First, I shot my shotgun at a black spot on a large piece of cardboard at 30 yd. The spot should be peppered with shot holes. You may want to repeat this procedure for verification. I did. I did it again. And, I did it again until I was finally willing to accept the fact that my old Remington 870 was shooting about 1.5 ft high and 1.5 ft left at 30 yd. I further determined that the 870 was hitting about one ft high and one ft left at 20 yd and two ft high and two ft left at 40 yd. With a tear in my eye, I thought about past misses not only on the turkey, but rabbits, upland birds and waterfowl but I will save that for later. On the last day I could hunt during that season, I had a Jake come in at 20 yd. I lined up on his head, moved the bead 1 ft to the right and 1 ft down and fired. That day, I went home with a turkey.
Most shotguns will not shoot as badly as mine. If off at all, they are usually just a little high or low and you can just use a little "Kentucky Windage" to compensate when shooting at a stationary target. I recall Jim La Fon, Trap Shooting Guru, telling me that most field guns will shoot low. After you know where your shotgun shoots, the next step is to find the right combination of gun, choke, and ammunition that will give you the tightest pattern. I use lead target loads for preliminary tests to narrow down the field of chokes at different yardages. In the final stages, I switch to the turkey loads that I am considering for my hunt.
Buy some targets shaped like a turkey's "kill zone (KZ)," the head and neck. Tip: Shoot at the turkey's head and the upper half of the shot pattern will pass ineffectively above the turkey. Shoot at the mid-neck and more of the shot in the pattern is likely to strike the bird in the critical parts of the KZ (skull and brain and vertebrae and spinal cord.)
Pappy's Porch....Hunting and other important stuff..Everything from birds to bulls, kids to pooches. Some things serious some just for fun - so come, settle in on Pappy's Porch and join the good times.
Fishtracks would like to introduce George "Pappy" Swan. This talented gentleman has a long and in-depth history of outdoor experience, both in the area of fish (work) and hunting (for fun).
I hope you enjoy his work as much as we have....
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PAPPY PATTERNS HIS SHOTGUN FOR TURKEY HUNTING FINALLY!
I missed the first Tom turkey that I ever shot at. As he trotted off through the trees, I sat there, too dumb-founded to get off a second shot. How could I have missed at 30 yards? That was several years ago but every year about this time, I relive the disappointment of watching that Gobbler's backside getting smaller in the distance. That miss, led to my amateur investigation of the "Easy shot gone wrong." The following is a summary of what I learned and how I corrected the problem.
If a turkey gun is patterning well, you should be able to count at least 15 or more hits in the KZ of a turkey target.
I like the Shoot-N-C targets that show the turkey KZ in black. When a pellet strikes the black surface, it leaves little "bullet holes" ringed in yellow that make the hits show up better. Many hunters prefer to use magnum turkey loads with lead shot in size 4 or 5 because of the greater mass of the larger shot for more killing power. Steel and other non-toxic loads have high velocities but lower mass giving less down range killing power.
After doing considerable testing with my turkey gun (the same old 870), my preference for a turkey-hunting load is Hevi-shot number 6 Magnum loads fired through a full choke. Hevi-shot is non-toxic but actually heavier than lead so it has higher downrange energy. While I do not like to shoot at a turkey at more than 30-35 yd and prefer 20-25 yd, I still like to have an edge. I like number six shot because the smaller shot size load holds a higher pellet count. A higher pellet count provides a greater chance of hits than say fours or fives but the higher down range energy and mass of Hevi-shot makes up for the smaller shot size. If the center of the pattern of a shotgun is not too far out of whack, varying shot sizes, loads, and chokes may help cover the center and tighten up the pattern.
Spring Turkey Season in Washington begins on April 15. Therefore, pick the turkey loads that you want to use and pattern your turkey-hunting shotgun now, especially a new one, so that you can detect problems early and eliminate or compensate for them and keep a record of where each gun shoots. Take it from an old codger who learned the hard way.
Next month: How I made that old 870 shoot right on the spot in "Pappy And Old Bent Barrel Finally Take A Tom."
'Pappy'
George Swan
