Would you have taken the shot?

[tnichols]

I reload my own hevi-shot shells. I have my own recipe of 3" #5 that is just devastating out of my gun. (Beretta 390 12 ga. w/ Briley's HS choke). I push the envelope with this shell, but pressures are in the safety zone. Hunted last weekend in a field at the base of a ridge. My father-in-law hunted the ridge at first light with my son. He had a huge Tom hangup w/hens at 80 yards. The bird was traveling down toward the field before they quit hunting. I decided to hunt the field and set out 4 hens decoys. I knew he had hens so I was going to have to out number them to spark his interest. I set out the decoys and setup on the treeline and called. I use 2 calls at once to sound like more than 1 hen. Diaphram/Aluminum friction, then I switch to a different diaphram and box combo. This technique has really paid off for me over the years. After my session of multiple calls sure enough, he pops out in the field full strut 120 yards away, and yep he has 2 hens with him. He's a biggin alright, I'd say 11 inch beard, around 25-27 pound bird. I work him and the hens for 30 minutes. I get him into a range of 50 yards at my guess. I am slightly above him on a knoll. Then he starts to get nervous, he drops out of strutt and makes the slow turn like he is about to get out of dodge. Well I let him have it. I dropped him in his tracks. I get to the bird as fast as possible and he is down. I look over my shoulder and to my surprise, my father-in-law is driving his truck across the far end of the field (300 yards away) to go hunt the back side of the property. Now I know what spooked the bird. I then turn back to look from were I shot and to my surprise it is more than 50 yards. I pace back to my spot....61 yards. Now I am a ethical hunter and I rarely shoot over 30 yards at a bird. If I was shooting lead I would not have taken the shot. When I cleaned the bird he had 5 lethal pellets in his neck and 1 pellet that broke his back from when he turned to run. He had a 11 1/4 inch beard and weighed 27 3/4 pounds. I have spent a great amount of time patterning my gun with this shell combo. I am confident I can take that shot at that distance. Would I do it again? probably not! I know I am going to take a beating from you guys so bring it on.

[PacNWhunter]

tnichols, I shoot the same gun with a Hastings choke. You sound like you know your gun and loads real good. We have all missed judged distance at one time or another, so don't be too hard on yourself. But,.....yes here comes the but.LOL I'm sure you normally don't shoot at that range so as far as your ? I would not have taken the shot because like you I perfure 30 to 35yrds as the max range to shoot. But hey congrats, nice bird.

[huntnma]

i misjudged one of the birds last year, thoguth it was around 20, it turned out to be 31.the longest shot i have ever taken.......with todays equipment and hunters knowing this and thier own ability, it's bound to happen more and more.longer and longer shots that is.....we all know youre an ethical hunter, thank God your equipment didnt fail you....

[Antler Eater]

This time it worked out, next time it may or may not. Who am I to say? I wasn't there, I don't know your equipment or your abilities. In my case, I make no judgement on your decision. I get the feeling you are a conscientious hunter or you wouldn't take the time to do the testing that you do. That doesn't mean that a person can't make a mistake, but it does show you are putting some thought into your decisions and you are not out there just trying to shoot something.

I read in a magazine where one of the writers killed a tom at 70 yards with hevi-shot. I know with Remington's version of hevi-shot out of my setup I couldn't come close to achieving the performance needed to pull off a shot like that. Shoot, I'm lucky to be able to see a turkey at 70 yards let alone shoot at one!

I think knowing your own limits and the limits of your weapon through preparation, planning and an ethical attitude make all the difference in a situation like yours. I talked to a friend of mine today and he told me he took a clear shot at a huge tom at 15 yards (he was using a 20 gauge) and for what ever reason the tom got away. There is nothing that is cut and dried out there in the real world. No absolutes. "To thine own self be true."

[NYhunter80]

I would have probily taken the shot also. I have a browning and it was pattering with 7-10 pellets just in vitals at 60yrds and about another 10 in the head. I also use a scope. I wouldnt take 60yrds shots on a normal basis but if the situation (getting close to noon) I would take the shot. I am young and havent killed many turkeys and the birds are far from being easy to call in. I know that there are many people who would disagree and say it is about getting them close and i dont nesscarly disagree but you have to take what you can get.

[jepcho]

Bottom line...you know your equipment and we dont. Last year I patterned to were I felt confident out to 50 yards, I ended up dropping one at 55 yards thinking he was a little closer. I normally wont shoot past 40 yards though. If I thought he was at 50 I may have taken the shot. By the way....Congrats on the BIG bird you killed!!

[DaveH]

I diligently patterned my gun out to 50 yards and consistently was getting 12 pellets in the brain and spinal cord at that disance. I still wanted to keep my shots well under that range though. I shot my second gobbler this year at 42 yards and thought it was much closer, but he dropped like a bag of rocks and never even flopped.

With the kind of performance you're getting, 50 yards is probably going to be OK in the vast majority of situations. What happened this time worked out too, but I wouldn't count on it every time and would wait for a closer opportunity if it happens again.

[Strut&Rut]

Yes, I also would have taken the shot. My Ithaca, with lead shot, will place 8-10 pellets in the vitals and I'm switching to hevi-shot. The techs at Ithaca stated with Hevi-shot they can count 25-30 in the vitals at 50 yards. I've killed birds, with my older guns, at 30 yards and only recovered 2 pellets.

To top it off, your bird was in a field. No worries about minor deflections from branches, briars, etcetera---you had a completely unobstructed shot (well, at least I can only assume ).

With your setup, I wouldn't even question it. To me, what is the sense in owning a weapon that will perform out to 50 yards, then limiting yourself to 30 yard shots? If you want to shoot at 30 yard distances, don't bother wasting the money & time in getting a gun that will double your chances of success. I like to call 'em close too, but no sense in not filling a tag at 50 yards with a weapon that can consistently perform at those distances.

[tnichols]

Thanks for the responses. I started reloading HS for duck's and turkey as soon as I could get my hands on the shot. I first started reloading #6 hevi but it just did'nt pattern well out of my Beretta. I shot a remington factory #5 out of the gun and the pattern was unbelievable. This year I bought a 10 pounds of #5 shot and came up with my own recipe, I am shooting 1.70 oz out of a 3" shell. It patterns better than the factory and only cost me roughly $1 per shell. If you guys have shot this stuff the downrange energy is awesome. I was shocked that I miss judged the distance to the bird since I bowhunt. In a bowhunting situation I would have ranged my area with my rangefinder. I will probably never take that shot again but to drop a Tom at 61 yards well quite frankly.......was awesome. My father-in-law just could'nt believe it. The first thing out of his mouth was "Could I perhaps get a couple of those shells!".