TAC, great to see someone getting into hunting the way you are. I have taught weapons marksmanship for 8 years now. 6 years were in the military. (hence my name) REF. what type of shot gun to get...it is a matter of comfortability. I don't like mossbergs but that is my opinion.(chevy vs ford syndrome) I like Remington 870's for turkey with a super full choke. (law enforcement, military and millions of hunters use remington, not trying to sway you in any way but...
) I know guys that live by mossberg too.[:'(]
First things first, DON'T let recoil deter you from getting a higher guage weapon. I will get to this later.
Second-try the weapon at the store as you would in the field. So many people try a weapon by standing by the counter and putting it to their shoulder and say " Oh...that feels nice" but try holding a rem 870 with a 28"barrel in the sitting position while looking down the sights. Then turn your upper body around as far as you can. If you're a smaller framed person this will be a problem. smaller frame body...go with a youth rem 870. (or mossberg
).
Now to recoil, so many people are afraid of recoil. For one after you have a turkey or deer in your sights the last thing you will think about is the recoil and when you do shoot the last thing you will feel is the recoil. But to reduce recoil try this method(can be used for any weapon):
Hold the weapon like you would normally. Now push the weapon out with the hand holding the forearm. At the same time pull the weapon into your shoulder(leaving no gap) using your hand near the trigger. What you are trying to do is stretch the weapon apart. This will put alot of the recoil on your arms and not all of it into your shoulder. (the old method was pull the weapon into your shoulder tight using both arms. This only puts 100%of the recoil into your shoulder.)
let me know what you buy and if this method works for you.