Of all 5 of my kids that use a shotgun for anything, only 3 ever got into turkey hunting when they were little. The other 2 didn't "feel the love". Now all my boys were tough little farts and my oldest daughter was tougher than all 3 of my boys combined. They shudder when she gets pissed That being said, they all started with 20 gauges and most still use them to this day. My youngest daughter still uses her 20 for deer and turkey. The other kids have 12's but use their 20's more than them. To me anyway, a shotgun needs to fit even better than a rifle. Especially a birding gun. But with the heavier loads and more often than not your back is parked up against a tree, you don't want a shotgun in their hands that will crack a shoulder bone when pinned up against a tree while turkey hunting. A good auto loader 20 with some #4's and a good full choke is some seriously deadly medicine for turkey and not a whole hell of a lot of recoil. Especially if fitted properly. I personally take a little Browning Citori .410 for rabbits with my dogs. Lot less chance of an accidental pellet hitting one of my speedster mutts if they are closer than I thought. Don't like picking pellets out of my dogs. They have teeth and not afraid to let me know they are mad at me