I' m new to this board other than I generally read rather than post. Well, I need some advice so I' m posting now!

My dad is looking at needing to get surgury done on his right shoulder which is his dominant side. The doctor has warned him about jarring that shoulder which includes a shotgun while turkey hunting. I realize he could try to learn shooting from his left side but so far he isn' t talking about that. He doesn' t want to give up turkey hunting since I got him into it and he is now hooked!

So what I' m trying to help him with is shotgun options with little to no recoil (the optimal choice). I' ve talked to him about looking at a semi-auto and possibly a 20 guage though I' m not the expert in this area – that' s why I' m asking all of you! He is very budget concious so I' m thinking if the price stays around $500 or below he' d be thrilled and encouraged.

Sorry to be so wordy but thank you in advance for any advice and info!

Thanks!

Welcome to the boards 5210. Other than shootin left handed the only other option would be to switch to something like a 20 ga. Pattern it from diffrent yardages like you would any other shotgun for turkey.Then you will know it' s limits.With todays shells and chokes a 30 to 35 yd shot would be reasonable.My 12 yr old killed his first turkey this fall with a 20 ga. Good luck to your dad.

Another welcome here 5210...there are some things you can do to help in drastically reducing recoil but can be somewhat pricy!Jim gives some good advice here in that there isn' t a dang thing wrong with down sizing to a 20!My kids and myself have all killed birds with a 20 more than once.A much cheaper opportunity to look into is check out some of the aftermarket recoil pads.SVL..Sims Vibration Labratory makes a good one i believe for around the 30 to 40 dollar mark.I shot a 300 magnum last week about 15 times that had a Answer Products pad on it and it was incredibly nice.I dont know for sure if they make a pad for a shotgun but it wouldn' t hurt to ask because if they do it would well be worth your money.Heres the add...
http://www.answerrifles.com/answersystem.htm
Hope it helps..Bob

First off tell your dad to get better!

If this isnt going to be a permenant injury you might want to encourage him to give the lefty idea a try rather than buy an entirely new gun. I dislocated my shoulder two yrs ago and the doc said not to shoot with it so I just practiced a little and it worked out. You just have to remind him to close his right, dominant, eye and shoot with his left if he wants to hit something.[:-]

I'd go to Yahoo and search for "shotgun recoil reduction". There's many a gadget, including mercury tubes, which really work. Then I'd encourage Dad to get a gas operated autoloading 20 gauge and stick a Sims or such aftermarket recoil pad and a mercury tube on it. Then I'd get him to promise to reduce his range to 15-20 yards. You can instantly kill a tom at that range with a 1 oz. 2 3/4" 20 gauge HeviShot, and there is virtually no recoil to begin. With the added mercury tube and recoil pad, Dad should be good to go.