I went to 20 gauge last year. Wish I would've done it years ago. With TSS it's a no brainer, just second guessing myself and wondering if I should've went .410...
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20ga gobblers
- Thread starter howl
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.410 is a narrow pattern and won't cut brush. I tote a 20ga until I kill, then switch to .410.
I’ve been killing turkeys with a 20 since before Hevi shot came out. Me and my hunting partner have killed a pile of them with a 20ga. I can remember the last bird I shot with a 12ga was opening day of 2008. I’ve carried a 20 since then. I wish I had pictures, but I always forget to take them, and if I do they get lost in the cloud.
1st turkey(s) I ever killed with a 20 was May 5 2008, and it was a 1 shot double with 1-5/16 Federal Heavy Weight lead shot. Never ever ever thought about toting a 12 after that.
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1st turkey(s) I ever killed with a 20 was May 5 2008, and it was a 1 shot double with 1-5/16 Federal Heavy Weight lead shot. Never ever ever thought about toting a 12 after that.
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Those heavyweight 7s were the stuff. Shame Federal quit making them. Had to start loading TSS after that.
I hunted turkey at a time when I only had a 20 gauge shotgun with a standard "full" choke (which patterned on the open side, barely better than most "MOD" chokes.
I bought a total of 10 rounds of good, expensive, 3" shells, shot 5 in pattern tests, and took it hunting.
Saw a turkey and called it in to what I estimated was 20 yards. It took a while: I probably first saw it at 60 yards distance.
Took the shot.
Bird started flopping around, wounded.
I stood up and shot again. Saw dust kick up all around it. It still flopped around in pain.
There was a barbed wire fence between me and it, and I could not rush over there to blast its head off from spitting distance, so I fired again from the same distance and finally it quit moving.
Before I left the field, I paced the distance from the bird to the fence, and then to the spot where I fired from.
It was really more like 35 yards. My distance estimation was way off, and not suitable for the gun and choke that I carried that day. If it were really 20 yds, things would have worked a lot better.
When I cleaned it, I found only 3 good pellet strikes near the center of its body, and a few minor wounds.
Apparently my pattern was as wide as a hula hoop.
I bought a total of 10 rounds of good, expensive, 3" shells, shot 5 in pattern tests, and took it hunting.
Saw a turkey and called it in to what I estimated was 20 yards. It took a while: I probably first saw it at 60 yards distance.
Took the shot.
Bird started flopping around, wounded.
I stood up and shot again. Saw dust kick up all around it. It still flopped around in pain.
There was a barbed wire fence between me and it, and I could not rush over there to blast its head off from spitting distance, so I fired again from the same distance and finally it quit moving.
Before I left the field, I paced the distance from the bird to the fence, and then to the spot where I fired from.
It was really more like 35 yards. My distance estimation was way off, and not suitable for the gun and choke that I carried that day. If it were really 20 yds, things would have worked a lot better.
When I cleaned it, I found only 3 good pellet strikes near the center of its body, and a few minor wounds.
Apparently my pattern was as wide as a hula hoop.
35 yards is a chip shot now for a 20ga with tungsten. It's crazy what ammo change will do as far as making a difference.
Add another to the 20ga tally
It's only a handicap if you lack skill.
