i got drawn for spring turkey this year and this is the gun i have to use. 12 ga, 28" barrel, came w/ 3 chokes. was gonna use full but was wondering what inexpensive things i may do to enhance my chances. glanced at a few posts and saw mention of a "turkey choke", is this less than full? can they be had for moss 500a. second... it is chambered in 2 3/4 and 3". i was gonna get some #4 steel shot, but don't know which chambering would be best. area im hunting in will offer up to 50 yd shots. any ideas. also, i know that turkeys have great eyesight and was wondering if a cammo sleave might be in order, as i will not be hunting from a blind. can anyone recommend on this. thanks rick
mossberg 500a for turkey hunt
- Thread starter trickrick
- Start date
Smitty in CT
New member
Rick,
First and foremost, I must warn you....Turkey Hunting is addictive!! Don't go!!
If you have to find out for yourself, I'll give you the following advice:
1) Camo - Turkeys have very good eyesight, they see movement, camo helps break up the lines of your body so they see "less" movement. Being still and quite is MORE important than camo, but camo doesn't hurt. A camo sock for the gun wouldn't hurt either, not required though.
2) Chokes & Ammo - This is where it gets tricky, you don't NEED anything larger than 2-3/4", You have a 3" chamber you probably want to use a 3", it all depends on what patterns best out of your shotgun, #4, 5, or 6 shot works well for turkeys, I find that the smaller #6 lead works the best for me. Use your FULL choke for now, that way when you miss you can blame it on the choke (then after you're "hooked" you'll spend lots of $$ on different chokes).
3) Shooting distance - You say that the area offers 50 yard shots, don't take a 50 yard shot unless you know what your pattern is at 50 yards!! I hunt with my kids, they both use 20 guages, we don't shoot at anything outside of 40 yards.
4) You don't mention if you'll be calling or if someone else will be, less is more, quieter is better.
Good luck and please post your results.
I have been turkey hunting since I could carry a shotgun with my grandfather, I have been out 5 days already this season (2 in CT and 3 in PA), I have heard some gobblers but so far have only had "tag soup".
Turkey Hunting isn't a matter of life or death....it's much bigger than that"
....you have been warned......it's addicting.......welcome
First and foremost, I must warn you....Turkey Hunting is addictive!! Don't go!!
If you have to find out for yourself, I'll give you the following advice:
1) Camo - Turkeys have very good eyesight, they see movement, camo helps break up the lines of your body so they see "less" movement. Being still and quite is MORE important than camo, but camo doesn't hurt. A camo sock for the gun wouldn't hurt either, not required though.
2) Chokes & Ammo - This is where it gets tricky, you don't NEED anything larger than 2-3/4", You have a 3" chamber you probably want to use a 3", it all depends on what patterns best out of your shotgun, #4, 5, or 6 shot works well for turkeys, I find that the smaller #6 lead works the best for me. Use your FULL choke for now, that way when you miss you can blame it on the choke (then after you're "hooked" you'll spend lots of $$ on different chokes).
3) Shooting distance - You say that the area offers 50 yard shots, don't take a 50 yard shot unless you know what your pattern is at 50 yards!! I hunt with my kids, they both use 20 guages, we don't shoot at anything outside of 40 yards.
4) You don't mention if you'll be calling or if someone else will be, less is more, quieter is better.
Good luck and please post your results.
I have been turkey hunting since I could carry a shotgun with my grandfather, I have been out 5 days already this season (2 in CT and 3 in PA), I have heard some gobblers but so far have only had "tag soup".
Turkey Hunting isn't a matter of life or death....it's much bigger than that"
....you have been warned......it's addicting.......welcome
Most Turkey chokes are approx twice as tight as a Full choke. Most Full chokes are 0.035" constriction and most Turkey chokes are around 0.100
If you shoot Steel - you need to back off to a Modified choke. You cannot shoot Steel Shot in a Full or Turkey choke because the steel does not compress like lead shot - and you may "bulge" the barrel and ruin the barrel. Many guns will have a choke that says " MOD - lead or Full - steel " so it's a Modified choke - and the mfg of the gun is telling you to consider it as a Full choke when shooting steel.
If you like Remington Ammo - look at their website and they'll give you all kinds of recommendations on loads and chokes. Most of the ammo companies have handout booklets on steel shot - to educate you on chokes, effective range, etc but most areas still let you shoot Lead shot for Turkey's so don't assume you have to shoot steel shot. You may want to consider Heavi-Shot and some other options out there too.
If you shoot Steel - you need to back off to a Modified choke. You cannot shoot Steel Shot in a Full or Turkey choke because the steel does not compress like lead shot - and you may "bulge" the barrel and ruin the barrel. Many guns will have a choke that says " MOD - lead or Full - steel " so it's a Modified choke - and the mfg of the gun is telling you to consider it as a Full choke when shooting steel.
If you like Remington Ammo - look at their website and they'll give you all kinds of recommendations on loads and chokes. Most of the ammo companies have handout booklets on steel shot - to educate you on chokes, effective range, etc but most areas still let you shoot Lead shot for Turkey's so don't assume you have to shoot steel shot. You may want to consider Heavi-Shot and some other options out there too.
jim, i am shooting hevishot over steel because of the issues you mentioned w/ choke tube. i appreciate your info about the choke designations. i'm not shooting lead due to having 2 year old twins that will happily take part in the eating of said turkey. i was recentley at a game and fish expo talking w/ a man who was there as a rep for one thing (can't remember what) but he is an advocate for alternative ammo metals (again, the term escapes me). anywho...he had xrays of a bullet path through ballistic gel and the amount of lead the length of the hole was amazing. he had info on how little of a piece of lead it takes to affect the iq of a developing brain in infants and toddlers so i'm not taking any chances. i chose 3", 1 5/8 oz #6 shot. they claim 45 pelletsin 3" circle at 60 yards so i guess i'll see. i do have pattern targets to check that on my way out of town. i have my full choke and a turkey choke. with the price of hevishot i'm not gonna do to much testing tho. thanks again jim...
smitty iv'e been readin and praticing on calling and i will be doin it by myself, thanks for the advise. turkey fever sounds like milsurp, pocket pistol, elk, bass, trout, dove, quail, antelope, deer, cigarette lighter and football fever. when i get in i don't just stick in my toe, i jump in w/ both feet. thanks again to both of you, rick
smitty iv'e been readin and praticing on calling and i will be doin it by myself, thanks for the advise. turkey fever sounds like milsurp, pocket pistol, elk, bass, trout, dove, quail, antelope, deer, cigarette lighter and football fever. when i get in i don't just stick in my toe, i jump in w/ both feet. thanks again to both of you, rick
Point of aim
Use some lead #6 to chech you point of aim at dirrerent ranges.
Get in the turkey shooting position and give it a try(butt on ground-knees up). If point of aim is good check pattern at 20 and 40. Clean bore and choke before each shoot. If you have 5 or so on brain/spine and 15 or so in head you should have a killer round. with heavy shot I would say #6 is lethal at 35 yards, #5 to 40 and #4 to 45. The shot has to have a certain amount of energy to kill the bird. Most are shot from 12 to 40 yards. You may want to look at a pattern at 10 to see what it looks like.
Use some lead #6 to chech you point of aim at dirrerent ranges.
Get in the turkey shooting position and give it a try(butt on ground-knees up). If point of aim is good check pattern at 20 and 40. Clean bore and choke before each shoot. If you have 5 or so on brain/spine and 15 or so in head you should have a killer round. with heavy shot I would say #6 is lethal at 35 yards, #5 to 40 and #4 to 45. The shot has to have a certain amount of energy to kill the bird. Most are shot from 12 to 40 yards. You may want to look at a pattern at 10 to see what it looks like.