I'll just be honest, Iv'e been target shooting and hunting Whitetail my whole life and I never once heard anyone talk about choke tubes on a Shotgun, but then again the people who I hunt with only deer hunt so I guess Choke Tubes don't mean anything as far as that goes.

This year im going to take up bird hunting as well as turkey hunting. I have done a bit of research online about what type of equipment I will need and such, and I keep seeing the word Turkey Choke, modified choke, etc. I'm so extremely confused by this. I understand what the purpose of a choke is, to keep the spread tighter, but I have absolutely no clue what to get, or if the shotgun I have even has a choke tube in.

I just have a Remington 870 Express 20 guage. I put my finger in the barrel, I can feel a thread like texture, but im not sure if its the choke or just the rifled barrel. I went to the store and bought a box of Winchester Super X Upland and Small Game Ammunition. 2 3/4 inches, 1210 Velocity, 7/8 oz, 7 1/2 shot. I stood no further than about 10 yards away from the target, and the spread barely hit the target! It was way off to the right.

Is this normal? I mean, I never bird hunted and I know all you need is for just one of the pellets to connect, but I feel like they should be a bit tighter, especially at that distance.

So I want to bird hunt and Turkey hunt, what should I do? I don't really have the $$$ to just go buy another Shotgun right now, I can buy a choke but I just have no clue what to get. Do I need a separate choke for bird hunting and a separate choke for turkey hunting? Or is there a Choke that will work for both? what kind of ammo should I be getting? Etc.

Anything information what so ever will be HIGHLY appreciated!