Turkey Shot Gun

[agentcq]

Looking at purchasing a shotgun good for Turkey.

Looking at a semi-auto and hopefully it will accept 3 1/2 inch shells.

Would also be beneficial if it could be used for goose season as well.

Budget = <3K

Thoughts off the top of my head;

Benneli M4 (only in 3 inch)
Benneli Super Vinci
Benneli SBE II - but why when the SBE III will be here in months.

[CNP]

Those are some might fine guns. My turkey gun lol: Rem 870 20 ga. Primos Jelly Head Maximum Turkey Choke and Williams Universal Slugger Shotgun Fire Sight. Bought my license yesterday . Pattern it today maybe........with a couple different turkey loads.

[gtr]

Any Benelli will be fine in a semi. Good choice if it fits.

[JTRED]

I would like a dedicated turkey gun but I have been using my Mossberg 535 12g, light synthetic stock. It's great to pack all day when you're chasing turkeys but it is a wicked gun to hang onto shooting 3.5" turkey loads, I still have 8 out of 10 in a box I bought 8yrs ago when I first patterned the gun for turkey hunting. I found 3" Federal #5 with the Flight Control wad patterned best and didn't break your fingers. Maybe they're better through a semi but keep in mind you won't be standing so your body takes the recoil. When I touched off one of those 3.5"s sitting with my back propped against a tree(right shoulder off to the side so there is still some give) it cut the webbing between my fingers. Worse then being scoped. So thinking I had been hanging onto it wrong like an idiot I racked another one. First impressions are usually pretty accurate.
A friend had a Benelli and it was a far superior shotgun.

[jungleboy]

Pardon my ignorance on this topic as I have never hunted turkeys . I have watched them being hunted on you tube etc but that's it. Are these birds really that difficult to kill with a head shot on a walking bird that they require a special shotgun ? I mean they just don't look that hard to kill. If you can dump a WT deer with a 2 3/4" load of buckshot (at least you used to be able to back in the day ) I would think a 2 3/4" load of bb or #2 lead through any 12ga full choke shotty should be more than enough.
Not trying to hijack or stir things up . I truly am curious

[agentcq]

Turkey's are harder to kill more than most birds.

Hence why 3.5" is an advantage.

Also head and neck shots are necessay, so a bead may not be the optimum sight.

If possible you want to extend your range possibly up to 75 yards with #4 shot.

The US videos make it easy, many more Turkeys on the ground and people have years of experience hunting them.

The last time I hunted the, was 10x years ago...my father and I only had legal oppotunities at long distances and ended up empty handed.

Long story short...lessons learned.

The only better opportunities I had were on private land that we did not have acces to, or while stocking one Tom, some road hunter poached him off the property within 100m of me....

[shakeyleg02]

Originally Posted by agentcq

Turkey's are harder to kill more than most birds.

Hence why 3.5" is an advantage.

Also head and neck shots are necessay, so a bead may not be the optimum sight.

If possible you want to extend your range possibly up to 75 yards with #4 shot.

The US videos make it easy, many more Turkeys on the ground and people have years of experience hunting them.

The last time I hunted the, was 10x years ago...my father and I only had legal oppotunities at long distances and ended up empty handed.

Long story short...lessons learned.

The only better opportunities I had were on private land that we did not have acces to, or while stocking one Tom, some road hunter poached him off the property within 100m of me....

You dont need 3.5 inch shells to kill a turkey and if you want to possibly shoot 75 yards at a turkey you shouldnt be hunting them and possibly learn to call better imo

[agentcq]

Originally Posted by shakeyleg02

You dont need 3.5 inch shells to kill a turkey and if you want to possibly shoot 75 yards at a turkey you shouldnt be hunting them and possibly learn to call better imo

Hence why I said 3.5 inch is an "advantage" not "necessary".

And even the best and most frequent US hunters say that you should expect to encounter Toms at anywhere from 10-75 yards....

[huntingd]

Remington 870 with the sureshot stock. Red dot sight. Primos turkey choke with 3 inch Winchester long beard number 5. That has worked for me killing birds in 5 states over the last ten years. The shotgun is far less important than patterning different turkey chokes with different ammo. The long beard shells have increased my effective distance substantially. I also would go with a pump but that's personal preference. Whichever gun you choose will work if you put the effort into patterning it at different ranges with different chokes and ammunition.


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[CNP]

40 yard pattern. Not planning to consider anything further than 50 yards. Couldn't even imagine what a 75 yard pattern would look like.......even with a turkey choke and turkey loads.....

[Mistagin]

My old 870 I paid $130.00 for back when I bought it new with a modified choke barrel is perfectly adequate. But then, all the turkeys I've gotten I've called to within 20 yards . It's how ya hunt them, not how far you shoot at them

[Ithaca Dog]

Love hunting turkeys but it has been a long time. I've killed them with 2 3/4 6's with a full choke, 3 inch 4's and 6's with a full choke and 3 1/2 inch 4's and 6's with a turkey choke. Every year I would put more thought into my gun and load and upgrade. My first year I grabbed some pheasant loads and killed a turkey. The next year I bought some special turkey loads and killed a turkey. Eventually I bought a 3 1/2 inch Harrington and Richardson single shot with a super tight turkey choke which also came with a rifled slug barrel for deer season. I still killed turkeys.

I'm not sure if any bird was killed over 40 yards away. My 2 3/4" 6's would have done the trick on every bird. But.... I wouldn't have had as much fun researching, finding, buying, patterning, and shooting the gun if I wouldn't have continued to improve my equipment.

Find what you like and play with it until your happy.

[buckchaser]

I have never had any desire to touch off a 3.5 inch turkey load after shooting 3 inch loads!

In all seriousness, the 3 inch loads I have used have all put birds down with authority, out to nearly 50 meters (I underestimated distance - don't like shooting past 40 meters).

Research I have seen had #6 lead having a lethal range of 35 meters, #5 45 meters, and #4 55 meters - but few shotguns pattern #4 lead well.

Heavier than lead options (Hevishot, Federal Heavyweight) extend that range by probably 5 - 10 meters for equivalent sized shot - but patterning is key.

90% of my birds have been shot between 25 and 35 meters.

Much of my hunting is calling for others - I have seen more than a few birds missed and unfortunately a few wounded - common thread in almost every case was shooting a bird on the very outside of lethal range (or beyond).

Pack your rangefinder. It is surprisingly easier to miss your distance estimates. Turkeys are a big bird and most people think they are much closer than they actually are.

I used Winchester Xtended Range #5 (heavier than lead) until it was discontinued. I will be patterning HeviShot, Federal Heavyweight, and a few lead options to see what will be next.


My current turkey shotgun is a Benelli Supernova Steady Grip with 24 inch barrel and Aimpoint mounted on top. I previously used a Browning BPS with the same optic. I can recommend both shotguns.

[YoungGun96]

Can't really go wrong with any of the benellis. Personally I'd go with a beretta a400, I prefer gas operated and it shoulders nicer. The recoil reduction is also a bonus when shooting 3.5" shells. I shoot a pattern master for geese and can put a 3" #2 shell in a 12" circle no problem, should be good enough for turkeys.

[Dick284]

Good gawd turkeys aren't half as hard to kill as a deer!

The trick is calling them within 40 yards and delivering a tightly patterned load of 6's, 5's or 4's into its head. Even if you try BBB or #4 buckshot(not legal in Ab.) on the body of a gobbler you'll likely won't dispatch it quickly.

Headshots are the mantra.

Get good at calling, find their roost, find the strut zone, and get them in close and bag your bird.

I've watched 22lb Tom's flattened by a .410 loaded with 3/4oz of 5's.....mind you the gent weilding the Model 42 Winchester happened to be a past president of the wild turkey federation.

For me I managed 4, Rio Grande turkeys with a 2.5x scoped Remington 1100 12ga, shooting 3", 1-3/4oz 5's out of a full choke barrel, this load patterned into about a basketball at 40yds, there wasn't much more than 1/2" between any two pellets at that range. My biggest bird was 23 lbs, with a 9-1/2" beard, and 1-3/4" spurs.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Mistagin

My old 870 I paid $130.00 for back when I bought it new with a modified choke barrel is perfectly adequate. But then, all the turkeys I've gotten I've called to within 20 yards . It's how ya hunt them, not how far you shoot at them

Ain't that the truth!

[agentcq]

I may just end up using my O/U Browning Cynergy in 3.5 inches.

Now to start playing with chokes.