what you going to use for spring turkey season?

[bikerbeans]

Hi All,

Curious what others will be taking to the woods this spring in pursuit of a big tom. I'll start,

Ten gauge for sure, not sure which one. I have (4) ten gauges and i am still doing load workup. I am pulling for my 1890 LC Smith sxs to win but being that it is a cylinder bore and I shoot reduced pressure loads I don't know if it will get a chance. Which ever "ten" goes it will be launching #4 lead shot pushed by blue dot.

BB

[Wyatt 525]

Well I don't have a ten gauge so a twelve gauge it is. Thinking about choking up the Stoeger Condor O/U. Working on some 3" Remington Nitro Hulls with blue dot pushing 1 7/8 oz. #4's. Might see if I can get Alliant Steel to push 2 oz. #4's?

[Svt40]

Used a 20 3" with 5 shot turkey load in Bennelli nova 28" with turkey choke at 12yds ,very close about took his head off. Nice 3 year old 1-3/8" spurs . May use same this year or sxs 12ga. Used muzzleloader 10ga. 16ga.20ga. And most of all for at least 40 toms a 2-3/4" short mag.1-1/2 oz of 5 shot in a Parker fxf sxs with 30" barrels. The best turkey getter ever!

[rancher1913]

22lr subsonic at about 50 feet. figure to get 2 or 3 before they get wise. stupid things walk right up to you and there must be 50 or so in the group.

[noisewaterphd]

12 gauge supernova with Carlsons turkey choke and a scope. Been using it for years.

I am thinking about ordering some of the ITX "turkey trauma" tungsten shot to try this year, but I don't know if I will have the time to pattern a new load.

Anyone else ever loaded with the ITX stuff?

[Duster340]

Trusty old Mossberg 500 12 ga, WW 3" mag,#5

[izzyjoe]

870 magnum, #6 Longbeards, 660 Carlson choke. I've yet to see a better shotgun lead load!

[M-Tecs]

Same as always. Compound bow with slick trick broad heads.

[Tenbender]

Old Stevens 220 20 ga. Maybe my mod. 20 JC Higgins ?

[cpileri]

Well, if I had a 10ga i am sure i would be using it- seriously. just because, well, its a 10ga!

But im planning a 12ga w extra dense shot: either Federal heavyweight (15g/cc) or some of Hawglips TSS (18g/cc) loads.

[Geezer in NH]

22lr subsonic at about 50 feet. figure to get 2 or 3 before they get wise. stupid things walk right up to you and there must be 50 or so in the group.
Know what you mean here in NH I use a Jack Russell she gets to keep them as the meat ain't very good to me.

[Goose18557]

12 gauge supernova with Carlsons turkey choke and a scope. Been using it for years.

I am thinking about ordering some of the ITX "turkey trauma" tungsten shot to try this year, but I don't know if I will have the time to pattern a new load.

Anyone else ever loaded with the ITX stuff?

I've loaded itx 10 #2 for goose. ..is good stuff but pricey

I plan on dropping my own Bi90/Sn10 in #4. 3" cheddite with1 1/4oz and some longshot powder.

[tim338]

10 Gauge, nickel plated #5's. I have killed turkeys out to 35 yards with this combo.

[TonyfromItaly]

Hello fellows, excuse me for not minding my own business (how unitalian of me) but if you reload, i suggest lots of N. 6 shot with less powder charge and buffer,it keeps patten denser much farther away for a neck shot. We have done a lot of tests with pressure barrel and patterns up to 50 meters. On still shots, speed is not so important, but pattern is. To achieve better pattern we have found that reducing pressure and speed works well. :-D

[bikerbeans]

Tony,

What velocity and weight of 6 shot worked the best. Also what choke?

BB

[Tenbender]

162739

Early spring in Va.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Tony's suggestion of slow, heavy loads makes sense. In William Greener's book "The Gun and its Development" he mentions competitions where you strived to get the highest numbers of pellets on a paper target. Some of the most dense patterns could barely reach the target! Of course this would be overkill (or, more correctly, underkill) on a turkey, but the idea is sound.

[prsman23]

I'm going in with just my bear hands and am going to choke ok' Tom out.

[TonyfromItaly]

Tony,

What velocity and weight of 6 shot worked the best. Also what choke?

BB

Hello, on a magnum load 12 ga,( (50 grams or 1.75 oz) i think you get best pattern around 370 ms ---1200 fps. When i lived in Georgia, i used to hunt turkeys
(Hancock county) and always tried neck shot with n.7 or 6. I moved back many years ago, so i do not know if you still hunt them that way. Buffer helps a lot in keeping pattern tight. :)

sorry, full choke and the longest barrel you have. Beside that, the wad is also very important in shooting long range. We use a tube like wad that we open up with 4 cuts (only the first inch ). We also have 100 meter shells, and they are loaded with an upside down tube wad, but you must be very careful in loading them, the pressures go up a lot.

[TonyfromItaly]

these are some 100 meters loads162773

[Lonegun1894]

I'm going with a 28ga cylinder-bore flintlock, seeing how close I can get, and if I don't improve on my performance from last year, getting my turkey from the grocery store!

[noisewaterphd]

Hello fellows, excuse me for not minding my own business (how unitalian of me) but if you reload, i suggest lots of N. 6 shot with less powder charge and buffer,it keeps patten denser much farther away for a neck shot. We have done a lot of tests with pressure barrel and patterns up to 50 meters. On still shots, speed is not so important, but pattern is. To achieve better pattern we have found that reducing pressure and speed works well. :-D

Agreed. I think that makes perfect sense from a physics standpoint.

Along the same lines of thinking, the heavier-than-lead ITX shot should theoretically help keep that group together at even higher speeds, right?

I can shoot lead shot at turkeys where I live, so it may not be worth it. I had been eyeballing the ITX stuff for waterfowl hunting, but never got around to testing it out.

If I give it a go I'll be sure to report back.

[southpaw]

Friend of mine talked me into trying the winchester long beards. This was no easy feat since I was pretty happy with my reloads. I bought the carlson long beard choke for my 835 and 870. What a combination. In the 870 I got 178 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards. This was with the 3.5" 2 ounce #4 shot. In the 835 with the 3.5" 2oz #6 I had 281 hits in the 10" circle at 40 yards. That is more than 50% of the payload in a 10" circle.

I may still use my reloads with 2oz of #4 shot since I like my birds a bit closer.

To answer the question, it will either be the 870 with the long beards, the 835 with reloads or the long beards, my 10 ga sxs churchill or... Heck I am hoping my boy gets one with his youth 510 20ga so I can watch and maybe get it on video.

Jerry Jr.

[Blood Trail]

This is what I'm using. 163062

[bikerbeans]

This is what I'm using. 163062

Is that one of them new fangled mechanical broadheads I been hearing about?:bigsmyl2:

BB

[captbligh]

Last spring was my first turkey hunt. Bought a Winchester SPX Turkey Hunter 12 ga pump, shot 3 1/2" Win Longbeard #5s, with a Burris Fastfire III. Really nice outfit, shot well with the issue choke (recoil was really stout :shock: but figured I'd only shoot one more round.) Nice tight patterns out to 40+ yards. Too bad the turkey flew out of the roost right in front of me, but they were over the lip of the sidehill and I never saw them. Walked right up to my hunting buddy who was about 100 yards to my left. He killed a really nice gobbler at about 35 yards with an M870, 3" Win Longbeard #5s, and full choke. Oh well, maybe this year. We're going back to same area during the first week of May.

[Lonegun1894]

This is what I'm using. 163062

With the way I seem to be going with my choice of tools, I will follow your lead as soon as I develop the skill to make those kind of broadheads.

[Hogtamer]

You da man BT! I've killed 3 with old Rothaar 3 blade Snuffers out of my recurve over the years. Getting drawn is a bit of a challenge since I never hunted out of blinds. Coulple of years ago cleaned the cracks of my old reloading table and wound up with an oxidized mix of 4s, 6s, 7 1/2s and whatevers, enough to load 5 shells. Killed 2 birds and still got 3 shells. We got dumb turkeys in GA I guess!:bigsmyl2:

[Blood Trail]

That's good trash, Hogtamer! Shot two deer this past year with the same head, same arrow. Texas Chert point. Tuff stuff. Almost had a third deer. Drew back and the top of my recurve hit the blind and sent my arrow smashing into a rock. [emoji1475]

After kill number 2 from the same hunt, 15 mins apart:

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[Ural Driver]

Never hunted turkey because them folks at Butter-Ball have me spoiled rotten.......but I'm gonna have to do something soon because them birds are getting to be waaaaay too numerous. Last count I had about 60 of em running around. When a feeder goes off the deer ain't got a chance. That wave of birds runs in at the sound of the slinger and cleans up every kernel. If I can get my suppressor bought and fitted I will take them with a .22 and give em to the neighbors......

[35 Whelen]

Dang! Some of you guys must be hunting iron turkeys! The heaviest load I ever used were 1 1/2 oz. #4 buffered handloads. The last one I whacked with a shotgun was with an old Fox 16 ga. double loaded with Winchester field loads of 1 1/8 oz. #4. I assumed the shotgun was choked M/F and I was using the full choke. I later measured and found it is actually choked S/IC and I w as using the IC!
A couple of years ago I used a '92 lever in 357 firing a CAS load of a 125 gr. RNFP @ around 900 fps. This year....not sure. I'll either use one of my old '97's with a handloader of #4's or an ancient 1873 Winchester in 38-40 with a BP handload.

35W

[finstr]

163213
163214
i'm using this 12ga of mine with turkey chokes. I've killed 3 coyotes this winter with it with #4buck. It has 14" barrels and Mobil chokes. Awesome in the tight bush!

[OnHoPr]

Good Evening Gentlemen

I am not sure but maybe my turkey days maybe further apart anymore. But, as I poked in and seen this thread I wish all a good successful hunt. Back a few years ago I tried that HeviShot and it seems to work wonders with a decent choke tube. The only problem is with these newer choke tubes and new types of shot that shoot tight patterns for those birds that want to hang up that they can shoot to tight for when you get a answer back gobble and your in the thick stuff. It works great if you are on a hardwood ridge or pine plantation before the ferns start popping up. In the thick stuff it is almost like shooting a rifle if you have to be quick about it. I started carrying two loads with me while hunting. If I knew I was going to be in thicker stuff where shots were going to be 40 yd or so and under I used a reload of 2 oz of number 5s in 3.5". Those 5s hit hard and can help go through ferns, pine needles, and light brush better if need be. The second load I carry is a load of HeviShot 3.5" in 7s when the longer shots can be more common. If he's real close when he answers though don't try switching ammo because of the noise of the action. Here's a couple of targets. One is with the 5s with 113 hits in a loose leaf paper and the other is with 371 hits of the Hevishot 7s in the same size paper. Both are at 40 yds. I can and maybe you can assume that the HeviShot 7s will reach a bit further than 40 yd and both hit at same POA/POI with a scope. Those ferns and ground brush can hide beards when they don't come in like on TV all strutin pretty in the morning sun and they are doing the sneak on your on gun shoulder side from behind you, that's why I use a scope and old eyes of course.

Don't raz me to much about my turkey targets, when you do a couple hundred or so they suffice.

I will mention partially about another load, but I will not give details on the forums about it only that it may be interesting for some of the reloaders to think about. I played with 5s and 6s quite a bit. But, when I went to a few of those turkey seminars a few years ago and they were talking about so many hits to a 10" circle or something about that size and patterns along with hung up toms before I started dabbling with aftermarket chokes I tried something. I wasn't getting the so called pattern densities that they were referring to. So, I dabbled with 8s, but at High Velocity. I know all the data says they don't have enough energy. But, that is with loads in the range from 1100 to 1300 fps. There is established data out there for loads a lot faster than that. I dabble with some #8 loads that went pass 1500 fps (not saying how much faster) and they were very surprising. I acquired 1 1/8 oz and 1 1/4 oz loads that were very respectful as to the number of hits @ 40 yds. I even shot a turkey with one of them.

164011164012

May your mushroom hunting be successful also.
Get the smokers, deep fryers, and ovens ready.

[CastingFool]

I will be using my 870 express 12 ga, with 3" Winchesters loaded with 2 oz of copper plated 4's. With my Hastings .655" choke, it will kill at 40 yds.

[griffiga]

I, like bikerbeans, will be taking my LC Smith 12 gauge side by side hammer gun into the turkey woods. I shoot approx 3 dram (80 gr FFG) black powder reloads with 1 1/8 oz of number 4 shot Velocity is about 1050 fps ( I consider this about max for this old gun with Damascus bbl s) I used to use 6 shot but as I load the shells with black powder, and my shotgun is open bored, I limit my shots to 25 yards or less and the # 4 pellets give me a bit more killing power on those tough old birds. I cheat a bit and use the plastic wads were I used to put in felt, but I don't notice any difference in my pattern especially at the range I shoot. I could use my Browning semi auto or Remington 870 with magnum shells, but to me that isn't nearly as much fun. My wife accuses me of being born at least a century too late, maybe so. The local market had turkeys on sale a while back and I went ahead and picked one up so regardless of how my hunt turns out, we will be eating turkey!

[rbuck351]

I haven't hunted turkey yet as they don't have wild ones in Ak. I'll be moving to Mt. in June and when ever the next available season comes along I plan on using a single .310 lead ball from my 32cal flint lock. The wife says the turkey won't leave the deer feed alone when she puts it out. I'll be fair and put out a couple of signs warning the turkeys not to be stealing the deer feed but I'm afraid I might have to make an example of one or two. Wife says they are pretty dumb so it may take more than a couple. We'll see.