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03-14-2013, 01:00 AM
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I'm in Dean's corner on this...use #6's in your first barrel. I had a friend body shoot a nice tom with 2 1/4 oz of heavy shot #4's he broke one wing and opposite leg...had to go get the Lab and when we returned couple hours latter there was quit a row before the tom was subdued...made for one of my favorite memories of my now deceased buddy though.
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" We give a dog time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, our dog gives us their all. It's the best darn deal man has ever made." M. Acklam |
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03-14-2013, 09:43 AM
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Quote: Again I don't mean to be offensive just wondering why everyone simply HAS to use a cannon to kill a bird IF aiming at the head.
More of my 2 cents opinions. I will agree that one ounce of 6s center pattern 1200 f.p.s. plus to the head from a full choke will kill most turkeys out to 30 and maybe 35 yards. But more shot means more chance to compensate for my errors. I cannot tell you how many times I have shot only to see a turkey run off and then realize I had jerked the gun slightly or I could not remember even aiming at him, and had my head way above the stock and had just pointed in the general direction as if shooting a bird on wing. Until one learns to aim the gun as if shooting a rifle and squeeze and not jerk the trigger, you will miss a lot. The 2 or 2.25 ounces of shot will allow for a large margin of error, and that is why they are so popular. They allow for mistakes. Having the bead a fraction of an inch to either side will make quite a difference at 30 yards. And in thick cover there is often an obstacle in your way that you do not see. I’ve shot at turkeys only to discover that a sapling that is impossible to see between you and the bird took up a large part of the pattern. And I watched them fly away. Lastly, a three-year-old bird is far different from a hen in the fall or a jake. Like a big buck, their will to live and to get up and get away is far different than a younger animal. You see the shells for big magnums now with blended Hevi-shot in 7, 6, 5, which is equivalent to lead 6, 5, 4. So there is agreement that these are the shot sizes to use. It is just a matter of preference and confidence in what you are shooting after patterning the gun. And each one will shoot differently with various shot sizes, and some not to point of aim. I am usually shooting a 10 when using a Parker, so I can get by with a larger shot due to a bigger payload. The gobbler in the spring is too magnificent of a big game animal to be taken lightly. When I cripple one, which happens to every dedicated turkey hunter, I think about it for many weeks, and for longer if it is the end of the spring turkey season. 
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03-14-2013, 12:14 PM
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Jerry,
When you wound a bird do you honestly know why you wounded him? What went wrong? The discussion I started was about using low pressure shells in a vintage gun and maintaining velocity of the pellets out to 40 yards for a proper kill, not about using cannons. Other people have expressed an opinion in other places that the low pressure loads contributed to their wounding of a bird. I don't even know that their thoughts can be proven wrong without seeing velocity data at the distance they were shooting. I am mainly just trying to be properly prepared so that I can continue to be a responsible hunter. I wish I could find some 4's or copper plated 5's to run down the other tube of this old gun. I don't know what the pattern would look like at 40 yards, and probably won't unless someone knows of a source for 2-1/2" 16ga shells in that shot size. I do not see them offered by RST or Polywad. If I can't find an alternative to test then I guess I will be using the #6 copper shot.
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Will makes some excellent points and I agree with all of them. - Dean Romig 03-13-2013 |
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03-14-2013, 01:33 PM
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Will, if you're choosing to hunt turkey with the gun you mentioned, you've already chosen to limit your shots. Buy the 1200fps RST's in 6s and pattern them out to 30 or 35 yds. If they CONSISTENTLY pattern well, they will kill any turkey at that distance if you place enough pellets where they're supposed to be (head and neck).
I've patterned close to a hundred different loads (factory and handloads) through a dozen different guns (12s and 16s) in the last decade in search of the perfect combo. Without fail, the high velocity/extra heavy payload shells I ran through my guns had horrible patterns. The best patterns for me have all come in the 1200-1250 fps range. Turkey hunting is a short range game in spite of what the modern "turkey thugs" might want us to believe. Cheers Marcus
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"Nowadays, when one is forced to cross the country in a few hours and drink three-day-old beer, ain't it a pleasure to know, as I'm sure you do, that good friends, good bourbon, and good tobacco are slowly made." Gene Hill www.cure.org |
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| The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Marc Retallack For Your Post: |
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03-14-2013, 04:04 PM
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#17 | ||||||
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[QUOTE=will evans;100496]
When you wound a bird do you honestly know why you wounded him? What went wrong? Number 1. Too far. Since a mature gobbler is so big, he always looks closer than he is. My uncle used to say if one cannot see a bird's eye, he is too far. Heck, I can hardly see their heads anymore. Number 2. Not on target, perhaps off by just an inch or two with the bead which at 30 yards out puts the center of the pattern way off. Usually jerked it off target. Shotgun triggers are not rifle triggers. When you practice and pattern, practice with your back to a tree and butt on the ground just like you will be in the woods. Number 3. Got turkey fever and forgot to aim, believe it or not. Number 4. Something in the way I did not see, like a sapling (these obstacles are always out there near the turkey, but not in my vision since I've looked at the turkey for a long time with both eyes open). Number 5. Turkey moves his head at the last second and I am already in the process of pulling the trigger. Number 6. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 all at the same time. Never the fault of the gun or shot size.  Charlie C., chime in here you old turkey killer. |
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03-14-2013, 04:23 PM
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Number 7 - Plain old fashioned bad luck. The kind you get all the time while turkey hunting. This applies not only to shots, but also to the infinite number of things that can go wrong while turkey hunting.
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03-14-2013, 10:57 PM
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#19 | ||||||
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im enjoying this thread very much....this is my opinion.... if a person is gonna limit is self to shooting a turkey at up to 35 yards and no further then about any 20 ga or16 will do fine for turkey with medium powered shells...no 7 1/2 shot at 35 yards or less in a full choke gun is murder on a turkeys head... the reason i use a big bore gun with a big payload is that most of them 3 an4 year old birds seem to hang up at about 45 yards. i want enough gun to bring that bird down ...i mosly hunt with the short ten ga loads but this year i will be hunting the first day with a 10 ga parker with gage mates in it for 12 ga on the right barrel a 3 inch mag no 6 in the left a 3 1/2 inchmag no 4...gonna be kinda like that song if the right one dont get ya then the left one will... i like the old 8 ga with 2 1/2 ounce loads of no 2 s and no4 s...i even hunt with a single barrel 12 ga 3 1/2 inch gun when im going a far piece... i ve hunted all my life with people that shot 20 ga and 16 ga and they killed there fair share of turkeys..and i hunted with my dad who always shot a ten ga for many years and others who shot the mag 12s... so to be honest it problem melts down to the fact who i hunted with and what ive been told and seen in turkey hunting that makes me like a magnum large ga gun for turkeys... but i guess if my father or hunting companions had taught me to shoot no turkey past 35 yards then i would be hunting with a 20 or 16 ga...this is probably why most people hunt with large or small ga guns... but me i would like to shoot a turkey with a 4 ga with a 4 ounce payload.....you can see i really like talking hunting...and ive got a 16 ga stevens layed out to use after i get the first turkey home....any way use the gun you shoot best and keep the guns to its killing range and you will bring home the turkey... charlie
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03-15-2013, 10:51 AM
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No less of an authority than Archibald Rutledge recommended no. 2 in one barrel and no. 4 in the other barrel. For what it is worth. All of the posts on here are very helpful and go to show there is no easy answer. Rutledge shot a Parker for years and apparently bagged close to 400 turkeys in his lifetime, hunting mostly in South Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
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