20 ga modified choke for turkey?

head and neck shot

A head and neck shot is the ONLY shot on a turkey w/ a shot gun, well on a standing, healthy bird anyhow. Those great wings are folded across the breast and sides and their is a huge gob of flesh and a fat glob to boot on a spring gobbler, and the crop. The "vitals" of a grounded turkey IS the head and neck, not the heart lungs. The bird is not a goose in flight, breast exposed and built for transcontinental flight.

A gobbler wears a flack jacket around his chest. If one is searching for a pellet to drive through the body of a turkey as a primary turkey load they are going down the wrong path.

Now, this is a different story on crippled/escaping birds. Lots of guys, myself included, use as large and heavy pellet as possible/legal as a followup load, to hit flopping, crippled birds and finish them. But........I've only had to do it a handful of times, usually since I misjudged range and shot to far. A tight load of #5, in range from my 3" 12ga, seals the deal.
 
I am glad I wore my boot into this thread.

First, the 20ga is plenty for turkey. Same as .243 is plenty for deer. You do not have the range of a 12, but that doesn't mean you can't kill turkey with it. There are lots of guys and gals that turkey hunt with 20ga guns. I have the same youth 20ga NEF single shot and the fact is, you have to pattern your gun. Hevi Shot makes some 3" Magnum blend loads that should give you good results. Try some duck hunting loads too. Anything #5 or #6 should do her well. You probably need to keep her shots at 30 yards or less to be safe. My daughter uses a Mossberg 20ga pump with a turkey choke and I make her keep her shots within 30 yards. It ain't that hard to get turkeys within 30 yards of you. Just like with archery hunting for deer, you have to be a better hunter and get the game closer. Usually it just takes being a more patient hunter.

It is going to kick. Do not be mistaken. That little gun is a handful for my 12 year old with field loads. However, you can let her practice with bird shot, and then she won't notice when she is shooting a turkey.
 
20 gauge, IM choke, 2 3/4" Fiocchi ammo in either #6 or #4 works for me. I set my decoys at 35 yards and don't shoot till they are even with or closer than 35 yards. Dead is dead no matter how big and tough that turkey is. A pellet in the neck from a 20 gauge will kill him as dead as a pellet from a 3 1/2" magnum out of a 12 gauge.

I have yet to meet anybody at a weigh station under 40 who has used less than a 12 gauge and 3" or 3 1/2" shells but I have yet to see any of their turkeys any deader than my turkeys and I don't have a bruise to show for it. Us old dinosaurs who hunt in our farmers coveralls and old shotguns from back in grandpa's day aren't as fussy yet we somehow seem to get the job done. Not sure where we went wrong but so it goes.
 
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