11-14-2007, 09:44 PM
Guns - 12 ga is preferred over a 20 ga but a 20 will work if you use good loads. Using a buffered magnum load 1 1/4 oz to 2 oz of 4,5 or 6 shot traveling about 1200 + fps when it leaves a full choked barrel will work good out to 30-40 yds. Pattern your gun - make sure your pattern is centered on where you are aiming - different ammo will not pattern the same out of the same gun. You can use expensive specialty lead alternative loads but be carefull with a full choke - Hevishot and other alternatives are not supposed to be shot thru a full choke - hevi shot is harder than regular lead and will not deform like lead thru a choke and can mess your gun up.
I now use a 20 ga with an improved cylinder choke with 1 1/4 oz of # 6 hevi shot and it will stomp flat any turkey out to 40 yds. It is expensive but bad medicine for a turkey. You don't have to have the specialty chokes and shot - I have killed a lot of turkeys with 12 ga high brass #4's and 5's and they all worked as long as I put turkey's head/neck in the pattern.
Calls - if you are a first timer get you a diaphram pack with an instructional tape or disk and practice. Also get you a push button type call to use if you can not get the hang of a diaphram they are easy and fool proof and will sound like a turkey. There several push button types - my 6 yr old can talk to any turkey out there right now with a little Knight & Hale push pull call - not hard to use but you do have to move to use it.
Diaphrams - I prefer the primos calls - its almost like you have to find the one that fits - everyone is different and there are a lot of diaphram makers.
If you hunt one of the late hunts the call is not that important [
] Those turkeys get to a point where a call is a deflector instead of an attractor in the high pressured areas - they get called at a lot so they get smart.
Good luck.
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I now use a 20 ga with an improved cylinder choke with 1 1/4 oz of # 6 hevi shot and it will stomp flat any turkey out to 40 yds. It is expensive but bad medicine for a turkey. You don't have to have the specialty chokes and shot - I have killed a lot of turkeys with 12 ga high brass #4's and 5's and they all worked as long as I put turkey's head/neck in the pattern.
Calls - if you are a first timer get you a diaphram pack with an instructional tape or disk and practice. Also get you a push button type call to use if you can not get the hang of a diaphram they are easy and fool proof and will sound like a turkey. There several push button types - my 6 yr old can talk to any turkey out there right now with a little Knight & Hale push pull call - not hard to use but you do have to move to use it.
Diaphrams - I prefer the primos calls - its almost like you have to find the one that fits - everyone is different and there are a lot of diaphram makers.
If you hunt one of the late hunts the call is not that important [
] Those turkeys get to a point where a call is a deflector instead of an attractor in the high pressured areas - they get called at a lot so they get smart. Good luck.
[signature]