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A heavy charge of No. 6 lead
shot has been traditional in full-choked guns for head/neck shots at
turkeys. However, there have been failures with them as the range
lengthens.So there the guys were, hunkered down in a farmer's back
forty on opening day with a couple of unsuspicious toms walking big
and boldly into range. They were focused on a solitary hen decoy. The
hunter who held a permit was already scrunched into his Auto-5,
tracking the incoming birds, while his partner was off to the side
with a slate call. It looked like a sure thing, just the way they'd
script it for TV.
Then the Auto-5 went off, and the toms scattered. First they ran like scared chickens, but when a second shot split the early morning scene they lumbered into the air, banked around the woodlot's corner oak and sailed off into the far distance. The shooter had just plain goofed.
"But I saw feathers fly on the second shot," he claimed as he tried to save face when the story got out the next day at work. He might have, but when I asked him what he was using, he replied that it had been 1 1/4; 4 ounces of lead No. 6s. While that kind of load may be OK for a perfectly placed full-choke pattern on the tom's head/neck region, it's hardly a stopper on a spooked bird running like blazes at 40 to 45 yards.
This brings us to the topic of our column &endash; back-up loads for turkeys. Although the classic turkey shot is a stationary one fired riflelike at the bird's head/neck region to impact the central nervous system for an instant knockdown, we must face the fact that things have been known to go awry on that standing chance. Sometimes a case of buck fever sets in and the hunter yanks the trigger, either missing completely (as above) or just crippling the bird; sometimes a bird gets up and runs after having been bowled over; sometimes a hunter either misjudges range or chances a long shot when a skittish tom stays on the fringe of scattergun range. Or whatever. Lots of things can happen to klutz up the first shot.
That bit of realism being accepted, we come to a point that hasn't had a public airing, namely, the kind of load needed for the second shot at turkeys. There's a significant difference between the first and second shots in this sport. The first is almost always directed at the above-mentioned head/ neck area, and it can be pulled off with lead No. 4, 5 or 6 shot. If there's a second shot at a crippled or missed turkey moving away from the gun, however, it becomes a body shot; and then the shot sizes should be larger, since the turkey is a strong-boned, heavily muscled target that requires deep penetration for a positive knockdown. The pellets must indeed drive home if they're to grass a tough tom around 40 yards or more on a straightaway or quartering-away shot. Those lead No. 6s that can saturate a tom's head/neck region at 20 to 30 yards simply lack the hammering energy for such work.
What this all means, of course, is that a savvy turkey hunter plans and loads for a pair of different targets. In a repeater, he chambers a load that has optimum density plus adequate energy for the head/neck shot, but into that repeater's magazine he slides rounds more suited for stopping body hits at long range. In a double, the first barrel gets a load developed for a first shot to the head/neck segment, while the second barrel receives a tight-patterning load of heavier pellets for body penetration.
What sizes of lead shot are we talking about? Traditional sizes for the standing shot have been No. 6s, and they're still quite good if you know the bird will walk in reasonably close and if you can discipline yourself not to take any silly long-range chances. Although the lead No. 6 isn't a weakling, I've had letters from hunters who have experienced failures with them; they tell of feathers flying, birds buckling, then righting themselves and running off. This is entirely possible because shotgun pellets can, and do, deflect off plumage and rounded areas. Remember how you shot several times at a swimming mallard without an apparent impact although the pattern splashed all around it? You were hitting that duck, but the pellets were simply deflecting off hard wing surfaces. I discussed the subject of pellet deflection at length in Handloader No. 117 (September-October 1985); back copies are available for those who might be interested.
For greater insurance of bone breakage, lead sizes 4 and 5 are now recommended in specialty turkey magnums. The No. 5 is super in 12, 16 and 20-gauge guns, wherein it splits the difference between the energy of No. 4s and the density of No. 6s. If one reloads for the 3 1/4 ;2-inch, 12-gauge Magnum, the lead No. 5s are equally good.
Lead No. 4s enter the picture for the 10-gauge Magnum and the heavy 2 1/4; 4-ounce bomb in the 3 1/4 ;2-inch, 12-gauge Magnum. In these heavy charge weights, the No. 4s are populous enough for adequate density besides their penetrating power. Wouldn't it be OK to use lead No. 4s from the standard 12 and rely on energy rather than density? Not in my opinion, as everything I've seen indicates that lead No. 5s pack plenty of energy out to 40 yards or so for head/neck hits. It's the No. 6s that wimp out as distances stretch beyond 25 to 30 yards.
When it comes to the back-up round for body shots, there is one complicating factor that must be taken seriously: Many states have laws limiting the size of shot for turkey hunting. Each hunter will want to check local laws before selecting a maximum pellet size for his turkey back-up loadings.
In most areas, the No. 4 lead pellet will be legal for turkey hunting. It is about a minimum for body shots on this big bird, but it is better than slinging No. 6s. There are two things in favor of No. 4s as the back-up. First, they are readily available in the special turkey loads being turned out by the major commercial ammunition makers. A hunter can pick a 10-shot box of No. 5s for the first shot and another 10-shot box of No. 4s and be well set.
Second, No. 4s tend to pattern reasonably well through the extra-full turkey chokes now in vogue, especially when they're bedded in granulated polyethylene buffer for charge fluidity.
Where it's legal for turkey hunting, however, the use of No. 2 or 3 lead shot seems advisable. This isn't one of those fancy situations like woodcocking or quail hunting where the range is short and the target is small and easily folded. The energy of 2s and 3s isn't wasted. I have a friend who has dispatched toms with No. 3s and swears they are potent enough while putting a few more into the pattern than the larger No. 2s. I don't know, never having taken a tom with No. 3s, but I'll take his word for it because he's an observant chap.
One problem with back-up turkey loads fetching lead No. 2s or 3s is getting them to pattern snuggly from the same extra-full turkey choke that's superb with 4s, 5s or 6s. The bulkier pellets don't always flow as well, and one might have to experiment with a few different commercial loads or reloads before finding the best option. Handloading data involving buffer is in order here.
One reason why an O/U or side by side is nicely fitted to turkey hunting stems from their ability to have different degrees of choke suited to the respective first and second shots. One barrel could have the extra-full choke for 4s, 5s or 6s, while the second barrel has whatever degree of choke is needed to get dense patterns from magnum charges of 2s or 3s (or BBs if they're legal). Often one will find that a basic full choke or improved modified will work better with magnum charges of bulky shot, although that's just a generalization, not a universal truism. Patterning the individual gun/load combo is always recommended with a given choke. The first load of 4s, 5s or 6s can be tested at 30 yards for density and point of impact, while the BBs, 2s or 3s can be checked at 40 yards.
One final point about turkey hunting equipment: I find it incongruous that we should be trying for hard hits on a large, tough bird with ultra-short-barreled shotguns that don't generate the full velocities of heavy charges with slow-burning powders. I understand that the sales pitch centers on inconspicuous gun movement as a turkey approaches, but most hunters don't mount at the last moment. They've got the gun shouldered long before the bird steps into range. Moreover, a camouflaged shotgun is a camouflaged shotgun. For optimum energy in each pellet, a 28 to 30-inch barrel is better. I might not make gun makers happy by questioning those stumpy-barreled turkey specials they've been hawking, but I like what I see over my chronograph better when I shoot the longer tubes.
Copyright 1997 Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc.
