20 Ga. for turkeys? - Page 2

eastbank · April 7, 2014, 07:00 AM

a turkey deserves to be killed humanly and will take a lot of lead in the body only to fly off and die later. please post your pictures of 20ga patterns at a honest 40 yds. i my self will not shoot at any turkey over 40yds with any 12ga mag and if i carry a 20ga 30yds is my maximum range. when i get to my set i put dark blue ribbon around several trees that i ranged with my range finder, it only takes several minute to do it. if the turkey is comming let him get as close as you feel you can kill him cleanly no matter what shotgun. eastbank.

Todd1700 · April 7, 2014, 11:23 AM

Quote:

please post your pictures of 20ga patterns at a honest 40 yds.

I personally do not carry a 20 gauge nor do I reload TSS shot. But I have friends who do both and I can show you numerous photos of their patterns if you like. Here are just a few. I can post many more. I think those patterns are quite sufficient don't you? TSS shot is 80% denser than lead and waaaay harder. I do not advocate it but even number 9 shot in TSS will kill turkeys easily at 60 yards. You can actually build a 40 yard gun with a .410 and TSS shot.

Todd1700 · April 7, 2014, 11:36 AM

40 yard TSS pattern from a .410

That's 100 pellets inside a 10 inch circle at 40 yards. Dead bird all day every day.

eastbank · April 7, 2014, 04:51 PM

as i said there are some that will do it,but most will not and alot of turkeys will run off and die. eastbank.

Ruger480 · April 7, 2014, 07:48 PM

I think its probably harder to find a gun that won't pattern well at 40 yds with the right choke than one will. You'd have to do some looking.

40-82 · April 7, 2014, 09:05 PM

knew a guy once who couldn't kill a turkey with a twelve gauge so he went to a ten gauge 3.5 inch magnum. That didn't help so he taped a set of fluorescent sights to the barrel with black electrical tape. I asked him where the pattern hit in relation to the sights. He explained that none of that mattered. All he had to do was line up the sights. They had to be right. They were on the barrel, and he wasn't going to beat himself silly shooting at anything but a turkey. The new sights proved about as useful as you might guess.

Bottom line: if you pattern your gun, you'll know exactly what you can do with it. If you don't, it won't matter much what gauge you use.

JERRYS. · April 7, 2014, 09:15 PM

"westernfield" 20 ga. bolt action with poly choke...... has been a great gun for a whole lotta squirrel, rabbit, and one turkey.

bamaranger · April 7, 2014, 10:25 PM

Hey Buck.

I reckon you realize that a day in a duck blind cranking off multiple rounds with a mag 12 is more punishing than a single well squeezed round at a gobbler.

That said, if you haven't had one installed, make sure your 12 has a top quality pad like the "Kick-eeze" or a "Limbsaver", they really do make a felt difference. Also, I'm a big believer in some type of sights beyond the basic bead on a gobbler gun.

At 70, you are entitled to hunt with near anything you choose, I hope I'm still chasing gobblers that late in life. Good for you. If you choose a 20, I'd invest in a box or two of the "space shot" loads, and I'd use a gas driven auto. The gas gun will kick less, and the entire rig will be a tad lighter than a 12. And I'd limit my shots to 30 yds or so, as eastbank has been advising.

A 20 is just not a 12, if loaded comparatively. Apples to apples and all that. Meaning, space shot v. space shot, lead v. lead, etc. Tight 1 oz (or less) patterns are all well and good, and good indicators of potential performance, but a pie plate on a tomato stake in the wide open off a support, is not a gobblers head on a bird with cat like reflexes, and a screen of brush or twigs that you didn't see in the heat of the moment, or because the light was marginal. And don't forget the 5 more yds or so the shot turns out to be cause you estimated wrong. Cause of all that, I will continue to hunt gobblers with a 3" 12.

eastbank · April 8, 2014, 06:04 AM

i,ve been playing with the new win. long beard shells and they looks good, 133 #4 in a 12 inch circle at 42 yds. and at a little more that 2.00 a shell. i have a box of #5,s and #6,s on order to try on the pattern board. my turkey shotguns are factory with factory chokes, if you want to build a special turkey shotgun there is nothing wrong with that either, i just have not needed that to kill my share of turkeys, at a honest 40 yds my turkey shotgun will humanly kill a turkey if i do my part. eastbank.

Unlicensed Dremel · April 8, 2014, 09:17 PM

Oh, heck yeah - 20 ga will git er dun for turkeys. Federal Flite Control or properly choked & tested load.

jimbob86 · April 10, 2014, 08:42 AM

All this talk about how far this gun or that load will kill a turkey, and not a word about how close you can call them in.

Their brains are the size of a wild plum pit, and ours weigh 6 pounds or so ..... we should be able to figure out a way to ambush them at whatever range we would like them to be .....

NCummins · April 10, 2014, 11:11 AM

Let me know how that works out jimbob.

eastbank · April 10, 2014, 01:22 PM

there are times a turkey will just about run up your shotgun barrel with one yelp, and then there are turkeys that will just will not come closer than 40yds or more, no matter how good a caller you are. i have left many turkeys for a later day because i didn,t think i could kill then humanely. however at a honest 40yds i feel if i do my part the load i have chosen will do the job. while its true one or two pellets in the right place will kill a turkey, the same one or two pellets in the wrong place will mean a terrible lingering death for a great game bird. eastbank.

jimbob86 · April 10, 2014, 03:27 PM

Quote:

there are times a turkey will just about run up your shotgun barrel with one yelp, and then there are turkeys that will just will not come closer than 40yds or more, no matter how good a caller you are.

For the really cagey birds, you can team up on them. Once located, have the shooter set up, and the caller drop back 50 yards before he starts working the bird. The skittish bird will be well within range way before he decides to "hang up" just out of range. For added efficacy, drop the dekes right in front of the caller.

markj · April 11, 2014, 04:47 PM

Lots of kids kill turkeys every year using a 20 ga in the early youth hunts.

Shoot, around her I can stop the motorcycle, turn off the radio and call them right up to the bike. I got pics too. Early hunters used to sneak up on them, called it stalking

I still do. Glass em to find em then work to them in a creek bed or other cover.

Had one tryingto get into the chicken cook just last night, my son thought it was a goose

that turkey almost run to the area my dogs are in

he woulda been duck soup

My neighbor uses a browning semi auto in 20 ga for all his hunting, deer, turkey, pheas etc.

Sea Buck · April 13, 2014, 11:21 AM

Mark: I also like to stalk the bird. If I know there are no other hunters in the area. Two years ago I glassed a bird all buffed up doing a dance about 50 yds away. I had a push caller in my shirt pocket and went tree to tree purr clucking away. Every time I clucked, he buffed up and moved a little. We did this love song routine until I coaxed him to about 20 yds. Bang! Took him to a local smoke house. Yummie. I used my 12 ga. 3" mag with 5's, Xtra full choke. Federal turkey load. Head and neck were mince meat. A 20ga would have done in this guy at that range.

April 7, 2014, 07:48 PM	#30
Ruger480 Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2013 Location: Central Iowa Posts: 720	I think its probably harder to find a gun that won't pattern well at 40 yds with the right choke than one will. You'd have to do some looking. Last edited by Ruger480; April 8, 2014 at 09:14 AM.

April 7, 2014, 10:25 PM	#33
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,312	other steps Hey Buck. I reckon you realize that a day in a duck blind cranking off multiple rounds with a mag 12 is more punishing than a single well squeezed round at a gobbler. That said, if you haven't had one installed, make sure your 12 has a top quality pad like the "Kick-eeze" or a "Limbsaver", they really do make a felt difference. Also, I'm a big believer in some type of sights beyond the basic bead on a gobbler gun. At 70, you are entitled to hunt with near anything you choose, I hope I'm still chasing gobblers that late in life. Good for you. If you choose a 20, I'd invest in a box or two of the "space shot" loads, and I'd use a gas driven auto. The gas gun will kick less, and the entire rig will be a tad lighter than a 12. And I'd limit my shots to 30 yds or so, as eastbank has been advising. A 20 is just not a 12, if loaded comparatively. Apples to apples and all that. Meaning, space shot v. space shot, lead v. lead, etc. Tight 1 oz (or less) patterns are all well and good, and good indicators of potential performance, but a pie plate on a tomato stake in the wide open off a support, is not a gobblers head on a bird with cat like reflexes, and a screen of brush or twigs that you didn't see in the heat of the moment, or because the light was marginal. And don't forget the 5 more yds or so the shot turns out to be cause you estimated wrong. Cause of all that, I will continue to hunt gobblers with a 3" 12.

April 7, 2014, 07:00 AM	#26
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	a turkey deserves to be killed humanly and will take a lot of lead in the body only to fly off and die later. please post your pictures of 20ga patterns at a honest 40 yds. i my self will not shoot at any turkey over 40yds with any 12ga mag and if i carry a 20ga 30yds is my maximum range. when i get to my set i put dark blue ribbon around several trees that i ranged with my range finder, it only takes several minute to do it. if the turkey is comming let him get as close as you feel you can kill him cleanly no matter what shotgun. eastbank.

April 7, 2014, 11:36 AM	#28
Todd1700 Senior Member Join Date: August 5, 2008 Posts: 192	40 yard TSS pattern from a .410 That's 100 pellets inside a 10 inch circle at 40 yards. Dead bird all day every day.

April 7, 2014, 04:51 PM	#29
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	as i said there are some that will do it,but most will not and alot of turkeys will run off and die. eastbank.

April 7, 2014, 09:05 PM	#31
40-82 Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 2013 Posts: 178	knew a guy once who couldn't kill a turkey with a twelve gauge so he went to a ten gauge 3.5 inch magnum. That didn't help so he taped a set of fluorescent sights to the barrel with black electrical tape. I asked him where the pattern hit in relation to the sights. He explained that none of that mattered. All he had to do was line up the sights. They had to be right. They were on the barrel, and he wasn't going to beat himself silly shooting at anything but a turkey. The new sights proved about as useful as you might guess. Bottom line: if you pattern your gun, you'll know exactly what you can do with it. If you don't, it won't matter much what gauge you use.

April 7, 2014, 09:15 PM	#32
JERRYS. Senior Member Join Date: September 23, 2013 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,969	"westernfield" 20 ga. bolt action with poly choke...... has been a great gun for a whole lotta squirrel, rabbit, and one turkey.

April 8, 2014, 06:04 AM	#34
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	i,ve been playing with the new win. long beard shells and they looks good, 133 #4 in a 12 inch circle at 42 yds. and at a little more that 2.00 a shell. i have a box of #5,s and #6,s on order to try on the pattern board. my turkey shotguns are factory with factory chokes, if you want to build a special turkey shotgun there is nothing wrong with that either, i just have not needed that to kill my share of turkeys, at a honest 40 yds my turkey shotgun will humanly kill a turkey if i do my part. eastbank.

April 8, 2014, 09:17 PM	#35
Unlicensed Dremel Junior member Join Date: February 13, 2014 Location: Flathead Valley, MT Posts: 2,187	Oh, heck yeah - 20 ga will git er dun for turkeys. Federal Flite Control or properly choked & tested load.

April 10, 2014, 08:42 AM	#36
jimbob86 Junior member Join Date: October 4, 2007 Location: All the way to NEBRASKA Posts: 8,722	All this talk about how far this gun or that load will kill a turkey, and not a word about how close you can call them in. Their brains are the size of a wild plum pit, and ours weigh 6 pounds or so ..... we should be able to figure out a way to ambush them at whatever range we would like them to be .....

April 10, 2014, 11:11 AM	#37
NCummins Member Join Date: February 9, 2014 Posts: 92	Let me know how that works out jimbob.

April 10, 2014, 01:22 PM	#38
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	there are times a turkey will just about run up your shotgun barrel with one yelp, and then there are turkeys that will just will not come closer than 40yds or more, no matter how good a caller you are. i have left many turkeys for a later day because i didn,t think i could kill then humanely. however at a honest 40yds i feel if i do my part the load i have chosen will do the job. while its true one or two pellets in the right place will kill a turkey, the same one or two pellets in the wrong place will mean a terrible lingering death for a great game bird. eastbank.

April 11, 2014, 04:47 PM	#40
markj Senior Member Join Date: October 27, 2005 Location: Crescent Iowa Posts: 2,971	Lots of kids kill turkeys every year using a 20 ga in the early youth hunts. Shoot, around her I can stop the motorcycle, turn off the radio and call them right up to the bike. I got pics too. Early hunters used to sneak up on them, called it stalking I still do. Glass em to find em then work to them in a creek bed or other cover. Had one tryingto get into the chicken cook just last night, my son thought it was a goose that turkey almost run to the area my dogs are in he woulda been duck soup My neighbor uses a browning semi auto in 20 ga for all his hunting, deer, turkey, pheas etc.

April 13, 2014, 11:21 AM	#41
Sea Buck Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird Posts: 312	Mark: I also like to stalk the bird. If I know there are no other hunters in the area. Two years ago I glassed a bird all buffed up doing a dance about 50 yds away. I had a push caller in my shirt pocket and went tree to tree purr clucking away. Every time I clucked, he buffed up and moved a little. We did this love song routine until I coaxed him to about 20 yds. Bang! Took him to a local smoke house. Yummie. I used my 12 ga. 3" mag with 5's, Xtra full choke. Federal turkey load. Head and neck were mince meat. A 20ga would have done in this guy at that range.