchester XR's myself.

bird 

[jfair]

And good luck to you whatever you choose to shoot.  I hope you don't ever have this same outcome in the future. 

Yep, good luck to you also.  I do apprecitate your thoughts, if we all agree, then there is no need for this board.
By the way, I'm eating turkey nuggets as we speak, so it's not all that bad.

[Longshanks]

I was just thinking that turkey is dead is he not..early in this deal you said you bought into the hype ran it through your mind and made a bad choice and shot anyway at 45 in adverse conditions..and the son of gun is dead..im not sure you could ask for anymore out of your equipment.  Congratulations on a great turkey hunting story and the beginning of your new future with an impressive degree.  Pass the ketchup...

[chipper]

I shot 4 birds this year, 1 with Winchester XR, 1 with Hevi #7 and 2 with Old white # 6, killed all 4 but they all had 1 thing in 9ommon and that was all had a few pellets that did not penetrate much deeper than the skin and all we're shot between 25 and 40 yards but in the end result they were in ethical range and - knew what and how my guns shot those loads and the end result was 4 dead turkeys. I'm still not completely confident in the Hevi #7 But they will kill with anything else in ethical ranges and there are plenty of folks on OG to back that up.

[stinkpickle]

The shot that did not penetrate is probably at the rear of the shot string.  The front shot hits the bird so hard with its awesomeness that it accelerates the bird's body up to a whopping 1000fps.  The remaining pellets are left to effectively hit the bird at maybe 100fps, because that fat, feathered piece of Swiss cheese is now supersonic.  I've seen the dead bodies fly across fields a hundred times.   Mystery solved.   

[goblr77]

Goblr77 on here has had the exact same results that I have had at about the same yardage and another one at a little over 50yds.  Maybe he will post up some of his results.  But he too smoked his birds with these loads.  But again both of us have found the right chokes for our guns with these loads.  I honestly can't see how Hevi-13 #6's would have killed them any deader.  

Here's two of 'em I shot with the 2.25 oz 7's at extended distances and decided to dissect. These birds were shot with two different rigs, both consistently putting up numbers over 300. I have no complaints with the Hevi 6's either but my setups average 80-100 more hits with the 7's and I feel more confident with the denser pattern. To each his own.

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[doepee]

This was the first year that I shot heavy 7s 3.5 inch.... I was a little skeptical with the 7s  .... I shot my first bird with them at 42 yards and it hammered him , I am definetely going to use them next year.. he didnt hardly even twitch...

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Goblr77 on here has had the exact same results that I have had at about the same yardage and another one at a little over 50yds.  Maybe he will post up some of his results.  But he too smoked his birds with these loads.  But again both of us have found the right chokes for our guns with these loads.  I honestly can't see how Hevi-13 #6's would have killed them any deader.  

Here's two of 'em I shot with the 2.25 oz 7's at extended distances and decided to dissect. These birds were shot with two different rigs, both consistently putting up numbers over 300. I have no complaints with the Hevi 6's either but my setups average 80-100 more hits with the 7's and I feel more confident with the denser pattern. To each his own.

Thanks for posting them Myles.  And that has been my observation as well vs the 6's.  I too like having the extra pattern density of 80 to 100 more shot when I am aiming at the neck on a bird.  I feel 100% confident with the 7's even at longer yardages especially if I am packing my 835.  A bird at 50yds would be toast and I have no doubt whatsoever it would be that way if one hung up at even 55yds.  

[Longshanks]

    I agree with 2ounce6 all the way. When you have a gun that patterns with 200+ in a 10in circle @ 40yds..the margin for error is very little..when there is a an issue with harvesting the turkey cleanly within reasonable ranges..the issue is the shooter and not the gun. If you want a tight patterning gun the shooter better have it together when he squeezes the trigger.  The thinking that it must be the 7's is headed in the wrong direction.  It is much more difficult at longer ranges to be able to tell exactly where you are holding unless you have a red dot or scope and then the further the distance the more things can go wrong..adverse weather, wind, limbs, shooter apprehension, etc. I see allot of long distance shots taken at birds walking away which even makes it more difficult because the animal is moving and the shooter gets anxious.   Holding beads or iron sights on a turkeys neck and head.. which is moving.. is difficult at 45+.

   Its very similar to archery hunting for me..sure i can shoot decent groups at 50 to 60yds but when it comes to harvesting mature whitetails way too many things can go wrong if a man is taking those kind of shots at a deer. I shoot mature whitetails at 30yds or less and make sure its a "for sure kill "situation.  Im just going on experience and what i have seen happen in the woods.  To each his own..i know folks that shoot at turkeys in the 50+ and whitetails at 50+ as well and they do allot of missing and wounding.  Folks can do what ever they want as long as they dont do it on the ground i lease.

   Taking advice about guns and which combinations of chokes, shells, etc pattern the best on paper is all good and well and very productive.  But you might want to be careful about who you are taking hunting advice from. 

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

The shot that did not penetrate is probably at the rear of the shot string.  The front shot hits the bird so hard with its awesomeness that it accelerates the bird's body up to a whopping 1000fps.  The remaining pellets are left to effectively hit the bird at maybe 100fps, because that fat, feathered piece of Swiss cheese is now supersonic.  I've seen the dead bodies fly across fields a hundred times.   Mystery solved.  

Funny stuff SP .

One thing I noticed about ILIKE's patterns, if that shot was pulled a tad at 40 yards then the pellet strike total on a turkeys head dramatically falls off. Not that hard to pull a shot 10" or more at those distances in my experience.

Trust me that bird felt the full effect of that load.  That's one thing I like about the 870's over the 835's is that they have a tendency to shoot deadnut with the factory bead.  If I put that bead on my 870 on a birds neck, he is toast.  

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

And just so you know the 10" patterns are the working bees of the pattern core when shooting at farther distances.  Some may like a nice even 30" pattern but I worry more about a nice even 20" pattern at 40yds.  If you can't center that 20" pattern on the neck of a turkey at 40yds you really have no business shooting at a turkey in the first place. 

[bird]

Bird brought up excellent points about weather conditions and such small shot. 

It's not the size of the shot, it's the energy it hits with, and the way it's weight/area (density) cuts through the wind, rain, or whatever.

I think size #7 in 12g/cc shot going only 1090 at the muzzle (Hevi-13) carries too little energy for my tastes.  On the other hand #7s in 15g/cc shot going 1100 at the muzzle (Fed Hwt) carries WAY more lethal energy than lead #4s or Hevi-13 #5s.  TSS #8s carry more penetration energy still.

Lumping all "small" shot into the same boat is like lumping Hevishot with Steel....  They are totally different animals.

This is exactly my point .... Add some wind and some other weather factors into the mix in a real world hunting environment I believe that the Hevi-13 #7's going only 1090fps just doesn't cut it and loses allot of energy if it has to buck any kind of wind at all.  Thus the reason why I myself am going to switch to something else either in the Hevi-13 lineup or another brand that has the ability to carry more energy in adverse weather conditions.

Hey if you have blue bird skies and no to little wind then Hevi-13 #7 are the juice but when you have to hits the woods and especially the open fields on a nasty windy day then I believe your better have another load to fall back on.

bird

[Britton40]

That happened to me this year.  I pulled a little and I hit the bird in the upper part of the wing.  The shot broke his backbone, wing bone, tore up both lungs, and the majority of the shot exited the other side. 

43 yards.  Nitro H510C 4x5x7, Browning Silver 28" barrel.  That sold me on the Nitro 4x5x7.  I found one 4, one 5 and four 7 shot that didnt make it thorugh the breast on the other side.  I average 250 in a 10" circle.

[stinkpickle]

I'd think that environmental factors, such as heavy crosswinds, would wreak more havoc on the pattern center than drain energy levels of the individual pellets.  They're already facing a 700+ mph headwind coming out of the barrel, anyway.  There should still be plenty of energy at 40 yards...the shot is just redirected a little off course.  IMO...