Looking for a scope for my turkey gun, is a lighted reticle helpful?

I prefer a red dot.

Great for low light conditions, and allows you to shoot with either hand sometimes helpful for those sneaky gobblers.

Let us know what you decide.


I put a Burris FastFire reflex red-dot on my turkey gun. This will be first year I use it.

As far as sights go for a turkey gun, I have a hard time recommending anything more than a Burris FFIII. Battery lasts forever (not literally, but a really, really long time), stands up to the recoil of 3.5" magnum turkey loads, low-profile, and parallax free. Adjustable brightness, and your choice of MOA dot size. As far as price/performance goes, hard to beat, IMO.

Some do want an actual scope, though. I hunt with a friend that has to use a scope because of his aging eyes. He went with a Weaver 1-4X24 with their turkey reticle, and he hasn't looked back. Loves it. I haven't hunted with his gun, but I did do some shooting with it, and it is a pretty sweet little setup. As long as my eyes allow me to go without a traditional scope, though, I will. To each their own.

Maybe atn or Vortex...

I just stick with sights

Can you leave it on all day or do have to turn it on when the birds start coming in? I have been thinking about getting one for my old mossberg. I don't shoot 3.5's but the 3" turkey loads back a good enough wallup for me lol

You leave it on the whole time your hunting Kelly. The batteries on the FF3 are said to last three years. Most guys carry a spare. Lol. I could tell you a funny story about that but I will hold back.

I would turn mine on when I walked in, and turn it off when I got back to the truck...did that for three years til I sold the gun, and left the sight on there. Still the original battery. I would estimate that the sight was on for at least 500 hours, and it was still working just like it did the day I put it on. Pretty phenomenal. I did keep a spare in my vest, but never needed it.

I always took at least one shot pre-season to make sure everything was still dialed in...for three years it stayed zeroed with not a single issue.

I will be getting another for my new turkey setup.

Kelly -

I have a Bushnell, and also turn it on when I rack a shell and then turn it off when I unload. I can get 4-5 years out of a battery when using it in that manner, maybe more, but I usually change the battery before risking it.

I have no scientific data to indicate how long a new battery can last, and obviously turning it on/off will draw more power than just leaving it on, but I know I can get more than 500hrs from my Bushnell. In 2016, at the end of turkey season (end of May) I unknowingly left the scope on and didn't touch it again until mid-November when I got it out for deer. The dot was weak but still visible - after being left on continuously for ~ 5.5 months or ~ 4000 hrs of continuous use. I changed the battery but was damn impressed - and because it's a watch battery, the sight will progressively get weaker and tell you to change the battery, it typically just won't outright die.