Rebel Hog

Good advice Borch!

maytom

Great advice BT!!! I try to keep 40-45 yards as my extreme range.
We all hear of people shooting at 50-70 yards, but thats the exception.
There's just too many variables that come into play with taking a extremely long shot,since the possibility of crippling or wounding a gobbler at that range comes ito play!! Stay within your best pattern range, be a better caller, and you shouldn't have any problems.

car

This years was 33 yards and last years was 47. One shot on both.

Strut&Rut

I can blow a hole through a 3/4 inch piece of plywood at 30 yards with my gun/choke/X-tended 6s, with almost 150 pellets in an 8x10 target at 45 yards (30+ in vitals). I won't even hesitate to take a clear 50 yard shot on a bird standingin a pasture...

With that said, even with 15/20 vision IMO there's too much "stuff" in the woods for a safe shot over 40 yards, with 25 to 30 yards the optimal distance. It only takes a single 1/4" sapling to completely ruin your gun's pattern and to me, the only feeling worse than shooting and missing, is staying home in bed

Adrian J Hare

I'm not sure what angle this post took , but I have to say that what I read makes me hang my head [&o]

What ever happened to the CALL that hunters use in this sport. SPend some more time practicing with the call and shoot the gobbler clean at 30-40 yards not a guessing 60-70 yards [:@]

Not one person answered this post , as it was asked.

Pattern your Shotgun with a number of Loads and find the one load that shoots the best. When practicing use 30 yards , the range that is the most common for hunters that call the bird in and take. Then try 40 yards and see if it will handle a proper load to Cleanly kill the bird. Forget about the 60-70 yard shots.

I have a 20 gauge that will cleanly kill at 50-60 yards but will not take that shot...BT

schliker

This is my thoughts if the birds comming let him come. to me the real fun
of turkey hunting is getting the bird at least to 20 yds i have killed many
closer like inside 10 or 15 yrds. No need for an extream tight choke. have fun
so you scare one or two what thrill it is o have them close. I think you shoot
them past 30 yrds it just not calling them in.

Strut&Rut

Hmmm...

Interesting.

I never considered "hunting" a sport. Most of the sports I know of, the competitors do not die. When I was taught to hunt, we were taught to learn and respect the game, and above all else know our own limitations and stay within those boundaries. People may talk about shooting sports, such as sporting clays or trap, but nobody I consider a good friend considers hunting a sport.

I believe this is a modern phenomenom, as most old-timers took the opportunity to kill game when it presented itself. If it was legal quarry then it either went home or, if the hunter made a mistake, lived to see another day. Sports were played either on courts or ball fields, but not in the woods...

If my gun can make clean killing shots at 50 yards, and I have a clear path, then it is a humane and lethal opportunity. If I've patterned my gun to 60 yards, and I'm sure there is enough killing power to down a bird, then it is a viable shot. Go read my post where I had patterned a bird, then belly-crawled through $hit to get a 55 yard shot at a henned up gobbler, because I was too intent on calling the bird instead of hunting the bird. Take a look at the picture I posted, and get a good glimpse of that gobbler's head...that shot gave him a serious headache...one from which he was not going to awaken.

Some of us do not have the luxury of being a "pro-staffer", and hunting every day of the week, waiting for the correct breeding transition stage to "call in" a bird. Sure, it's great to get a nice tom gobbling on the roost or fired up while runnin-n-gunnin, then call them in to the gun, enjoying every split second of the action and anticipation. We've all done it, and I won't say it's not what drives me to the woods every Spring. But most of us also need to make the most of every positive possibility to harvest an animal, ethically, and hence long clean shots may be an inevitable part of the hunt.

Sorry for the rant, Adrian, but you didn't answer his questions either. And if you couldn't tell, it really irks me when somebody frowns on the most critical aspect of ethically harvesting an animal, which is determining and accepting the hunter's limitationsincluding the gun & ammunition.

As a pro-staffer, I'm not surprised you want to call the birds in close. But I digress, what is the need for a 50 yard gun if you're only going to shoot birds at 25-30 yards? You could argue...misjudged distance. Then my answer is, instead of buying a gun and wasting the money on a new setup, spend $100 on rangefinders so you can learn how to accurately judge distance!!

To me, it's like buying a modern compound bow to possibly take 40 yard shots, then only taking 15 yard shots...incredulous to say the least, IMO.

As for the questions:

1) Yes. You can easily take shots with the new improved combination loads, such as Hevi-shot and X-tended Range, out past 30 yards. But again, it's not always about the load, it's always about the shot...

2) Yes. With the proper choke (so many on the market) fitted to your gun---with the proper load and adequate patterning---you can easily harvest a bird at 40-50 yards.

3) No. I would not shoot past 30 yards with copper-plated #6. I've seen too many people simply knock birds down past 30 yards, with lead #6s, only to have the bird recover and leave. Larger lead loads (#4 & #5) could be lethal, depending on your gun/choke/ammo and your shooting conditions.

FroMan

30 yards is fine. 40 yards is usually fine. 50 is pushing it. I won't shoot at anything much over 30 personally, but guys who think they can out to 40 is fine with me.

I killed my bird this year at 15 yrds and my bird last year at 7 yrds. With a buddy last week he killed his at 25 yrds.

50 is pushing it. Anything 40 and less most of the time is a good clean kill.

Arrowmaster

I use a Mossberg 500 with an xx-full turkey choke (factory) and use Federals 5 shot 2oz. My longest shot this year was 42 steps and he didnt go anywhere. My other 2 birds harvested this year were at 15 yards and at 5 yards.

Adrian J Hare

Boy, we finely got some answers referring to the question at the start , but like normal not before we Bash someone for what they do. Typical responds to a message board ...BT