I,m definitely not an expert, but I can tell you my experience. I went turkey hunting for the first time last spring and finally got my tom after several trips out. My hunting partner was with me helping me call and just generally helping me out. This nice tom came in just perfect to my decoy. The bad thing is he never once came out of his strut. My buddy clucked several times and made other noises but that bird was fired up. Finally at about 15 yards I fired with the tom still in strut. I was using 3 inch #4 Winchesters and he went right down. Had a few shot skid along his back and 3 small holes in his fan. I'm not saying you should always take a shot when the bird is in full strut but it worked for me. I did save the fan, I'm proud of it being my first, and I think the 3 holes don't take away but add to it's character.