I looked around but could not find the topic on the website. I drew a turkey tag for unit 102 near Elko, Nevada. This will be my first turkey hunt. After I find which load shoots best in my gun (Moss 500), how many pellets should I require in the vital zone of the bird(will only be head/neck shots)? I'm not yet sure how long the shots will be, as I'm still trying to locate a place to hunt, and will do some scouting ASAP. The load that I have right now is the Remington Premier Magnum Turkey load. 12 ga., 2 3/4" Max, 1 1/2 ounce shot, #4's. Assuming an appropriate patern, how far would this load be capable of taking a bird? Would there be any reason for me to change to a different type of load, either in shot size, or weiight, or length to 3"? Any help with these questions would be great! Thank you!

CB,

I like the 3 in. better than 2 3/4, and I use either #5 or #6 shot, both work well in my turkey gun. As for as how many pellets in the kill zone, I don't know how to answer that other than try different loads and see which one will put the most pellets in the head/neck area. I have used rem., win., and fed. shells all are good. About the furtherest I've killed a bird has been 40 yds and like them closer. dog1

A 2 3/4" load will kill a turkey at any distance a 3" load will. Perhaps even farther. The 3" loads aren't more powerful, they just have more pellets. The velocities of the shorter loads are usually higher because you've got about the same amount of powder and a lighter shot charge. I've had 2 3/4" loads pattern better than 3" at 40 yds. It depends on what your gun likes. My personal criteria for a good pellet count is a minimum of 20 in the head/neck at 40 yd. Any load that will do that consistantly will drop a turkey, no matter what the length.