Suggestion when patterning turkey guns ---> borrow or buy a PAST shooting pad for your shoulder and shoot from a sitting position with shooting sticks. I shot my gun 8-10 times when sighting in a new scope without any ill effects.

I shoot 3.5" 2.25 oz Nitros out of a ported Mossberg 835 and was able to reduce felt recoil substantially by installing a ported choke and a Limbsaver recoil port. That Limbsaver pad +double porting + the extra weight of a scope, rail, bases and rings converted a very sharp mule kick into just a big push. Much more managable.

Another thing that hasn't been discussed ---> In my experience the Mossberg 835 handles the 12 gauge 3" 2.25oz loads better than most guns because the barrel is overbored. There is more room in that bore for the big shot to be choked without overcompressing it. The Star Dot choke I shoot in my 835 is .676 inches internal diameter. Indian creek tubes for other 12 ga guns range from .650 to .665 ID

All that shot gets too compressed in a standard 12 barrel with tight turkey chokes, which is why 3.5" loads don't pattern as well as 3" loads shot through standard 12 ga bores. in my experience.