MarquetteMagnum

I would say make the kid shoot a 12gauge, time to man up!

Canned Heat

"I love how some people seem to have this mindset that if its illegal in my state, it obiviously won't get the job done. Also i can't stand people with this mindset that if it doesn't make a very loud boom, it's worthless, ala .410 for deer, turkey, upland birds, even paper for gods sake. JMO though, don't look much into it."

AmHunter44857...Take some, if not all of these replies, with a grain of salt. They're only opinions, after all. He wanted opinions and he's getting them. Some good, some bad, some indifferent. If it's legal to use by you, then by God, get out there and use it. Just make sure you get the bird close enough for a clean kill and it doesn't run off wounded.If it does...there's more fodder for the tree-huggin' anti's to use against us all. My post was based on simple facts...a .410 is NOTlegalin most states, and there's obviously a reason for it.Turkeys are incredibly tough and resilient animals and if you've taken plenty of turkeys witha .410, you were either damn close, damn good, or damn lucky.I own an old Winchester Mod 42 in.410 that was my dad's and as much fun as it is to take it out grouse hunting or rabbit hunting, I'd never think of using it for a tough old gobbler. Don't let these posts get you all wriled up. Every one of us could go into almostany thread here and take issue for at least one thing that someone wrote. Just my 2 pennies...

My season starts next Wednesday...Good luck guys.

RIStrutStopper

.410 is illegal here and I would seriously check the laws before hunting turkeys with one.

kpatte26

As far as I know they do not make a turkey load for the .410, the next best thing to do is find the most dense pattern that you can put on paper at 20 yards or less. I would hope that things turn out well for the young man this spring and he can harvest a big old gobbler. I also hope that in the next year he will grow a tad bit and be able to move up to a 20 gauge which is offered in several youth models from what I have seen. Then some of the people on this post wont be all bent out of shape over the .410 issue. I do not care how the turkey ends up dead as long as it is humane and legal!

Rory/MO

also, i would look into a 20 gauge, with a light bird shot. killed my first turkey when i was 8 with a 20 gauge, with 2 3/4" #7s
just do whats legal, and make sure you dont shoot one out to where the guns not capable of killing the turkey.

MarquetteMagnum

Well this past weekend was the youth season here in Missouri, and my 5 1/2 year old son was really wanting to go, so he did a lot of practicing with his Remington 1100 youth model 20 gauge. He got really consistent with it and I decided to take him out on Saturday. I put up a blind off the edge of one of my food plots where I always see lots of turkey activity every spring. I had been getting lots of pics there this spring too. We headed out Saturday morning in 30 degree temps with spitting snow and wind, not good I thought, but as we neared the plot I hooted and heard two gobbles up on the ridge overlooking the plot about 100 yards away. We set up in the blind and I put out my new B-Mobile decoy and waited for daylight. We could hear some hens, and heard a few birds fly down. I called a couple times and had a hen answer. Then a few Jakes started squawking about 75 yards behind us at the edge of the ridge. I answered them a few times and got them really worked up, then came a booming gobble from the same area, I pulled out a gobble tube and gobbled back twice. I knew they would come around from our right side, so I got my sons shooting stick situated and the gun barrel pointed out the right window of the blind, just as I handed him the gun and told him to look everything over to see if he could see everything he needed to. He told me " I see one!" I looked out the window and could see big gobbler running/strutting down the middle of the plot, as fast as he could go without coming out of strut! He came by so fast Colton couldnt get a shot, and was in the front of the blind in just a couple of seconds, we repositioned the gun out the front window, and he got on him. The bird was very intent on giving the B-Mobile a good flogging, he strutted and bumped and wing slapped at the decoy for a few seconds, and then turned to face us head on at about 15 yards, Colton got on the bird and put the dot on his head, and gave him a face full of #6s! The bird did a back flip and started flopping. It was the best turkey hunt of my life, and one I will remember forever, and I hope my son does too. He was so excited, and did very well for a boy of his age. I was a very proud daddy! Sorry for the long post, and thanks for reading.





5 1/2 YEARS OLD, 20 GAUGE
He is a Man now.