Turkey hunting with a 20 gauge
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 22
Turkey hunting with a 20 gauge
hello, my son and I are wanting to get into turkey hunting this year. He has a single shot 20 gauge shotgun that has a modified choke. I got to admit, I know nothing about turkey hunting, can someone give me a little advise. Is my son's rifle good enough to hunt? How close would we need to be to the bird? thanks
#3
That 20 guage will do just fine, I started my girl out with a 410 when she was very young and we never had a miss. Call them in as close as possible and use a stick in the ground beyond your decoys to mark the maximum distance you are comfortable shooting, after your son has practiced and patterned his gun. You can print turkeys head targets from the internet, or buy some. Make sure you're getting a good number of pellets concentrated in the head, at whatever range your shotgun shoots best. Your maximum effective range will depend on the gun and ammo used. You may find that your gun patterns best at say 15 yds this year and kill your bird within that range. Then you may try other ammo and find your range extended to 25-30 yds for your next hunt. Just keep experimenting with ammo as often as you can, and when you are satisfied with a load stick with it.
#7
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 16
I'm going the same route with my 11 yr. old this year. He also has a single shot 20 gauge, fixed modified choke, single shot. It patterned pretty well at 25 yrs. with the Federal Flight Control, 1 5/16 oz. #5 loads. I also want to try the same loads with #6 and the Federal Heavyweight 1 1/2 oz , #7. These are all MagShok loads and Federal has a rebate going to lower the price a little. Another load I want to try is the Federal high velocity 1 oz load in #7.5. This load would be less recoil and should be good for under 30 yds and carry about 350 pellets.
I added some weight in the plastic stock to bring the weight up to 6 lbs and a recoil pad, otherwise the recoil might be a problem for a young guy.
As mentioned above, have him pattern the gun load combination.
I added some weight in the plastic stock to bring the weight up to 6 lbs and a recoil pad, otherwise the recoil might be a problem for a young guy.
As mentioned above, have him pattern the gun load combination.
#8
I will be joining you this year with the 20 gauge. I am tired of lugging a 12 ga pump around for turkeys. I had an old 20 gauge H&R topper sitting around so I took it to the gunsmith to tap the barrel for a screw in choke. I will be picking it up this week. It weighs a fraction of my nova.
#10
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 22