Patterning? I think the gun is broken.

Its definitely not needed, I see both sides of the spectrum here. But to some its just something else to do. I would not hesitate to hunt with black winchester #5s again and I have the chokes in case I ever want to. I like the the after effect on turkeys with HTL compared to lead (floppage :) )

But in the end they are still dead turkeys so it is what it is.
 
I agree with the missed turkeys now days. but hunting deer and turkeys is my absolute passion just as for probably everyone on here. for me I personally get the best things I can afford and htl loads imo are the best on the market. but that's just me. I agree lead will kill them deader then dead, but I personally like the htl loads.
 
deerhunter10 said:
I agree with the missed turkeys now days. but hunting deer and turkeys is my absolute passion just as for probably everyone on here. for me I personally get the best things I can afford and htl loads imo are the best on the market. but that's just me. I agree lead will kill them deader then dead, but I personally like the htl loads.
Click to expand...

Believe me I get it, and that's why I say shoot what you have the most confidence in and what you like. At the end of the day it's your $ and hunt so shoot whatever makes you happy
 
If I had a GREAT place to hunt, hunted all woods, and knew I could put them in my lap, I would shoot lead and never consider shooting over 40 yards. But, I only have a good place to hunt, there's a lot of fields, and it's harder to put field turkeys in your lap.

Therefore, I limit myself to 50 yards, shoot a tight pattern, Hevishot, and a Leupold turkey scope.

I hope at some point I have perfected the craft enough and there are enough turkeys in extreme West TN that I can go the route Setterman refers to. For now, I have to take every advantage I can. I much prefer hunting in the woods and getting up close and personal.
 
The first thing..... did you aim at the dot and then draw the "count circle" around the dot?

You should put the dot for an aim point..... Shoot the dot, and THEN draw the 10" circle around the most DENSE part of the pattern... this will tell you if you have a POA/POI issue when using the dense area of your pattern as the sweet spot.

You can try a different choke/shell combo to correct for an "off" POA/POI or go to an optic of some type to center up the sweet spot of the pattern with your point of aim.
 
If your going to stick with lead these loads have always done the best for me in a variety of guns.

Winchester XX 3-2-6
Winchester super X 3-1 7/8-5 (silver box)

Starting last year they came out with the Federal turkey thugs that they sell at Wally World. Both the 5's and 6's in those did real well for me. A lot of people have good results with the High Velocity Winchester loads, though I never really did consistently. This year I'm trying the Winchester Long Beard shells, I've only shot 1 so far but the results were crazy high numbers. I just like to piddle with guns, but what some of these guys are telling you is 100% true. You don't need the tightest chokes or big numbers to kill turkeys. Before all this number stuff got popular I used to just pattern my gun to see I was centering my pattern and had a even one. I never use to count numbers, and truth be known back then my numbers where probably pretty low. Thing is I never failed to kill turkeys back then, and the ones I kill now a days aren't any deader than the ones back then.
 
TN Whitetail Freak said:
Grizzly i drew a 10" circle then drew a circle in the middle walked back to 40 yds and shot
Click to expand...
if those are 40 yard patterns with lead shot and your NEF then those are good patterns, no way I'd get caught up in numbers with that many pellets at 40 yards. It only takes one pellet to kill him, but you want more than that, so say 5 to 10 pellets in the head/neck area will kill the bird. And with your patterns you should get at least that many at 40. Just throwing out numbers, someone is gonna disagree with me but I've seen my Pardner kill to 50 yards with lead Winchester 5's so 40 yards should be no problem. I do shoot a different choke than you and I doubt it makes my patterns any better than yours
 
Setterman said:
Send Final Steps Tc a pm and ask him about what happens to jerk long beards that dance at long distance for me. No one gets them in their laps every time it's impossible.

Rather than tout the effectiveness of 3.5" lead myself ask him, he's seen it on more than a few occasions.

I firmly believe the new age rifle like patterns are completely unnecessary and result in more birds missed at close range than ever before.

Hey it's a free country, please shoot anything you want. I'm just offering an opposing view backed up by a day or twos experience in this game
Click to expand...

I'll second this.

I think new comers should know that inside of 40 they can kill turkeys with WalMart lead and the full choke that came with their gun, assuming 12 gauge here.
 
I have heard those Remington nitro turkey loads are really bad. never shot any of them though.

I don't think I have shot anything but hevi 13, and nitro performance out of my turkey guns for the last 5-6 years. why mess with perfection...
 
catman529 said:
TN Whitetail Freak said:
Grizzly i drew a 10" circle then drew a circle in the middle walked back to 40 yds and shot
Click to expand...
If those are 40 yard patterns with lead shot and your NEF then those are good patterns, no way I'd get caught up in numbers with that many pellets at 40 yards. It only takes one pellet to kill him, but you want more than that, so say 5 to 10 pellets in the head/neck area will kill the bird. And with your patterns you should get at least that many at 40. Just throwing out numbers, someone is gonna disagree with me but I've seen my Pardner kill to 50 yards with lead Winchester 5's so 40 yards should be no problem. I do shoot a different choke than you and I doubt it makes my patterns any better than yours
Click to expand...


So if you feel that lucky all the time, do you buy lottery tickets daily?

His best pattern is on the 3rd picture..... it's pretty decent and I might be satisfied with it had I run out of options.


Depending on that "ONE LUCKY PELLET" is no way to be turkey hunting. You can say what you want to about how many you flock shoot at 50 yards..... but in reality you have been just plain lucky....


TN Whitetail Freak, if you can try a different choke/shell combo, I would see what happens. If that isn't an option for you right now..... I would deep clean / polish your shotgun barrel and shoot what you used in the 3rd picture to see if some of the gaps would close up. Shooting in warmer temps will give you better patterns as well. I wouldn't waste your time with #4's at all... I look at it as the more pellets in the payload, the better.... as more will be headed towards the target. The most important thing is getting your POA/POI centered, however that is accomplished. If you are worried about being too tight at close range.... Stick with what you used with the 2nd & 3rd pics.... but deep clean/polish your barrel.
 
I would go get some decent shells first and see how they shoot then if it doesn't get much better I would start to change chokes and shells. as for me im not going to put all the time, work, and money into turkey hunting to hope I have one lucky pellet. but that's just me. I would stay so far away from the nitros as you can they are junk. if your into lead I would highly recommend the long beards they have been putting up crazy numbers for lead.
 
Catman is spot on. I said it before and in the past having 200 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards is inconsequential, I bet I don't have 20 and I guarantee if my cheek is on the stock and the red dot is on his neck his butt is toast.

I really would love a good explanation someday regarding the ultra tight pattern craze. Growing up this was not a focus or concern, most folks shot either full or even modified factory tubes and killed pretty much any bird they wanted to.

As said in an earlier post in the last few years it seems everyone is obsessed with this stuff. In reality what difference does it make if you kill him with 10 pellets or 100?
 
Back in days you mention people actually worked birds in close, now they want to make sure if he hangs up on their fancy decoy at 60-70 yds they can
Kill him.... Used to that meant the bird won and we could hunt him
Another day... Now he gets crippled most of the time and hunter thinks he just missed but can't figure why he dont gobble any more.....
To each there own I guess.....
 

Latest posts

Back
Top