Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Turkey Load (Handloads)

Thanks. I've done more patterning with this stuff than I care to admit, and I'm not even in the ball park with the dude I get the shot from who worked up the reloads. Before I was convinced to try it, there were claims of two turkeys killed at 90 yards with it. Granted the whole game of turkey hunting to me is getting them in close. If I wanted to kill one at 50+ yards, I'd just carry a rifle. Here are several kills personally that opened my eyes to the lethality of this shot:

1) First year carrying the 12ga with 2oz of #9's a friend and I were hunting in Western OK. We set up that morning a large field next to a roost that had 100+ turkeys. Turkeys started pitching out of the trees into that field, and I had seen nothing like it. Must have been 30+ strutters. Well, several of them are working their way to our set up. However, a few started to cross a dried out creek bed between us and the roost headed to another field. My friend couldn't stand it and said he was going to try and get on one of the crossing birds. I stayed on the field. I had a really nice strutter working his way to me. About the time he's getting in range, my buddy pops one and spooks the bird. The bird I was after came out of strut and was running from my left to right broadside if you will at 50 yards about to take flight. I shot him at a full run, and it looked like you pulled the life out of him. Never flopped and piled up like a ton of bricks. That #9 shot broke both legs, a wing, and the majority of the pattern entered his right breast went thru the breast bone, and exited the left breast. It was an eye opening experience.

2) Same hunt in Western Oklahoma. I had killed two birds while my dad was working on his first. I had been on a nice dominate bird with 17 hens and two other nice satellite toms as I call them. You know strutters, but they don't dare get close to the boss or his harem. They always stayed at a distance. I had played cat and mouse with these birds for two mornings and one evening. I finally thought I had them patterned and took my dad in to try and get his first Rio. I must mention here my dad is from the old school of turkey hunting. He taught me the art and is always laughing at my latest gadgets I come out with and try. So to say he was HIGHLY skeptical of this #9 TSS shot for turkeys was a severe understatement. Anyway, we are set up on these turkeys and are between where they want to be. As luck would have it the strutter with his hens crossed about 100 yards from us up the ridge and out of sight. I had three hens get interested and come to the decoys and walk right by me at 15 or so yards. I just knew the two satellite toms were going to follow them. I could have shot both directly to my right at 35-40 yards several times. However, dad was on the left and I wanted him to kill one of them. These birds keep just out of distance for him strutting in and out of some cedar trees that had grown up in the pasture. They finally decided they had enough and went to go out over the ridge the direction the big bird had headed. I knew it was now or never as this was the last evening we were hunting. I guessed the bird at about 50 yards. I put the red dot on the top of his head and squeezed. It smooth rolled the turkey walking away from me. Granted he flopped a little bit, but not much. I hadn�t noticed a 2-3� diameter mesquite tree directly in-between us when focusing on the bird and cut it almost in two. This took out the majority of my pattern. I was very lucky to hit the bird at all. I�ll never forget my dad standing up and telling me had he just not witnessed that shot he would have called me a liar. I�m 6�4� and the bird lay dead at 67 steps. Both of his legs were broken with the 9�s as well. Not one of my finer moments on judging the distance and taking an ethical shot.

3) After having those two experiences above and killing several more turkeys with the 12, I hung it up to look for a nice i.e. lighter/shorter gun for turkey hunting. Hence the reason I built my 870 youth 20ga. Last year in KS, I called up a dominate bird and two satellite toms into my decoys. All three were in full strut straight off the roost and the entire way into the decoys. I was pretty much pinned down on my set up and did not want to spoke the birds clucking to get them out of strut. See my dad had always taught me never shoot one in full strut because there head is tucked back in feathers and not as exposed when he sticks it up coming out of strut. Knowing what I knew about the penetration of the TSS 9�s I shot the biggest bird in full strut at 20 yards anyway. He dropped like a rock. The two other birds went 6-8� straight up in the air on the shot. Like a moron, I pumped and tried to kill one in the air. I missed. By the time I got the bird I shot at stopped from confusion with cutting, cackling, fighting purr, etc. he was a good distance from me. Put the red dot on the top of the head and squeezed. He fell like a ton of bricks as well. He was 54 steps from me.

Those are the 3 that stand out in my mind. There are numerous others, but those are the ones than convinced me to stick with these 9�s and never hunt with a 12ga again. FYI, my dad now has a 20ga built like mine by me with TSS, and I just built 3 more for friends who have been hunting with me and witnessed what my 20ga will do.

I know. Long winded; but it�s Friday, almost turkey season, and I love talking about turkey hunting.