How far do you shoot?

[jakesdad]

20 yards.  I am ashamed at Winchester for touting the purported 60 yard performance of the Longbeard XR.  A pellet fired at a particular muzzle velocity only retains so much energy at a specific distance.  Turkey hunting should be an up close and personal endeavor.

This ^^.  Even if the performance is there at those distances,with the sliver of a second it takes the shot to travel from barrel to bird,and that fact you are shooting at something the size of a soda can,that might be moving around like a soda can in the wind,a lot of things can and will happen,and usually not for the good.Paper and formulas are one thing.....a real life moving target is a whole new game.

[dejake]

20 - 25 yards.  The last three birds I got were from the exact same set-up spot; 13 yards.

[MiamiE]

I would love to get them closer but 30-40 yards is normal for me hunting Osceola's. Wary as heck they are.

[CT Spur Collector]

Average, 21yards.

[dirt road ninja]

On average my shots have been around 25ish, but it has been going up since I started "cyber hunting". How far will I shoot? Not sure, but I won't hesitate to take any ethical shot presented to me. A few years ago after seeing a box of the Winchester XR's for like 25 bucks, I decided to jump on the World Wide Web and look into them. That's when I discovered this site and how far behind the times I was on bringing my turkey gun's performance up to her full potential. Back then I shot plain, on clearance lead  turkey shot in 5's or 6's and if a bird was 35 yards away he was safe. My patterning was done (not often at all) on whatever box I found in the woods and probably at about 25 yards. I never felt like that was inadequate or that anything else was much better. I also hardly ever missed or crippled birds. Once I started to research what was out there and how much more performance I could get out of a shotgun, I jumped in with both feet and was on a quest to turn 300 with my 12 gauge. That goal has still eluded me with my 12's, but I can get 325 plus every time with my 10 gauge (I never hunt with it). What I have gained is a huge dose of confidence in my well-tuned, specialized turkey guns as well as a nice collection of choke tubes. The patterning and performance hobby is something I got into just because I was intrigued by the thought of  target shooting with a scattergun. Having tried everything short of hand loading TSS I'm fairly certain I've maxed out the performance of my 12 gauges. What has this meant in the woods? Not much on 95% of my hunts, but it has meant the world on a few of them.

[GSLAM95]

With my bow average is around 10 yards
With the 20 gauge the average is around 25 yards
With todays loads (Federal Heavyweight #7s) and a sumtoy choke in the Benelli M2 I have taken 40 yard shots on birds that hang up without hesitation. 
In my opinion it's all about knowing your recipe for success and taking the time to find out what effective range your weapon has.  I will not ridicule someone for shooting further, hopefully most will test their weapons for consistent results at further ranges and know their self limitations.
Good luck this coming spring to everyone and hope those who are shooting the new loads on the market are putting a box through your gun on the range before going afield. 

[grayfox]

About 35 yards average. Might could of pulled the average down a bit more on a couple birds but the excitement was just too much for me. Couldn't wait any longer & had to pull the trigger.

[Old Timer53]

35-40 yards

[bmhern]

20-30 yards average, some a little closer some a little farther, that's what makes it interesting, you just never know!!

[Gooserbat]

25 give or take 20

[turkey buster]

Closest was about 3-4 foot! Literally at the end of the barrel and that was a freak thing where he walked a downed log like a chicken to my left shoulder (left handed) and ended up basically in my lap...Boom!

Unfortunately my longest was 52 yards (I know the rules) but it wasn't on purpose. I was hunting a lease road and he came in quite. I was sitting there thinking a bush was in my way of seeing down the road after a few calls. So I laid the gun down walked out and was breaking the bush and he came out. I crawled back to my gun and sit down and couldn't see where he was (bush still in my way) so I made a few calls and nothing ! After 5-10 minutes of thinking he busted me crawling back I decided to crawl back out where I could see and eased up and then he actually busted me then which he had originally. After he putted once and turned toward the ditch I sent the magnum blends that way thinking he was 40ish but no more than 45. Turns out after retrieving him and grabbing the rangefinder I had shot 52 yards.

Now that I've seen it can happen I don't trust it and chalk that up to LUCK! Almost every other bird has been 10 yards to 20 yards since. Just like the bush story I set up where I have cover and can keep him from hanging up as much as I can by not allowing him to see where my calling is coming from at a longer distance. 

[WildTigerTrout]

Average distance, 25 to 30 yards. I've killed some closer and some farther away.

[greencop01]

     My average is under 20 yds 

[neal]

I'd say average is that 25-30yd range

[ceejay]

20-25yd.  I pretty much only hunt in the hardwoods.  40yds seems like a awful long ways when looking a turkey in the woods.  I've never taken a shot at that distance.