Full choke verses a turkey choke at 40 yards?

[GobbleNut]

From my perspective, you have summed it up well, Marc.  To expand a bit, each one of us needs to know how our guns shoot when we go afield in relation to the typical ranges we will be shooting,...but in addition, we need to know our personal limitations on how well we perform under the pressure and excitement level of when a gobbler shows up in range. 

I have seen hunters get so excited that they could not have hit a gobbler at five yards with a thirty-inch pattern, much less the baseball-size patterns some of these chokes shoot.  Then again, there are folks that hunt in conditions where a shot inside of thirty yards is a rarity,...and those situations call for a different combination. 

The optimum pairing of gun/choke with a hunter's personal abilities is sometimes not as easy and straightforward as it might seem.  Oftentimes, the extra-tight chokes are best left in the hands of the highly-skilled shooters with nerves of steel when that gobbler shows up.  The great majority of the rest of us most likely need something a little bit more forgiving.

[MDSTRUTNRUT]

Daughter  missed a bird at 25 yards opening day with LB 3"-6's with a bennelli and down and dirty haymaker .670 tube.    She said gun was off and it could have been so we went home and shot it at 30 yds.    Now it wasn't off and pattern has great #'s but as you can see if you go left or right 3 inches then  no turkey.   3 inches for me on a live bird at 30 yds doesnt leave much room for error.   I havent patterned at 15 or 20 yards but can imagine the tightness.  I too have begun to consider a more open pattern after some LB's cutting nothing but air and watching the gobblers launching like a space shuttle over the trees.

[Greg Massey]

In my 30 years of turkey hunting, i've never tried to choke a gun to death.

[Happy]

I prefer forgiveness in a pattern. There is always a bit of a tradeoff when it comes to that. My setup will give me a little wiggle room at twenty and 180 in the ten at 40. I prefer them right around 30 yards and usually take take the first good shot at that range. Shot one at 8 steps once and was comfortable enough to go with a head shot. A dot scope or optics is a big help for aiming at close quarters. Many shotgun don't shoot point of aim and adjustable sights are great for helping with that. Was never much for seeing how many holes I can make in a circle myself. I like knowing at 40 and in a turkey is dead unless I fail to do my part.

[BDeal]

Happy-

What shell and Choke are you shooting?

I prefer forgiveness in a pattern. There is always a bit of a tradeoff when it comes to that. My setup will give me a little wiggle room at twenty and 180 in the ten at 40. I prefer them right around 30 yards and usually take take the first good shot at that range. Shot one at 8 steps once and was comfortable enough to go with a head shot. A dot scope or optics is a big help for aiming at close quarters. Many shotgun don't shoot point of aim and adjustable sights are great for helping with that. Was never much for seeing how many holes I can make in a circle myself. I like knowing at 40 and in a turkey is dead unless I fail to do my part.

[ilbucksndux]

Benelli Super Nova 12ga
Hevi-Shot 4,5,6 blend
Primos .655 Jellyhead turkey choke

(Forgive the 25yrd miss...but the pattern is what matters)

That 25 yard miss is exactly why I dont like to choke a gun to death. I had a couple of very close misses and changed it up a bit. I either shoot an old HS extra full(not sure of the constriction) or a factory Remington Extra full out of my 870 .

[Happy]

Mossburg 835. Stardot .676 choke and hevi shot 2.25 ounce #6 shot. For years I shot federal 2.25 ounce #6 copper plated lead loads and those were a tad more open than the hevi shot. Think was in the 145-150 range at 40.

[Marc]

Benelli Super Nova 12ga
Hevi-Shot 4,5,6 blend
Primos .655 Jellyhead turkey choke

(Forgive the 25yrd miss...but the pattern is what matters)

Very nice patterns, but you made my point for me...

Any one of those patterns are obviously lethal, and could open up quite a bit and still be lethal, but none of them will be lethal if the pattern does not hit its mark.  I seriously doubt that I am capable of putting the pattern on the bird at the ranges that your load/choke combination is capable of...

Seems the standard is 100 pellets in a 10 inch circle, but I would guess half that many would be lethal most of the time (which gives me a bit of room for error on range judgement).  Granted, I put my maximum range at 100 pellets in a 10 inch circle, but I would guess that 75 would be more than adequate, and 50 would probably be a dead bird.

Admittedly, I did pass a bird on the last day of the season I would have taken with that choke in the gun...  Thought he was about 45 yards (probably closer to 50 though), and just did not quite feel comfortable.  He came into 10 yards, but would not poke his head over the gully he was in; he crossed back over the other side to take a look at me, and booked when he did not see a bird...  I have to admit, I was itchin' to shoot... Itchin'...

On the other hand, I have killed two birds in close range in the past couple years... 

This year, I took the top of the head off one at about 10-12 yards, actually hitting high of where intended:



I would guess, I could have completely missed with a tighter choke...

And, I am embarrassed to say that I had a bird at 17 yards that I barely hit a couple of years ago; head/neck-shot and dead, but not as many holes in him as I would have liked to see at that range.  I know I would have missed that bird with a tighter choke. (Actually the bird in my avatar).

[BDeal]

Benelli Super Nova 12ga
Hevi-Shot 4,5,6 blend
Primos .655 Jellyhead turkey choke

(Forgive the 25yrd miss...but the pattern is what matters)

Wow that is super tight. I thought my pattern was a little tight at 20 yards with Longbeards and a Wright's #1 choke but it is a lot bigger than that. That is a great pattern at 50 but I would not hunt with it as I would be concerned about the precision required at 30 and under.

[BowBendr]

^^ No way id hunt with that pattern, optics or not. Id worry myself to death about missing. ^^


2015 Old Gobbler contest Champions

[stinkpickle]

The nice thing about shooting super tight patterns is that if a bird is too close, you can always flush him and wait until he gets out to 35 or 40 yards before pulling the trigger. 

[owlhoot]

^^ No way id hunt with that pattern, optics or not. Id worry myself to death about missing. ^^


2015 Old Gobbler contest Champions

x2 right there

[honker22]

The closer he gets, the more feathers enter my sight... I have no shame in shooting his beard off and tenderizing the breast meat

[WyoHunter]

I like my Hevi-13 7's and yes they shoot very tight patterns and that's why I have scopes on both my turkey guns. The Longbeards also pattern tight and when I run out of 7's I'll use the two boxes of Longbeard 6's that are in my ammo box. My last two boxes of Hevi-13 7's cost me $15.00 with the rebate.

[surehuntsalot]

killed a many a bird with a full choke gun, been playing around with turkey chokes in my 20 ga guns some.
Got a 12 ga  3" 1100 magnum with a fixed .690 full choke that is deadly with anything that has a flight control wad in it
I have a .710 full choke tube for my 835 that will shoot some very good "hunting " patterns.