I hear that the wing usually stops lead #4,5 shot .How about #2 copper plated shot ? http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=727326

wonder how good of penetration it gets on turkeys and could double as a coyote load

Id be curious to see how it patterned at 40 yards...

Take only head and neck shots and you wont have to worry about the wings stopping the shot. You should always aim for the head and neck area of a turkey. Why would you even want to shoot one in the body? Aim for the the neck area where the feathers and the skin meet and you cant go wrong unless your gun shoots high or low and you should know that before pulling the trigger on a turkey, then you adjust your aiming point so you can hit him there.

It's not just the wings that stop the shot, it's the thick layer of body feathers themselves. That mat of feathers acts like kevlar. I suspect if it were a viable method, it would be in practice by now. Stick to head shots. Besides #2's are illegal in some states.

illegal in Ontario, only #4, #5, and #6 allowed.

Illegal in many states

Unethical in all of them.

Can you kill a deer in the neck with your bow? Sure. Sometimes. Can you kill a deer in the lungs with your bow?....Yes. Nearly every time. Huntig is always (or should be)about taking the highest percentage shots, only. I can PROMISE you, you will lose/ cripple more turkeys if you start shooting for the body, no matter what shot size you use. Several friends who hunt here in PA's fall season with rifles, lose considerably more birds than I ever do using a shotgun. If they can get up and fly/ run being hit through the body with a .223 or even a .243, rest assured that even large diameter shot will lose birds just as often. Head neck doesn't leave alot of margin for crippling. Usually the bird goes down and stays down, or it's a miss. That is also why I favor the guillotine style broadheads for archery turkey hunting. Miss, or stone dead. That should be our goal every time we hunt,no matter the weapon or the species. If you put in your homewrok, your gun should be able to find a load that will be absolutely lethal in the head and neck >99% of the time at 40 yards (if you do your part with shot execution, keeping your cheek down, sqeezing the trigger, lining up the sights properly and waiting for the right time to shoot). Hope this helps.

i dont even understand how you could consider a body shot. the pellets would barely penetrate the feathers, and if they did they would only wound the bird. A head/neck shot is the only ethical shot with a shotgun hands down...

I took my first gobbler last year. He gave me no other option than a side shot. I aimed for his head, but broke his wing and peppered the whole left side with heavy shot. It killed him, but took a while for him to finally expire.

I would not take recommend a side shot because it will damage a lot of the meat, results in a lot of shot in the meat that you wont find until you take a bite.

No way I am taking a body shot. I aim at it's neck half way between the head and body.