Turkey hunting with a 20 gauge

[Fire/hunting guy]

hello, my son and I are wanting to get into turkey hunting this year. He has a single shot 20 gauge shotgun that has a modified choke. I got to admit, I know nothing about turkey hunting, can someone give me a little advise. Is my son's rifle good enough to hunt? How close would we need to be to the bird? thanks

[msmith1956]

Your son's 20ga. will be fine if you keep shots around 25yds. Have him get in some practice on some turkey targets, shooting at the head and neck

[turkey guide]

That 20 guage will do just fine, I started my girl out with a 410 when she was very young and we never had a miss. Call them in as close as possible and use a stick in the ground beyond your decoys to mark the maximum distance you are comfortable shooting, after your son has practiced and patterned his gun. You can print turkeys head targets from the internet, or buy some. Make sure you're getting a good number of pellets concentrated in the head, at whatever range your shotgun shoots best. Your maximum effective range will depend on the gun and ammo used. You may find that your gun patterns best at say 15 yds this year and kill your bird within that range. Then you may try other ammo and find your range extended to 25-30 yds for your next hunt. Just keep experimenting with ammo as often as you can, and when you are satisfied with a load stick with it.

[Wingbone]

A 20 ga. will hit as hard as a 12 ga., just with fewer pellets. The mod. choke is more of a limitation than the caliber. As was so well said above pattern the gun, keep the shots close.

[rem1187]

20 gauge is a great turkey gun try and get a full or extra full choke for it though because mod choke will have its limitations. im 12 and goin turkey hunting with my dad this spring on the youth day with my 12gauge

[Adrian J Hare]

I'll never use a 12 again. 20 Ga Bennelli Nova is my turkey gun. With patterns like this at 40 yards why carry a heavier gun

[joeyc]

I'm going the same route with my 11 yr. old this year. He also has a single shot 20 gauge, fixed modified choke, single shot. It patterned pretty well at 25 yrs. with the Federal Flight Control, 1 5/16 oz. #5 loads. I also want to try the same loads with #6 and the Federal Heavyweight 1 1/2 oz , #7. These are all MagShok loads and Federal has a rebate going to lower the price a little. Another load I want to try is the Federal high velocity 1 oz load in #7.5. This load would be less recoil and should be good for under 30 yds and carry about 350 pellets.

I added some weight in the plastic stock to bring the weight up to 6 lbs and a recoil pad, otherwise the recoil might be a problem for a young guy.

As mentioned above, have him pattern the gun load combination.

[Digi]

I will be joining you this year with the 20 gauge. I am tired of lugging a 12 ga pump around for turkeys. I had an old 20 gauge H&R topper sitting around so I took it to the gunsmith to tap the barrel for a screw in choke. I will be picking it up this week. It weighs a fraction of my nova.

[LKNCHOPPERS]

If his gun can use screw in chokes find an extra full or turkey choke for the gun and that will help a lot.

[Fire/hunting guy]

Originally Posted by LKNCHOPPERS

If his gun can use screw in chokes find an extra full or turkey choke for the gun and that will help a lot.

No such luck, the barrel that came with it is a modified choke, and no threads to screw in additional chokes.