Turkey Loads
- Thread starter widefat77
- Start date
Whatever shoots best.
Not being a smart ass, but finding out through trial and error pays off. Highly touted "best" ones aren't always something your gun likes. Shotguns seem to be like that, slugs and buckshot as well. Yes, a lighter wallet and a sore shoulder, but the proof is in the pudding.
Broadest answer, Federal stuff first. Maybe Remington next.
Things like the fancy Flitecontrol wads, I've had guns that didn't like 'em. Stupid little things too, this gun likes 4's, hate 6's of the same brand, huh? The biggest problem I have is remembering it afterwards, I write it on the boxes, what gun they're for but I still screw it up.
(Yes I know, there's plenty of people who will comment they shoot hundreds of turkey, with a .410 from six feet away wearing hi-viz safety green clothes. Where I hunt birds are few and far between. We go years between seeing any in season. Shots are rare and opportunities are often far, so we take no chances.)
Not being a smart ass, but finding out through trial and error pays off. Highly touted "best" ones aren't always something your gun likes. Shotguns seem to be like that, slugs and buckshot as well. Yes, a lighter wallet and a sore shoulder, but the proof is in the pudding.
Broadest answer, Federal stuff first. Maybe Remington next.
Things like the fancy Flitecontrol wads, I've had guns that didn't like 'em. Stupid little things too, this gun likes 4's, hate 6's of the same brand, huh? The biggest problem I have is remembering it afterwards, I write it on the boxes, what gun they're for but I still screw it up.
(Yes I know, there's plenty of people who will comment they shoot hundreds of turkey, with a .410 from six feet away wearing hi-viz safety green clothes. Where I hunt birds are few and far between. We go years between seeing any in season. Shots are rare and opportunities are often far, so we take no chances.)
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To add a few things from my experience… we started killing turkeys in the early 70s in Mo. Birds were not hard to find… but learning how to call them is another thing. On the shooting end,, we didn’t own 3 inch chamber shotguns,,,, so, we would take our duck loads and get at it,, lead number 4’s was a favorite,,, then, Federal had the “Federal Baby Magnum, copper plated shot.. these patterned great out of a lot of barrels. We really did think about long shots,,, we liked to call them in our laps. We stared seeing some three inch shotguns around,, mostly goose guns, we purchased two pump 3 inch shotguns. My brother didn’t like recoil.. smart man,,, anyway , he would shoot the 2 3/4 inch federals out of his shotgun and kill them dead dead. We never have went to 3 1/2 inch shotguns… still use factory full barrels,,copper plated shot. We learned if you practice your calling 3-4 times as much as you shoot your weapon… you were ahead of the game… I will try and load a picture of a few Turkey Beards..
Sorry for the long babble… but they are not that hard to kill if you shoot for the Head/ Neck….
Sorry for the long babble… but they are not that hard to kill if you shoot for the Head/ Neck….
I just started out hunting turkey and had the same question last year. I patterned my 12ga with a bunch of different types of loads, and in the end I didn’t see enough benefit in spending more money on any of the new “TSS” @ $14-$20/rd vs my “budget” option Winchester LongBeardXR @ $2-$3/rd. That’s in my 870. Your gun may respond differently.
I have some buddies that swear by the TSS loads, but the difference in spread for my shotgun was negligible, and in my mind if you’re correctly using your decoys you should be able to control your shot distances. Just buy some different ammo types and run a shell of each through your gun. This past summer I bought 140 rds of the LongBeardXR when it went on sale at MidwayUSA. I shouldn’t need to buy more until my kids are grown.
I have some buddies that swear by the TSS loads, but the difference in spread for my shotgun was negligible, and in my mind if you’re correctly using your decoys you should be able to control your shot distances. Just buy some different ammo types and run a shell of each through your gun. This past summer I bought 140 rds of the LongBeardXR when it went on sale at MidwayUSA. I shouldn’t need to buy more until my kids are grown.
I’m running either HeaviShot or rolling my own with Bismuth #5’s, but this is only because of our DFW rules regarding “Non-Toxic” shot. 
. For a while I couldn’t find ANY 20ga shells in the lead free. Granted, I’m using a pheasant load for 90% of my hunting.
. For a while I couldn’t find ANY 20ga shells in the lead free. Granted, I’m using a pheasant load for 90% of my hunting.It didn't come across as smart ass in any way - what it is, is practical, real world experience. Thanks!
My house is absolutely covered in turkey, which is why I started hunting them last year. Enjoyed it immensely more than I thought I would, but I had my first Tom in less than 45 minutes. Got my BIL his first within 2 hours of his second day.
IL just changed their laws to allow smaller than 20ga for turkey. It’s my eventual plan to try for a close-range Tom using a .410, without a blind (though I’ll leave the hi-viz at home).
Thinking a T/C Encore pistol would be a lot of fun. Would probably pay for TSS loads in a 10” .410 though.
TSS loads are (can be) awesome, no doubt. I use them for one short barreled benelli I have. The problem is they cost so much they make finding what works best prohibitive. You hear it a lot "With TSS you don't need 12ga, you don't need 3" shells, you don't need 3 1/2 shells..." Ya know what works even better? 3 1/2" 12ga TSS loads. 
My 10ga always works well, no matter what I put in it and it doesn't cost $14 a shot. "No replacement for displacement"., especially proved true with ammo shortages. That was my joke about what I like for coyote loads, 3 1/2" 00buck. Because even in the driest point of the ammo shortages when you couldn't find anything, I could still buy 3 1/2" 12ga 00 buck because NOBODY wants to shoot it.
My 10ga always works well, no matter what I put in it and it doesn't cost $14 a shot. "No replacement for displacement"., especially proved true with ammo shortages. That was my joke about what I like for coyote loads, 3 1/2" 00buck. Because even in the driest point of the ammo shortages when you couldn't find anything, I could still buy 3 1/2" 12ga 00 buck because NOBODY wants to shoot it. As mentioned above it is funny how finicky a shotgun can be - I’ve killed most of my turkeys with an old Mossberg 500- first gun I ever bought with my own money from running a trap line . It’s been modified couple different stocks and barrels extended gobbler stopper choke tube . loves the federal strut shock #4 won’t shoot a Winchester #4 load worth a shit .
Last 20 years or so Turkey hunting has been boringly easy- just a explosion in population especially in the last 10 or so - and I cant really figure it out as we’ve had some mild winters and some record breaking ones as well - few years ago we had some -40 days and deep snow .
Anyhow - every time I look at switching Turkey guns I think of how much stuff I’ve killed with this old 500 and what it meant to me when I bought it , all the ice I broke with it duck hunting - the grouse in Canada , my first wild boar - first time I ever killed two deer in a sit - two big doe . Sorry for the thread drift just had some serious good memory flashbacks!
Last 20 years or so Turkey hunting has been boringly easy- just a explosion in population especially in the last 10 or so - and I cant really figure it out as we’ve had some mild winters and some record breaking ones as well - few years ago we had some -40 days and deep snow .
Anyhow - every time I look at switching Turkey guns I think of how much stuff I’ve killed with this old 500 and what it meant to me when I bought it , all the ice I broke with it duck hunting - the grouse in Canada , my first wild boar - first time I ever killed two deer in a sit - two big doe . Sorry for the thread drift just had some serious good memory flashbacks!
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Same, but #5’s. I just checked my order history and MidwayUSA had them on sale last summer for $1.70/rd with free shipping.
Does anyone call Turkeys anymore…. Shit,, why don’t you pour some corn in a pile and use your rifle. Drive up on him, put him in the vehicle and call it a day!!! Shit fire boys.. what the hell is the use to spend all that money,, you can even sleep in. To much dam money for one shotgun shell…oh.. Good Luck…
Hell yeah people still call them. And if you’re any good with a call, you don’t need a fancy tungsten heavy shot $14 per shell to tag one. Call em in close and blast em in the face when you can smell their breath. Opening day is April 1. I plan to be tagged out by 10am…
My use of bismuth is because of State Regs. The old Remington Turkey loads (lead) worked just fine for me.
Right now, I’m hoping to be able to go for opener Next weekend since I don’t have any commitments. Those outside commitments have managed to stretch my ammo budget out (less shooting).
Anything 20ga or smaller I use Apex #9 TSS, and if I am using a 12ga I will go back to lead #5s. I usually try to find Longbeard XR if shooting lead, although I have used Remington shells as well. I think most of the time, people care too much about what they are shooting. Two years ago, I killed one with a 1oz 7 1/2 1300fps Gamebore white gold that I had in my vest when going to practice and crawled threw grass to get within 30 yards.
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