Most affordable TSS I’ve found

[dtrkyman]

Curious what you load for now? I have buddies that hunt turkey with .410 & I’ll soon be buying one for my girls to turkey hunt with until they can comfortably graduate to a 20. I can appreciate a 20 when wing shooting but for me it’s all 12ga in the turkey woods

.410 and 20ga. the .410 is legit to 40 yards, and the 20 far beyond what I would shoot. I have been hand loading the 20ga for about 10 years now, and just the past few with the .410

 

[Amos Keeto]

I agree, it is wild. I’ve been killing birds for 23 years with lead but there is no denying the obvious advantages of TSS over lead.

The way I justify it in my mind is I hunt 2 states each year, both with a 1 bird limit. I have 6 & 7 year old step daughters in softball & a 1 month old son. Momma allows me to hunt when I please but I know it’s taxing on her to hold down the house while I’m gone. If an extra $20 in shells every season will get me home sooner & allow more free weekends outdoors with my kids to take them fishing or to ball games instead of selfishly spending time hunting, I will pay it every time.
Obviously the name of the game is to get them close but now I don’t have to worry if that stubborn bird is hung up at 45 and if my shot is ethical & clean with lead because a properly choked TSS is more than capable at that range.

Yep! Been killing turkeys with #8 lead since '02. So, 24 years!

TSS
"IF" TSS were affordable, I'd go full TSS in a heartbeat.
BUT.....in today's economy, I have to be very selective about how and where I spend my limited funds. Six bucks a shell or +/- $20/bx for 25? (I'm not "cheap"! I'm a "tightwad"!)
If a bird hangs up out of range, well, that means I can come back and hunt him again tomorrow!
Sure! I want to kill a bird! But I'm not hunting because I'm hungry! I hunt for the joy of interacting with nature! A bird in hand is icing on the cake ! ....or gravy on the biscuit! ....syrup on the pancakes! LOL!
Kinda, sorta the same with my ammo. I just gotta get my bird in range of my ammo!
Like an archery hunter, you just have to deal with your limitations!

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Steel to me sounds like more wounded/unrecovered birds. I’d be curious what percentage of “missed” shots are later fatal for turkeys.

Not if you don't take shots over 25-30 yds. Pretty effective on ducks at that range. I would expect the wounded loss to be less for turkeys given the size, semi stationary target, it being on land, and the opportunity for a follow up shots.

With the way numbers have dropped here in the last decade I am open to any all suggestions. DNR has tried a bunch of different things here in the last 6 yrs. Still cut tags last year.