hunt12ga

I've been testing shells for my son to use on his first turkey hunt coming up this weekend. He will be hunting with my 20ga Optima Elite. I had decided that I was going to limit him to 25y with high brass 2 3/4" 6's because they pattern great. Past that, it wouldn't shoot anything well enough for me to feel confident. Even the Double X 3" shells shot poorly with full and XF chokes at 30y. So I decided to spend the cash and try the 3rd degree shells (couldn't bring myself to pay $30 for the Heavyweights with my wife standing there watching haha). At 35 yards they are awesome, with the factory full outperforming the CVA turkey tube by a bit. I didn't try 40 because I only had 3 shells left but I'm guessing it would be fine. I obviously wont let him try at that range until we test it. As long as I do my part calling I am confident that he can hammer a bird out to 35. When I'm a bit richer Ill fork out the extra 10 bucks and try the Heavyweights. And if Winchester will ever load us some Longbeards in 20-fingers crossed...

Wish us luck here in Illinois and be looking for some pictures of him with a bird this weekend!
rw

Phil from Maine

While we do not know how old your son is. It makes the call hard to say along with if he has ever shot the 20 ga. at all or not. You should stay with the 2 /34 " shells if he is young which I am guessing he is. I surely would recommend holding him back to the 25 yard range as well. You want him to do great if one shows up. Heavy shots for your son maybe a bit much and cause him to flinch when shooting.. You surely do not want that. That is my 2cents worth.. As well as good luck to your son..

hunt12ga

We ended up having a successful hunt, but I will save the details for a separate post. I just wanted to let you know that he has been practicing with the 20 for several months to prep for his hunt, and was shooting a .45 muzzleloader barrel on the same frame for deer last fall. He is on the light side for a 10yr-old, but the youth stock that CVA sent me fits him well and he has good form. He handles the recoil very well and has a nice trigger squeeze.
He showed that he could handle the 3" shells comfortably and effectively during a practice session a couple days before the weekend so we went ahead and used those on his first hunt Saturday morning. It worked out well. He smoked a bird at 30y like a seasoned pro
rw