Turkey hunting can be expensive

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Turkey hunting don't have to be expensive and you don't need tungsten shot. Don't despair if your shotgun has 2 3/4" chambers. Most of my turkeys have been killed with 20 and 12 gauge shotguns using #6 shot.

i'm glad that turkey hunting "experts" are finally advocating the use of smaller shot. For years most turkey hunters used #2 and #4 shot; many wounded turkeys went off to die. Best turkey hunter i ever knew used #7 chilled shot. One or two shot in the head of a turkey trumps a half dozen in the body.

Pattern your shotgun.
 
I was in Academy Sports yesterday and saw some of these on display. Couldn't believe the prices so I came home and checked with Midway. Academy was actually a little cheaper. I can't wrap my head around $11-$12 per shot for ammo. I'd take my wife out for a nice dinner before I pay $63 for 5 shotgun shells.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022007642

I thought I paid a lot at $15/10 rounds.
And I thought 10 gauge was expensive.
That's insanity.
 
Turkey hunting don't have to be expensive and you don't need tungsten shot.

No, but one should still use what they feel most comfortable with, have the most confidence with and are most proficient with. A with most hunting, a lot of it is in our head. Not being sure of what we are using makes us less confident to take a shot or may makes us less focused when we do take a shot. I've feel the same way with broadheads for deer hunting. Back when I started hunting deer wih a bow, the best broadheads were either Bear razor heads of Three-Bladed Bodkins. They still work well today(even better with the new bows), but most folks laugh at them cause they cost like $3 each. Whereas those new whammerSlammer delux expandables run ya about $15 apiece on your $10 apiece carbon shafts. But, if that is what it takes to make someone confident and comfortable, who am I to say. I use standard stationary three bladed broadheads and do just fine.They cost me about $6 apiece on my $10 apiece carbon shafts. Ain't quite as painful when they bounce off a branch and disappear forever.

Pattern your shotgun.

One hasta do that even with those $12 a piece tungsten loads. IMHO, it's the most important thing when it comes to hunting turkeys with a shotgun.
 
I liked Zwickeys back in the day.

Zwickeys were good....shot them with my first compound. I used Hilbre's too, but their point was too sharp and tended to stick in ribs as opposed to slipping between them like the Bear razorheads. Remember the old Browning "serpentines"? They were gonna revolutionize the archery world. Used good old Savora 4-blades for the longest time. Still have a coupla packs of replacement blades in my odds and ends.
 
I'm also amazed at the cost of feeding my 12 ga. Turkey gun. Except I don't have to pay it because I still have a lot of turkey loads purchased back in 2000-2001 and stopped turkey hunting a few years later due to work demands. So there's still a lot of them here. Now that I'm retired I can turkey hunt. Did some pattern testing last spring and they still work good. This thread got me to dig some out. IMG_1875.JPG . Most have the year purchased written on them but was disappointed not to see the price; until I looked on the bottom of the 2 & 3/4" Winchesters and saw that $8.29 (per 10) price tag. I can remember thinking they were expensive back then and for 19-20 years ago I guess they were. IMG_1882.JPG . Maybe this year I'll get to shoot a real turkey instead of just a turkey target... IMG_1888.JPG . These aren't bismuth or tungsten shot. Just copper plated # 5 lead shot, all of 'em. Now if I could just find a suitable turkey to try 'em on.......................
 
If you are taking shots at 25ish yards the gauge, choke, or shot size and type don't matter much. If you want to shoot them at longer ranges then all of those things do matter. But I've found that ammo in the $15/10 round range works well enough out to 35-40 yards with a tight choke, even from a 20 ga.

I have no doubt the high end ammo will effectively stretch that range. But I just don't want a turkey bad enough to spend that kind of money.
 
I know of a guy cleanly taking turkey with a 20 ga. modified choke shotgun. He says you just have to hit 'em in the head and you don't need a giant magnum. Recently I saw a Mossberg advertisement in the spring 2020 issue of Outdoor Life for a Mossberg 500 .410 Turkey gun, and thought, "wow", a .410 turkey gun? I suppose if the range isn't too far.... Where I will be this coming season my longest shot wouldn't be much over 25 yards so I guess my 12 ga. with an extra full choke and old copper plated # 5 shot will suffice vs. the latest, greatest, expensive turkey loads. Don't have to worry about those 50 yard shots.
 
Zwickeys were good....shot them with my first compound. I used Hilbre's too, but their point was too sharp and tended to stick in ribs as opposed to slipping between them like the Bear razorheads. Remember the old Browning "serpentines"? They were gonna revolutionize the archery world. Used good old Savora 4-blades for the longest time. Still have a coupla packs of replacement blades in my odds and ends.
I like the zwickey I used them for a few seasons, I am guy so there where not common when I started hunting. I would round the tips, they would slip through the ribs after that. I never tried the bear razorheads, but there's a antique shop by my dad that has a bunch I should go pick up one day.
 
I know of a guy cleanly taking turkey with a 20 ga. modified choke shotgun. He says you just have to hit 'em in the head and you don't need a giant magnum

You reach a point though where connecting with the head becomes more luck than anything else. I bought one of the 20 ga 870 youth guns several years ago specifically to turkey hunt with. I'd read that with the newer shells and aftermarket choke tubes you could do very well.

But even with an extra full tube I didn't get patterns that were confidence builders with the shells I initially bought. As a result I never hunted with it and went back to my 12 ga. The 12 throws enough pellets in the pattern that the odds of getting 3-4 pellets in a turkeys head are pretty good even with cheap shells and the factory full choke tube. With the 20, shell and choke choice becomes more important.

But the appeal of using a gun a pound and a half lighter with a short 21" barrel prompted me to try some different ammo this year. I'd been trying loads that worked out to about 75 cents per round and the results weren't satisfactory. I broke down and tried a $15 box for 10 Winchester Long Beard loads and the results in my gun at least were eye opening. With the other loads at 35 yards I had about 50/50 odds if getting just a single pellet in the head of a turkey. With these I was getting 7-8 with every shot.

That works out to about $1.50/ shot. It is worth it to me to carry the lighter gun. It's not like I'm going to be shooting ammo by the case like some dove hunters do. But $11-$12 per shot is just a bridge too far for me.
 
Paying that much is just weird. If you must use so-called "non-toxic" shot, try Bismuth #4. I've killed lots of geese with it and last time I bought some, I paid about $1 each which was very expensive at the time. I don't have to use non-toxic and I kill turkeys with some #5 12ga that years ago I paid $4 for a box of 25. Since I only shoot 1 or 2 shots every season, a box lasts a long time. When that runs out I'll shoot some #4 or #6. Head shot birds are not that hard to kill.
 
Every time I walk into a hunting store I have to remind myself that people were successfully hunting the animals I hunt before 100% of the gear in that store was even thought up, let alone available to purchase.

It’s really humbling when you think about it. It reminds me I don’t need better or more gear I need to develop my skills with what I have.

I mean, darn it, People got close enough to kill turkeys with sticks with rocks tied on the end and I need a $5 shotgun shell? Dang darn I need to practice more lol
 
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Gave up. Pluck, Pluck, Pluck! Meat was tough as can be, even the breast. The leg's? Biting into a Turkey flavored 2X4. Deer and Pheasant only. I don't like Duck, and Grouse are just starting to make a comeback.
 
Gave up. Pluck, Pluck, Pluck! Meat was tough as can be, even the breast. The leg's? Biting into a Turkey flavored 2X4. Deer and Pheasant only. I don't like Duck, and Grouse are just starting to make a comeback.
For the breast A soak overnight in Italian dressing and cook on the grill is how I like to make them. Comes out very tender and good flavor. The legs your right to many things in there to bite on lol.
 
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