What is your effective range?

[CamoMan4025]

I think Gobbler and Cont520.................need to get a ROOM!

[Cont520]

I think Gobbler and Cont520.................need to get a ROOM!

Whats wrong camo you want some attention. Doug and I go way back from the old airboat club days dont get mad because we kill more birds than you lol.

[vaturkey]

I think Gobbler and Cont520.................need to get a ROOM!

Whats wrong camo you want some attention. Doug and I go way back from the old airboat club days dont get mad because we kill more birds than you lol.

Better watch Camoman He's a cop & he's specialized in BOMBS !

[Cont520]

Not worried lol Glad he is a civil servant though my hats off to you bud. MUCH RESPECT for what you do

[ArkansasDon]

zero to 50 yards 3" 2oz. #6's Hevi Shot w/ .665 RR Tubes

[dirt road ninja]

With my 20 I get worried at anything past 40ish. With the 12 I'd take a 45 yard shot without worry. My ten holds a pattern past where I'm comfortable shooting. With a shotgun shooting at turkeys it's not so much my effective range that's the problem it's my effective range finding that is. I like to be able to see their toes when they take a step, if I can see that or can tell how long the beard is, he is in my range.

[Gobbler]

sorry I got to quit that. I made a smart A comment. won't happen again.

[Jaybird]

I think Gobbler and Cont520.................need to get a ROOM!

dont get mad because we kill more birds than you lol.

Like who doesn't. That city boy is lucky to find his way out of the woods, much less actually find a Turkey.

[savduck]

Im pulling the trigger if he is 55 or less in the right situation. There are times though when 20 yards wasnt the right shot. it depends on the situation.

[TS]

maybe 40 yards on a good day

[Spuriosity]

My guns are good to 60 yds, but I certainly don't like to shoot 'em that far. I have missed my share inside 10 yds which is why I started shooting an O/U set up with one tight choke for the long ones and one open choke for the close ones. Then I missed a few with the tight choke and TSS with F/O sights (aging eyes). So this year I will be running a FF III on the O/U and will hopefully have all bases covered. Last year's birds were 16, 30, 38, and 43 yds. My long term average is 29.5 yds. But in truth, I like them between 30 and 40 yds.

[2ounce6s]

40 yards is my max (intent) but I'm fairly sure the gun can kill to 45 or a bit further though I never pattern that far on purpose. I've missed/sprayed my fair share of misjudged range shots over the "lead only" years and it's made an lasting impression. It's still easy to misjudge range under certain conditions, for examples, a slight rise between me and the turkey where I can't see his lower half or a tom strutting out in a big open flat. Throw in a very exciting hunt and things can get muddled once in a while. I'd rather let the tom walk than take a pot shot, have done so enough now that it doesn't hurt to miss the opportunity like it once did. I have 20/10 vision so I try to hold off shooting till I can see a tom's eyeball clearly. That's usually at 40 yards in my experience. Once every three years or so I yank the trigger. That's about the cycle for misses for me. Inside 20 yards it can get dicey for me. It has nothing to do with the size of the tom or the situation, it just happens at certain times when the excitement level is high I guess. If I could pin it down I would have already conquered the problem but it truly seems to have no rhyme or reason about it. It just happens. I can kill 3-5 right up in my face with complete cold blooded malice and the very next tom will have me in a tattered mess of a shambles, short of breath with heart racing, mouth dry, hands tingling, knees shaking, beads bouncing all ending in a crashing boom as the trigger is yanked. I could BS about it but it's best to just tell it like it is. I'd rather be honest and keep my turkey mojo intact for next season.

I also struggle with a case of archery target panic every three years or so. Just getting over a bad case from last month and hope I have it whooped with deer season fixing to start up. The pins get close and the trigger finger punches the arrow off.

I'd say both are related somehow. Ooops almost forgot, my preferred range is 30-35 yards.

[davisd9]

I have a gun that is very capable at 50 yards, but I only have it set up that way for misjudging distance. I hunt large ag fields here is SC and sometimes distance is a bit hard to judge. I do not shoot until I can clearly see the eyes of the Tom and that usually has him in range. I also have the Simmons Pro-Diamond scope on my gun and if the head is in the recticle than he is within my shooting range and it is advertised. I have killed a few birds between 45 and 50, but my ideal shooting range is 30 - 40 yards. The closest I have ever killed one was 12 yards with a 20 gauge shooting lead #5 3". I will not mention the distance of my longest shot because I am embarrassed my it and will make sure it will not happen again, harvested the bird.

2ounce6s can tell you how worked up I get to a gobbling bird or a bird that I see in the distance and know he is coming. My knees are shaking like crazy, I breathe hard, and my body shakes. My goodness there is nothing like it!

[GLS]

I doubled two big Rios at 60 steps in TX 7 years ago with my SBE and Nitros. It was a serious range misjudgment as they were in the open. For the past 3 seasons, I've hunted 20 gauge guns with 1 5/8 oz. #9 TSS. My last bird was at 44 steps. I don't deliberately shoot beyond what I think is 40 yards. Next year, I've decided that I'll either go with the 1 oz. Kyle Smith load or the Hal 1 5/16 oz. load of 18 g/cc 9s. If I do the job, they will their job at 40 and beyond. I like a bird to be inside 35, but not inside 20.

[GOLD HUNTER]

40.01-49.11

But most have been @ about 35 yds.

[HuntnMa]

50 yds., I have killed one of my Merriams at 60 yds....but I am the type of person that will let that gobbler get as close to me as possible, I know the show will end when I shoot, so I want to get every last second I can get, which has has screwed me in the end...I miss, but usually I get another shot after my miss and make a kill, but not this last season, hard lesson learned....I have to wait until he gets away from me or shoot him before he gets too close...it's just so hard, even during scouting trips, I need to get that bird as close as I can knowing if he sees me, it's just educating him, I just can't resist....I'm weak I say, lol.

[3toe]

10-50 yds. I have shot one at 8 steps and dang near missed him. Hardly found any shot in his head.

[Struttinhusker]

With my Kick's choke and 3" lead 6's, I'm comfortable to forty but prefer thirty.

[handcannon]

I'm about the same as Gobbler. I like em between 15-40. Once I totally misjudged a shot that kinda caught me off guard and killed him at 68 steps. I killed the bird but after I was standing on his head and looked back at where I was standing, I could not believe I actually pulled it off. If I would have actually known how far it was, I would not have taken the shot. I still like to keep them less than 40 though.

[guesswho]

Anything inside a perceived 40. If I kill one beyond that it was an accident.

[drenalinld]

27-34 yards. I've missed em at every other possible distance.

[Johndoe]

I know for a fact up to 60yds is good. I didnt plan a shot that far and dont plan on another but if I misjudge I have lots of room for error. I want him at 25yds. I can see the show and my pattern is not too small.

[Flydown]

Good to 45 yards but preferre 20 - 25

[Reloader]

I like em about 30, but can kill them to 60 with ease with most of my guns.

I hate those close ones and usually let them walk on past if possible. Shot one at 12yds with TSS a few years back and had a tiny 3/4" hole mid neck. Killed another with lead at around 10 and blew all the feathers off one side of the neck with a couple flyers sealing the deal. Pure luck. 20-40 gives you a bit more wiggle room.

[poorcountrypreacher]

I've always tried to let my gun tell me the effective range. It was 30 yards when I started hunting as a kid with a 20 gauge, then I felt comfortable at 40 when I got a 12 gauge. I patterned enough that I was good at 45 when I got a 3" gun and found it patterned #5 lead pretty well. I bought a SBE 10 years ago and my patterning showed it was a 50 yard gun with those high velocity Win Supremes.

The thing about hunting with lead, even with the 3.5" gun, was the turkey couldn't be a step further than 50 cause the pattern started quickly falling apart at that range. I let several turkeys walk off cause I wasn't sure if they were 48 or 52. Then 4 years ago I got the TSS bug and used one of Hal's 3" loads to develop a 3.5" load at 1250 fps. Using #8s, it will keep 100 in the 10" circle out to around 70 yds. I've still kept my shooting range at 50 yds, but the big advantage of the tss is that I don't have to sweat it out on exactly how far he is.

I was hunting in GA a couple of years ago and had been calling to a turkey all morning. I hadn't heard him in a long time, so I got up and started down the road to try to get 50 yds closer. I took a few steps and the turkey walked around a curve in the road. There wasn't a twig between us. I thought he was about 50 yds, but the good thing was that I didn't have to worry about it; just raised the gun and killed him. If I'd had lead in the gun, I would have had to look at trees and bushes and try to quickly calculate the distance and then decide whether or not to shoot. With the tss, all I had to focus on was getting the gun on him before he could react. He turned out to be 51 yds, but it didn't make any difference at all.

Once I'm sure the turkey is under 50 yds and I have a clear shot at him standing still with his neck stretched, I'm blasting him. Bad things happen when they get real close.

But the 4 turkeys I killed last season were all under 30 yards. You can't shoot him at 50 if you don't see him until he is 25, and that happens a lot where I hunt. That's the main reason I'm trying to get a 20 gauge SXS to become my turkey gun - I want a barrel that gives me a wide pattern at 30 yards. Having trouble getting the barrels regulated and said I was quitting, but I'm still at it. I am an addict and need help.

Good hunting to all.