Turkey Hunting Firearms

[ChasHam]

Why is a shotgun the required firearm for turkey hunting in so many states?

Seems to me a scoped .22 rimfire or .22 mag would drop him cleanly without putting a bunch of tooth-chipping pellets into your dinner...

[ligonierbill]

Lots of hunters in the woods wearing full camo - it's a safety issue. My native Pennsylvania used to allow rifles in some zones in the fall, but not in spring when you're calling. If you have pellets in the body of the turkey, you are aiming incorrectly.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Same reason many Deer Hunters can only use Buckshot. Including myself. Have taken down many White Tails since I was a kid. Avid hunter. I have never shot a deer that was not Buckshot. Thick Terrain, Swampy, Hard to see a hunter not far away etc. I love Buck Shot!!

[jmr40]

Safety, and tradition. Same reason rifles are not used for waterfowl. A big part of turkey hunting is the calling.

Seems to me a scoped .22 rimfire or .22 mag would drop him cleanly without putting a bunch of tooth-chipping pellets into your dinner...

You don't shoot 'em in the body, you use a tight choked shotgun and aim for the head. You'd have to use some pretty big shot to penetrate the vitals on a turkey if aiming for the body.

Granted rifles are used in many places. Even here in GA you can use a rifle, if it is a muzzle loading rifle.

[Scorch]

Up until the mid-70s a lot of states allowed turkey hunters to use a rifle. That whole hunter safety thing really hits home when you see how many turkey hunters used to get shot.

[FITASC]

Seems to me a scoped .22 rimfire or .22 mag would drop him cleanly without putting a bunch of tooth-chipping pellets into your dinner...

You eat the head? Most folks pass on that................ Actually a 28 gauge using a load of tungsten #9s will work well out to almost 50 yards - yes, it is $9/shot, but then one is all you need.

[bamaranger]

Spring turkey season is traditionally shotguns for safety and for sportsmanship/challenge/traditon. Spring gobblers are prone to strut in open areas to attract hens, and would be easily sniped by a scoped rifle. In fact, lots of spring gobblers are "poached" in just that fashion.

Locating a gobbler, calling him reasonably close, and dosing him with a load of shot on the noggin' is the "way".

Oh yeah, "chipped tooth". More like "shattered tooth", this Feb. Nothing $600 bucks wouldn't fix. And I aimed in the right place. With 300-400 pellets per load, a couple are bound to end up in the wrong place. All it takes is one.

Lesson- chew lightly on wild turkey

[std7mag]

In PA, we are also allowed to use archery for turkeys in the spring.
Of course our season is late. Starts May 1st runs to May 31st.
And the first 2 weeks you have to stop hunting by noon, or 1pm. I forget which.

I'm using a CZ720 with #6 shot.
That's when i'm not using my 410 with #6 shot.

[T. O'Heir]

a scoped .22 rimfire or .22 mag would..." Biggest issue with that is the lack of skill required. No enough public ranges(there are none at all up here), hunters who don't bother to sight in or test ammo in their rifle for the best accuracy and the fact that a .22 LR is dangerous out to a couple miles.
"...Deer Hunters can only use Buckshot..." How many places say that? Buckshot isn't reliably accurate past 30 or so yards. Mind you, it's as daft as telling a hunter he/she can only use a pistol calibre, straight walled, cartridge. Don't think any batch of laws are as daft as hunting regs.

[std7mag]

Oh, i'll agree with you there!
I know Maryland has both white tailed, and black tailed deer.
The black tailed range more towards the coastal area.
Once you go so far east, then firearm deer hunting is shotgun only.
This done due to it being more "urban" there. Never mind the 2,000 yard square fields and large patches of woods between Annapolis and the Atlantic.
Our game commission does have shooting ranges on certain game lands.
50 & 100 yards on the rifle side, 50 yards on the pistol side.
If you want to learn to extend your range, then it's club membership for you.
Locally, 1 range extends to 430 yards up the side of the mountain, when the leaves have fallen. If the trees have their leaves, then it's a 300 yard range.
Cost for membership is $25 per person.
Another range, slightly further drive, is 1,000 yards.
Membership is $80 for a family, and you must shoot 1 match per year.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Originally Posted by T. O'Heir

a scoped .22 rimfire or .22 mag would..." Biggest issue with that is the lack of skill required. No enough public ranges(there are none at all up here), hunters who don't bother to sight in or test ammo in their rifle for the best accuracy and the fact that a .22 LR is dangerous out to a couple miles.
"...Deer Hunters can only use Buckshot..." How many places say that? Buckshot isn't reliably accurate past 30 or so yards. Mind you, it's as daft as telling a hunter he/she can only use a pistol calibre, straight walled, cartridge. Don't think any batch of laws are as daft as hunting regs.

Obviously you do not know much about deer hunting in the South with your Deer hunting with shotgun quote. Virginia and North Carolina have many Counties that Only Shotgun is allowed and hardly a "daft" regulation. You say a shotgun is only good for 30 yds? Just curious how many deer in the thick swampy and brushy areas have you taken down past that? And by the way, buckshot CAN do more than 30 yds with the right choke and Load. But seldom any shots made past that distance. In some areas you can use slugs but from tree stands only.
The South has a good deer kill each year. Around 180,000 in Virginia alone and I would guess the majority are with Shotguns and for many generations. Yes, some of the Mountain regions you can use center fire. However that would be very foolish and dangerous in shotgun areas for many reasons. Bring a rifle to one of the Hunt Clubs and you will very quickly be given a boot out the door.

[ChasHam]

OP here-- Ahhh, OK that all makes sense!

[Hanshi]

Georgia and Virginia allowed rifles for turkey and deer. But for the past near 20 years I've hunted exclusively with muzzleloaders and they were allowed for turkey and deer. Now in Maine shot is required for turkey but rifles are used for most other game. I do have a muzzleloading smoothbore of 20 ga and will have to use that for any turkey hunting. I no longer own a modern shotgun and mostly shoot ball in my 20 ga flintlock and always use ball for deer.

Hunting in the Deep South is normally in thick to very thick growth so shots are generally quite close. But when the leaves fall shots of 40 & 50 yards are certainly possible not to mention longer shots in hay fields and such. I've never hunted with buckshot and have no confidence in its effectiveness in guns I own or have owned. As a LEO I got experience with buckshot at the range. I found 25 yards was a "maybe" and 50 yards was a not-at-all. So I would guess the typical shotgun isn't a good choice for buck and a special barrel is required? I'm more of a rifleman than a shotgunner.

[ChasHam]

Current Georgia regs limit turkey hunters to shotguns, any muzzle loader, air rifles and air bows.

[Coppershot]

I hunt primarily with a shotgun (hence my moniker) though rifles are legal in Virginia for wild turkey. When I fall hunt with a rifle I use a custom .222 Remington on a 700 short action. It sports a stepped down Douglass barrel (18 inches) to take some weight off though the lighter barrel weight is more than offset by the Circassian walnut stock.

I download the .222 to about 2000 fps and use a Berger target bullet or a 50 grain Winchester HP. Talley rings and a 1-6x 30mm Swarovski.

[stinkeypete]

Turkey hunting: half the fellas shooting anything in the bushes that gobbles, the other half hiding in the bushes, gobbling!

I am a rotten Turkey hunter. The few I have gotten strutted up and demanded I shoot them. I’ve also spent weeks scouting and many mornings making gobble sounds only to be mocked by turkeys. The fellas that are good at it have my utmost respect. Turkeys are stupid, wiley, infuriating and delicious.

You shoot turkeys with a shotgun or a bow because... tradition.

[bamaranger]

I'll add this story. Perhaps 15 yrs ago, likely more, one of the hunt leases I'm in had a problem with migrant tree planters poaching turkeys off of food plots with a .22 lr. Whole 'nother story. But for that spring season, our gobblers were VERY wary.

The next year, I began hunting a big gobbler on the same lease. Saw him twice before I ended up taking him late one afternoon following a bunch of hens back to roost. Upon filleting the breasts off the bird, I discovered what had to be healed .22 lr wound low on the chest. The slug had actually penetrated the bony sternum and had healed into a smooth sided funnel like depression on the breast bone. I saved that carcass, it would have made an interesting piece completely fleshed out.........but the dogs got it!

Some states do allow the use of a rifle for fall turkey, PA being one. The .22 lr was always thought as a bit weak for a turkey rifle. The .22 mag was a bettter choice. Modest .22 centerfires, like the .22 Hornet and the .218 Bee were also popular, so to the old .25-20.