Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Favorite rifle and load for Turkey?

Agree about calling being the sport and challenge to hunting Turkeys but once in range I think a rifle is actually more challenging. A friend uses a 410 and has not lost a bird yet but he brings them in to less than 30 yards preferably 25. Fooling around with a call I had one try to jump up on the lawn chair I was sitting in. That is close enough.

I use a flintlock smoothbore in 20 ga. for Turkeys. I am limited to about 25 yards on a killing pattern with 1 1/4 oz of 5 shot. I have had some success with it as I can hunt a couple of places near my farm and go on a moments notice. There is little pressure on these birds and sometimes they are easy to call into range. Not always though.

For years I used a 12 ga. and on occasion a .223. While I prefer hunting with a shotgun in the spring (and particularly a flintlock) there is no issue in using rifles. At close range they can be a handicap of sorts and they do extend the practical range quite a bit if you hunt areas where the terrain is difficult to get a good set up or there is a lot hunting pressure.

17 Remington all the way. We take on deer lease in Texas in deer season. Nothing like fresh turkey on Thanksgiving.