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20 ga. for turkeys?

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GRAMPS

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O.k., I am not a turkey hunter but thinking about giving it a try. May sound like dumb questions for you folks but here goes.

Can I kill a turkey with a 20 gauge? I recently sold my 12 gauge and a 20 ga 870 is the only shotgun I have. It is chambered for 2 3/4 shells only. What size shot should I use and at what distance should be my maximum shot be limited to. Really thinking about trying for turkeys this spring since I have never killed one and do not want to buy another shotgun.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
I am sure you could..... the 2 3/4 chamber is your biggest hurdle.... most of the common turkey shells are 3"....

If you aren't over there already, go check out OldGobbler.com

There are many nice folks over there and eager to help out when asked. There are even guys that ONLY hunt turkeys with a 20ga.

I don't have experience with 20ga hunting, but I'm sure someone over there can give you some sound advice.

I go by Bad Grizzly over there.
 
About 10 years ago my so killed one at 40yards with a 20ga. 3 inch #6 shot with a Hastings turkey choke in a Mossberg 500 Bantam.


I am not advocating you doing this but I will tell you about it & you can decide if that would work for you. A long time ago before all the hi-power shells & fancy choke tubes. We would pry open the end of the shotgun shell & melt a little candle wax on the shot to make it hold together a little better. It works very well. Best of luck to ya.
 
my son uses a 20ga to kill turkeys and it does a wonderfull job,using hevi 7 it will put up a crazy pattern at 40 yards.he killed a 25lb gobbler last season at 42 yards stone dead not even a flop
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If you don't mind paying the price for them, my first choice would be 2.75" Federal Heavyweight #7s. Coupled with a turkey choke, this load will probably throw killing patterns to 35-40 yards.
 
Thanks guys. I appreciate all the information. Guess I will find me a turkey choke and start buying and patterning shells so I can find what works best for me. If I like turkey hunting, I will have plenty of time in the future to hunt. I plan on retiring from work next December. :) :)
 
My little brother killed longbeard after longbeard with his little twenty. Dead as dirt out to 35-40 yards. His was a mossberg 500 youth model that shot a three inch with winchester surpreme 5 shot with a undertaker choke. Inexpensive, and probably what I will go to when I get tired of getting the crap kicked out of me with my 3 1/2 in loads.
 
Gramps,

I would feel little handicapped heading to the turkey woods with a 20 gauge, even with "only" 2 3/4" chambers. In fact, I've been seriously thinking about going to a 20 gauge turkey gun myself.

How many times have you heard accomplished turkey hunters say MOST of their turkeys are killed at under 30 yards? At 30 yards, even a 20 ga. quail gun can be adequate.

Not sure about availability, but if you can get some 2 3/4" shells loaded with #7 heavier-than-lead shot, that will likely be your best shell option. Otherwise, consider a high brass 7 1/2 shot. Your target (a turkey's head/neck) is approximately the size of a dove, albeit a little bit tougher.
 
Thanks Wes. I did not know you hunted turkeys. Just remeber talking to you about deer hunting while we stuffed ourselfs on Cindys catfish. :D Talking to you then sure convinced me to start hunting thinkets which has paid off for me. :)
 
me and my buddy doubled up last year. i shot mine with a 20 gauge 870 with #6 heavy shot and a jelly head choke. he used an 835 with heavy shot mag blends and an indian creek choke. mine flopped a little longer, but both went down. shot was like 25-30 yards
 
Gramps my duaghter hunts with a youth model 20ga 870
She has had some great luck. We always try to get them in as close as we can anyways...but within 35 yards she is deadly. I put a tightwad tube in it, she shoots 2 3/4 inch shells

Turkeys fall when she goes boom!
 
GRAMPS said:
Thanks Wes. I did not know you hunted turkeys. Just remeber talking to you about deer hunting while we stuffed ourselfs on Cindys catfish. :D Talking to you then sure convinced me to start hunting thinkets which has paid off for me. :)
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GRAMPS, yes, I do quite a bit of turkey hunting.
Even though I now use a dedicated turkey gun (after-market choke, optical sight, and costly shells), MOST of my turkeys have been killed while hunting with 2 3/4" shells from a 12 ga. side-by-side that was my favorite "squirrel" shotgun for over two decades. I've killed many turkeys using the same left-over shells from "squirrel season".

By the way, Cindy lost so much money on us that she had to close it down. Cindy's Catfish is now "Bower's Restaurant", but they still serve the catfish buffet, similar food and atmosphere.
 
You can definitely kill them with your gun Gramps! You wont have quite the distance as a 12 ga but a decent choke and shells will serve you fine!! Both my boys have killed with a 20 ga in the past, matter of fact Ryans first was with a 2 3/4" 20 ga and high brass 7 shot pheasant loads!
 
tndrbstr said:
I'm seriously considering using my stevens .410 some this season.
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And I'd bet it's quite deadly on a turkey's head out to about 30 yards or so. Been many a squirrel killed with a .410, and imo, a squirrel's hide is tougher than a turkey's head.

Winchester said:
. . . . . matter of fact Ryans first was with a 2 3/4" 20 ga and high brass 7 shot pheasant loads!
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Glad you mentioned those very high-velocity "pheasant" loads. I've been using them for squirrel hunting, and in a #7 shot, I'm sure they would be a very deadly turkey load. Fiocchi makes them with nickel-plated shot (as opposed to copper plated), and they appear to penetrate better than other lead loads ---- best of all, they're fairly inexpensive.
 

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