Favorite turkey guns and gear

I know turkey season is in the rear view mirror for most of us. I had the vent rib pop loose on my old single shot 12 this year and I was forced to go pick up something new to use. After carrying that light slender single for so long, switching to a pump felt very awkward. To top it off when I found a choke tube that gave me a nice pattern- it patterned off center, significantly to the left. So "kentucky windage" was the word of the day. I suppose I could've paid to have it drilled and tapped, but mounting an optic on a turkey shooter feels strange to me. Maybe I'm behind the times. Anyway, I've been wondering what the forum members prefer, since several of us enjoy chasing turkeys in the spring.

I enjoy the absolute beating that I get from my Benelli Nova with a .660 Kick's Gobblin' Thunder choke and Federal 3.5" 2oz #5 lead shot. The pattern is good enough. Never missed a bird, but never shot at one beyond 40 yards. I have some HeviShot 3.5" magnum blend that extends my range out to 60 yards but I like to see how close I can get to the bird, not how far away I can kill one. I like to get a gobbler close enough to see his breath on a chilly morning. I even have a new in box Remington camo 12ga Versa Max that I was going to try to pattern but the birds where I have access to hunt are gone. The last few years I have spent a late week in March and 2 weeks in mid-late April chasing sheepshead and pompano instead of beards and spurs. I sot 2 rounds of 20ga 3" #7 hevishot through my old Savage single shot and had an excellent pattern at 35 yards. IF I ever hunt turkeys again that's what I will probably use. Hopefully the downward trend in turkey populations in the south will reverse itself some day.

Don't do it much, but when I am down and during turkey season I use a browning pump camo, with Carlson turkey extra full choke tube ,with nice sights . Patterns good at 40yrds with 3in no 4's
I have others that could be used, but that is what it was gotten for at the right price, at the time

they are either there or not still hunting on the atv path calling here and there, listening....usually see scratch marks in the leaves when present.....not really toms ,but use to be a crap load of hens(flock of 75 + or -) when first 3 years of owning it ....stick around for a month or so scratching the hill then move on....lately deer hunting maybe 8 seen in the fall the past couple years.

I got some pretty amazing 40 yard patterns with carlsons longbeard xr choke tube and 1 3/4 oz 3 inch #5 longbeard, but like I mentioned, the patterns were left of my point of aim. It didn't matter much with longer shots but up close the pattern was so tight that hits were occasionally marginal and as a rule were on the edge of the pattern.

I'm bailing out the same boat as chillinfish when it comes to turkey population where I hunt, but when I was doing it, I fell in love with a Mossberg 835 turkey gun. I put a Carlson choke on it, along with a red dot holosight that I can't call the name of right now. The gun has a short barrel, and is reasonably lightweight---even more so when I realized that I only needed to put two shells in it (one for backup). With Federal Heavyweight shells, it will kill gobblers further away than I like to admit shooting at them, and closer up it will do a grand job of brush clearing if called upon. That particular model was on special at Cabelas' when I bought it 15 years ago---I had to modify the factory camo job with some spray paint. If I missed any turkeys with that gun, it wasn't the gun's fault, which is more than I can say for my high priced Rem SP autoloader that has been roosting in the gun safe ever since I got the MB.

If I were to ever get another turkey gun, I think I'd buy one of the less expensive over/under guns with turkey tubes in both barrels. Far less chance of a jam, which I have had with both pump and semi-autos.

870 is my go-to turkey killer. Truglo reddot. And I think a truglo choke. Longbeard XR 3 in. #5 shot. Attachment 7361

Sorry to say Missouri turkey numbers are way down too. The twice weekly downpours and flooding are not going to make this spring hatch any better. I was very fortunate to catch up with 2 at home this spring, and got my very first Merriam's in South Dakota. Gobble Stopper choke tubes are on two of my guns. Before choke tubes became a 'thing', plain ole full choke seemed to work fine. Winchester Long Beards pattern just as well in my guns as the new mega-expensive TSS ammo at 1/4 the price. The turkeys don't seem to have a preference.
If GS wasn't an 11-hour trip, I would fish more and hunt less as well.

Kevin E. I'm in Oklahoma, and in the same boat you are as far as bird numbers and flood problems reducing this years nesting success. Numbers seemed to be down here before the flood too. I went on one trip when I saw multiple birds and everything looked fairly normal, but over all I had more trips than encounters with birds. Even in areas that typically have a lot of turkeys.

Well, shotgun,Stoeger 3500 in camo, shells,Hevi-Shot 5's, rifle sights, factory Beretta standard full choke, and my favorite call is one made in Haywire's neck of the woods. A Winky Hicks pushbutton/slate combo

I use a Belgium Browning semi auto with choke tubes. Nice gun but heavy.