A few pictures I could find. Plus a nice tree I got instead of the turkey.:cuss:

10 Gauge Hammer Grade 2 Top Lever. 1st one with a Parker.

Don’t feel too bad Jerry, I’ve done that tree thing twice with careful aim - once with a big whitetail buck and once with a mature Tom.





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Nice Harold. I love to see birds taken with Parkers. And I like your sensible load of 1 oz. of shot. That’s all that is really needed out to about 35 or 40 yards, depending on the gun. I have shot a few turkeys with an 1873 Parker but my go to turkey gun is a 28’ DHE bored modified and full. I use the old trap load of 1 ¼ oz. of 6’s at 1200 fps. I’ve never seen a better patterning load for the 12 bore.

I never could understand using ultra heavy loads on turkeys. I think it encourages taking shots that are too far. Better to use a sensible load that patterns well and limit shots to 40 yards and under. Same thing for ducks and geese. If you can’t take them with that load, you shouldn’t be taking the shot in my opinion.

Unless you’re shooting #9 TSS loads at 80 yards.





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I've heard about those loads but I'm not buying it. And I have no intention of finding out for myself. Nobody needs to take a shot at 80 yards. And why stop at 80? How about a 100 yard turkey load. Not for me or other astute turkey hunters I know who have the expertise to get the birds in close. And thats the crux of the issue. Some try to make up for their lack of skill with new whiz bang loads or guns. Better that they spend the time to gain the expertise, in my opinion. There really are no short cuts if one wants to become proficient.

Tom -

To each his own. I’m not a proponent of such things either but you do it your way (which is admirable) and others will do it theirs.


** Edited for the sake of civility on the forum. **





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I must agree with Mr. Flanigan in 60 years of hunting and shooting i have seen the same thing over and over with technology substituting for the slow and hard way. Modern bowhunting is probably the best example, there are still the longbow and recurve bow hunters and they probably hunt birds with those obsolete, antique side by sides.

Dan, I agree with Tom too - I just disagreed with his delivery. But who am I ? Everyone is entitled to his opinion and his own way of expressing it.

My apologies to Tom and to anyone who I offended in responding the way I did.





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My comment wasn't aimed at you Dean. But I am passionate about some things and taking shots beyond reasonable range is one of them. Those are living creatures we are hunting and they deserve a quick death. Some people don't give a damn as long at they get a hit and those are the one's I have a problem with.

Years ago I hunted ducks in Tivoli, NY in an estuary of the Hudson River. Sky busting was common there. Right or wrong, I always screamed at them and if they didn't stop I'd walk right up to their blinds and give them a verbal thrashing. It never came to blows but I was ready if it did. Foolish? Yes, but I was passionate about wounded birds and still am. My retriever used to find a lot of still alive birds in Tivoli. I always killed them and included in my bag which used to anger me also.

I really don't care how people hunt as long as they have consideration for the game. The trend towards super guns and super loads and long shots gets to me. It encourages those with less experience to try to stretch things, sometimes wounding game. It's all wrong in my opinion.