40 yard turkey

[Yarak]

With the onset of the tss craze I'm reading more and more that birds are being killed beyond 40 yds
Not only am I reading about kills beyond 40 yds but also am reading about more wounded birds to run off and most likely die
I know shotguns will pattern well enough to go beyond 40 yds but what happens when you have a bird at 20 yds and your pattern in no bigger than 2" in dia ?
I guess my question is Would you want to have a really tight pattern at 50 yds to show off and limit yourself on close quarters shots or have a pattern that will get the job done out to 40 yds with little chance of a miss or wounding an bird ?
As for myself I see need to constantly be shooting turkeys beyond 40 yds as a problem with a persons calling skills

 

[FlyGuy]

I just picked up one of those Rossi Tuffy single shot 410’s ($200) to try out with TSS loads. I’m still planning to keep shots 50 yds and under, but I sure am looking forward to hunting with such a light weight weapon.


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[sram9102]

I don't think patterns have gotten increasingly tighter. There are just so many 7-9 size shot in a shell these days that are maintaining energy at those long ranges better than lead. I shot a bearded hen with tss 7s last year at 25 yards, first bird with non lead. She never flopped I wish I had a video. It was light you turned off a switch. The number of shot in a 10" circle at 40 yards was eye opening.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

I've only missed one bird since shooting TSS and it was at 30 yards with a howling wind 2 seasons ago. I didn't have my head down low enough on the gun and was in an awkward position. Found out however, that the gun was shooting to the left. Put a red dot on it and bang-flopped at gobbler yesterday with the same gun at 20 yards. 20 gauge Franchi, Federal TSS #7s

Bang-flopped a bird at 65 paces (didn't know the range when trigger pulled) with a CZ AT Redhead in 20 gauge with the same load as above. Knew it was a bit of a longer shot so put the bead at the top of his skull. Didn't know what hit him. Won't do that again intentionally, but nice to know that it will work in an "oh-crap" situation.

One thing you could consider is hunting with an O/U with a really tight Turkey/TSS choke and then a modified choke in the other barrel, switching on the fly if the shot gets in really close.

 

[RS3579]

I’ve got them at 45&50 yards the last couple years using lead shot, #4 & #5 shot. I’m also using a 10 gauge.

 

[spur60]

One thing you could consider is hunting with an O/U with a really tight Turkey/TSS choke and then a modified choke in the other barrel, switching on the fly if the shot gets in really close.

I have two buddies that have switched over to over/under 20 gauges now that they shoot TSS for this exact scenario.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

I have two buddies that have switched over to over/under 20 gauges now that they shoot TSS for this exact scenario.

Yeah I had my O/U in the truck yesterday morning too and though about taking it instead. Glad I didn't. I was in some thinned planted pines and just on the backside of a crest to a bench. The tom came in silent after pitching down (ended up being two on the roost gobbling away). Could only see a fan while he was strutting. I had 4 hens to my left at 10-20 yds.

The red dot was nice to pin point right on his head, shooting through some broom sage. Not sure the shot would have been as easy with the bead on the O/U. Done at 7:50 am.

 

[Swamppirate]

Killed this morning , 870 20ga at 40 yards with Apex TSS, stone cold dead.

 

[Yarak]

Great bird and Great kill !!
I’ve used a 20ga for 10 years but even when I used a 12ga I still wouldn’t shoot them beyond 40 yds and rarely ever have to shoot them that far out

 

[UpTop]

TSS and the pattern video craze has no doubt wounded a lot of birds. There’s no doubt of the effectiveness of TSS retaining energy at distance. This thread alone is proving the point though with several posts admitting of shooting birds at beyond 40 yards. The temptation to take those shots is no longer a concern. I have zero desire to shoot birds beyond 25-30 yards ever for any reason. To me that’s not turkey hunting. If the bird hangs up he won that day. To each his own at the end of the day. We all hunt for different reasons. But to your posts point, there is 100% no doubt more Turkeys being wounded with the “I can easily kill beyond 40-50 yards with TSS” mentality.

 

[Swamppirate]

If you have proven your gear and it is effective at 40, 50+ yards why is it unethical to shoot a bird at that range? Maybe it makes some people FEEL better they just had the bird that 10 yards closer, then good for you. When I deer hunt I could really care less if the deer/elk is 200 or 250. It’s not unethical if you know what your equipment is capable of, period

 

[Wrench]

If it's a western guy, it's probably because they don't care. We are over run with turkeys. There's a half million people in spokane and the damn things have taken over every park and most yards. If they'd let us kill them with air rifles, 22's, flame throwers and poison....it would happen here.

They're essentially lice here.

 

[Cant hit em]

I think the challenge of calling them to your decoys that extra 20-30yds and watching them work a little bit makes me not shoot them out as far. Some guys just cant get them in that extra distance or get impatient. I lose out on some birds because of it but its fun as hell

 

[Scottf270]

I think it's mistaken to think turkeys were not shot at or wounded with what was long range for lead. Guys who are prone to marginal shots didn't just show up when tss did.
You could argue tss has cut down on cripples?

 

[UpTop]

I think it's mistaken to think turkeys were not shot at or wounded with what was long range for lead. Guys who are prone to marginal shots didn't just show up when tss did.
You could argue tss has cut down on cripples?

Possibly, but the difference is now it’s become the thing to do. So more people are doing it. I’m not going to say what’s “ethical” or not. Ethics are ultimately at the discretion of the person applying them. I’m sure people have been taking long range shots at turkeys since the first turkey hunts. Turkeys can be the dumbest or smartest birds around. So for me, and I’m sure a large amount of turkey hunters, fooling them in close is the game. Killing a turkey just to say I got one isn’t why I’m there. I bumped a group of longbeards hiking a ridge at 15 yards yesterday and could have easily shot one out of the air, but that’s not why I was there. To each his own and as long as you’re having fun it’s all good. But I definitely believe this TSS long range gig is causing folks to take longer shots and thus resulting in more injured birds at the end of the day.

 

[Swamppirate]

I have killed plenty of gobblers at close range 10-20 yards. But if I can kill them at 40+ with a clean kill, even better. I’m not trying to take them to the movies….

 

[FLS]

If long gunning a bird floats your boat, the guns and loads available are more than capable. Blinds, lifelike dekes, improved chokes and loads have made killing birds a lot easier. Not sure that’s going to end up being a good thing for a shrinking resource.

 

[Swamppirate]

TSS gets it done again at 40 yards

 

[JBrew]

If long gunning a bird floats your boat, the guns and loads available are more than capable. Blinds, lifelike dekes, improved chokes and loads have made killing birds a lot easier. Not sure that’s going to end up being a good thing for a shrinking resource.

Well said. We've gotten too good at just killing/shooting them. Take away the male decoy and the new shotshells from alot of people, and we'd have alot more turkeys around, IMO. Actually, it's not opinion. I know several who couldn't kill a turkey if their life depended on it, without a strutter or jake decoy. It's become a lost art.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

I don’t think I’ve ever killed a bird over a decoy. Public or private land. Definitely not on public at least. Though, a couple seasons ago , I left a hen decoy set up to go chase after a Tom. He ended up beating me back to the decoy. I watched him strut around that decoy for close to an hour as I tried to leap frog from from white oak to white oak trying to get in range.

He eventually saw me. Would have tagged out all on Public in SC that season if I’d stayed put. A few days later I took a new turkey hunter to a different chunk of public and called a bird 500 yds in from a private clear cut onto public. He promptly missed at 20 yards. That was also the same morning I almost got killed in a car accident because of a bat.

Damn bat must have gotten in my truck when I was getting organized before daylight that morning. Bat started flying around the cab right about the time I was getting on I-26. Nucking futs. Thought Dracula was about to get me. Big ol’ brown bat.


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