Northport buckslayr

After an awesome morning of watching a boss tom chase away another tom and watching him breed eight hens for forty-five minutes, the hens crossed the field with the big tom in tow right to my location. Sounds great except I missed at forty yards. I have never used anything but the factory front bead for a sight and I am thinking its time for an upgrade. So I am sure I'll get a bunch of opinions but what is best fiber optics that go on the rib, a red dot, or a low power scope?

JW

I bet you slightly lifted your head to peak! Turkey hunting today with the great variety of very tight choke tubes available for us - well you are really shooting a slug of lead shot at close range.

I suggest Tru Glo fiber optics that screw on or have wedge bar is used to secure them(not the magnetic type).
I also strongly suggest that you make sure they are adjustable for both windage and elevation so you can pattern your gun to a T and dial that puppy in.

The above is if you are young enough to see back sighting ramps. I used them for years with great success.

JW

Hurricanespg

If I put fiber optic sights on anything I use Williams Firesights. All metal construction, and fully adjustable.....they have never let me down.
Having said that, I do prefer scopes. They are not really needed for the most part, but I do like the sight picture that they give.

Northport buckslayr

Yea the only thing I can figure is that I didnt have my head down on the stock and I shot over his head. I saw a big cloud of dust behind him where the shot hit the ground. I did a little research on the internet yesterday and it seems that some guys say #6 shot doesnt have much knock down power at slightly longer shots. Maybe I should switch to #5?

LKing

I'll cast a vote for the Hiviz-Triviz Turkey/deer combo sights. Adjustable for windage and elevation, and the front sight is circular to surround the entire target so that the field of vision is whole, if that makes sense. Much different than throwing the bead on the turkey and not seeing much, if any of him, at 40 yards.

That said, I have the Truglo pro gobble dot on the Mossberg and that is not bad either.

Todd1700

First have you patterned your shotgun aiming it at a very large sheet of poster paper? The reason I ask is that many, many, shotguns do not throw the center of their patterns to the exact point of aim ofthe front sight. In fact I have seen some that shot as much as 6 or 7 inchs off at 30 yards. Easily enough to make you miss a turkeys head. The addition of an adjustable sight can correct the problem if it exists. Also a set of front and rear fiber optic sights will make you keep your head down when aiming. Liftingof the headbeing a common reason for missing as well.

Lead 6's will typically be fine out to 40 yards if your gun patterns them well but that is the maximum range I'd go with them. Lead 5's will certainlystay lethal a little farther but you need to see how far they hold together in a dense enough pattern. (Did I mention patterning your gun yet?) (Do I sound like an irritating stuck record on that point? LOL!) If so, it is only because that is the only way you can "know" what your gun is doing with a particular type of shot at a given distance. Outside some trigger time at the range all we can do is "guess" what the problem may be.

Bernie P.

I like a green/red fiber optic combo.As much as I like the Bushnell Trophy Red dot on the rifled deer barrel it doesn't gather quite enough light for early in the AM shooting.Here in NY we can shoot birds 1/2 hr before sunrise.That said if you can find an RD in your price range that does gather enough light that would be the better choice IMO.

IL-Cornfed

I've tried 'em all, several different fiber optic sights from Hi-viz and Tru-glo, a couple different scopes from Nikon, Leupoldand Bushnell and a couple of Red dots. To date, my fav is the new TRU GLO Gobbler Stopper red/green dot I shot this year! This sight is top shelf in design and built to take anything a turkey season can throw at it. You've got to take a serious look at one.... for the money, there is just no better choice in my humble opinion. The circle reticle is perfect, with a fine dot to concentrate on in the center and an outer ring that represents 24" @ 30 yards.... just perfect. I also love the fact that the reticle is multi color, meaning you can opt for RED during low light or GREEN during very bright light or typical later day shooting situations. I also love the extended sun shade on the optics tube, this totally eliminates any and all glare that could be possible on any optic. I just couldn't imagine a better put together, more versatile shooting system for Gobblers..... and all for under $100. ALL of the turkey guns in this houshold will be wearing this optic before next turkey season gets here! Good luck and good shootin'

Centaur 1

Check out Swampcollie's sticky about patterning your turkey gun. He explains the need for a large target vs. an 8 1/2" x 11" target with a turkey head on it. It's amazing what you find when you can see the whole picture. When you only use a front bead it's easy to miss a bird, even at 40 yards.

RIStrutStopper

I just put some tru-glo pro-series magnum gobble dot fiber optic sights on my 835. Previously I didn't have any room for vertical adjustment on my sights and was shooting 9" high so I had to remember to aim low. With the new sights being fully adjustable, I'm dead on. Easy to install and adjust, I'd recommend them.