turkey hunting

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Dee

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I have never been but hope to go this spring. I have a lot of questions and homework to do about it ahead of time but to start with I was wondering about my shotgun and if it will work the way it is or not.

It is a Mossberg Mariner 500 with 18" barrel, no choke. Ideally to start with I would like to stick with that but would like to hear recommendations on ammo that would keep a reasonably tight pattern with that set up that I can try.

As an alternative I would also like to know what replacement barrel/ and choke I should get. Preferably camo or parkerized, or mariner finish but it doesn't look like they make any other mariner finish barrels other than the one that I have already.
 
Wow don't all respond at once- lol, oh well. I picked up a box of Federal Premium turkey loads, 3" shells #4 shot with flight control wad so hopefully I'll get a chance to try that at the range and see how it patterns and go from there.
 
They make a 20'' ventilated rib barrel with the accu-II choke system. It comes with IC, Modified and full choke tubes. This is what I recommend. If you want to camo it, paint it. For a just a small amount more than a replacement barrel, you can buy a Remmie 870 express or another Mossy 500 with the multi choke system. Around here they have the Mossy 12ga camoed turkey gun with fiber optic sights and accu-choke system for around $300. Remmie 870 expresses are about the same. I believe the blued barrel itself, is around $160.
 
I've been guiding turkey since 1989 in Arizona and New Mexico. The shotgun should have a at least a mod. choke, but full or xtra full would be much better. I've had a good number people kill birds with the mod. choke without problems, you just have be careful abut how far you shoot, 25 - 30 yds. with a mod. will be OK. If you go with a 3" mag. loaded with copper or nickel plated BB long shots out to 50 yds. isn't all that difficult. If you can't get at least BB 3" ers then go with a #4 buck, not as many pellets, but there is enough to do produce a decent pattern. I've always told my clients that it onyl takes one pellet in the head to get it done, and the bigger the pellet the better chance of that holding true. I've seen a lot of birds lost because of too small of shot size like #4 or smaller just isn't enough at distances beyond 20 or so yards.
Where are you going to hunt them, as in what state? In New Mexico you can get over the counter for $110 for 2 gobbs and the birds are plentiful. Arizona is very tough, just not enough birds and it's a lottery hunt for shotgun. Archery is OTC.
 
A tighter choke is usually better, but don't let your gun keep you from going. A good caller under the right conditions can call them into rock-throwing range.
I used to do alot of spring hunting/calling here in Texas. I always used my old 870 TB trap gun with its full choke. I loaded my own ammo and it was either 1 3/8 oz. of #4 buffered with flour, or 1 1/2 oz. of un-buffered #4's. I always loaded a few copper plated BB's and kept them in the magazine in case I needed a follow up shot, but the #4's never let me down. Incidently, the #4's were high antimony, or extra hard.
I eventually got to the point that I got tired of shooting them, but still enjoyed calling them for others and would donate guided hunts to my local gun club for fund raisers. Last time I guided a friend, I carried an old Savage Model "B" 16 ga SxS which I assumed was choked mod./full as most old SxS's are. I loaded it with factory W-W's with 1 1/8 oz of #4's. I called in a tom for my buddy and he killed it. Since there were still toms gobbling, I decided I'd take one and called in another. I dispatched him with one shot from 25-30 yds.
Sometime later I actually measured the chokes on that shotgun and found that it was actually choked light I/C and I/C!!
Point is, it doesn't necessarily take a super tight choked shotgun firing handfulls of shot. Just get 'em in close.
35W
 
Wild Turkey is fantastic! Hardly worth eating? We fry it up and it's one of our favorites.
Flight Control is THE way to go. I patterned a couple turkey loads with Xtra full chokes, then put on a modified choke and used the flight control and it was no contest! The flight control #4s patterned awesome!
 
I thought the 500's could only shoot 2-3/4" loads ?? 3" #4 is best with full-choke,, now that takes care of gun.what about your hunting spot ?? NOW is the time to take some walks thru the area your gonna hunt,Turkey frequently will be out and about during the day,and then usually like to find some Pine or cedar trees to roost at night,keep notes and maybe a map of your hunting area,come spring when the grass is growing and leaves budding, your sight-distance thru brush/trees is cut drastically! I found a "spot' this winter while trapping that if the pond nearby wasnt frozen i would have never even seen it,, a small group of about 8-large pine trees COMPLETELY disguised by buck-thorn,, when i walked under those pines about 25-birds flew out !! i cant wait for spring !!
 
If you are hunting them in the mountains, it can play havoc on your spring season depending on how much snow has fallen. They will winter out of the snow where it has covered up their feeding areas. That's one of the problems hunting them in New Mexico or Arizona. If I'm not getting any talking in the pines I quickly head down the mountain and usually find them in very large harems. One spring when we had a lot of snow still on the ground, so I put a bird to bed the night before opening day down the mountain, and when I got set up on him the next morning and the shooter had nailed him, all hell broke loose. Following his gun going off, litterally hundreds of birds flew off their roosts. I've seen large numbers of birds in fall before, but never like that spring morning. Funny thing though, is he was the only bird talking that morning and the night before a bed time also.
One fall I was busy locating birds for the nect morning so my wife went out to help in another area. She put some to bed and we ended up taking our hunter to her spot. When it got light I called them off the roost not realizing we were right in the middle of them. About a hundred birds dropped off their roosts and nearly landed on top of us. The hunter almost didn't get his bird because he was in such shock. For me, nothing is more fun than hunting the elusive wild turkey.
 
Thanks for all the great replys everyone. I am in the middle TN area, I live on 35 acres; about half wooded and half open areas. I plan to hunt there this spring if I am still there, the property is actually for sale so if I move before then then that may put a damper on my plans. Unless I find another spot. I haven't seen as many this year but there have been times when I have seen dozens of turkey on my property at once, I have even managed to get pretty close to them before they flew off, with in 12 yards or so. I have seen a good number already on adjacent properties in my area.

I have patterned some standard 2 3/4 #4 buck through my gun and it does have a very wide, open patterne at 20 yards or so. I am hoping the 3" flight control wad #4 will make some difference. Natman; I was looking at the link that you posted and the 28' woodlands barrel sounded pretty interesting, I guess a lot of them are back ordered as well as the one that you mentioned.
 
Hey Dee, you said you used #4 buck and buckshot is illegal to hunt within Tn. was that a misprint? I use #5 and #6 loads in my turkey gun. I like the extra shot in the pattern. I live in Tennessee also and if you sell your property there are plenty of good places to hunt birds. Check with your local chapter of the NWTF, I'm sure they can put you on some good places, there's a lot of good public hunting all over the state also.
 
Sorry I meant #4 shot, it is legal from what I understand. I went to the Knob creek range in KY, some of my in-laws live in Louisville. I tried the Federal turkey loads # 4 shot and it had a pattern of about 18" at 25 yards, pretty wide. I tried to get another barrel there but the ones they had were not threaded for a choke although they had longer ones.

Skyman- I am starting to look into other options if we sell our place, if you know of a good place in particular then I would be interested to know about them. Thanks
 
Land between the lakes and Ft. Campbell are two good areas that I have had success in the Middle of the state area, Not sure where you are from there and in the Eastern part of the State Catoosa WMA is a good area And Chuck Swan WMA and if you really want get away from folks try the Cherokee Nat Forest but be in shape turkey hunting in the mountains in not for wimps!
 
Turkeys come into my yard all the time too, and are fairly easy to get,

orig.jpg

Normally i don't shoot them, but every once in a while...

orig.jpg

I shot that one with my 16ga, using Rem. hi-brass #6's, and it rolled him right over...

Just draw the head and neck of a turkey on some paper, and pattern the shotgun you have with several different loads to see how far away you get a good enough pattern to put several bb's into the head and neck of a turkey. Then you will have your answer of whether your 500 is good enough for turkeys.

DM
 
thanks guys, great photos there! I still haven't seen any turkey this year on my property, don't know what the deal is. I even went pretty far back into the woods but didn't see any evidence of them around :(
 
I got my new barrel (mentioned in previous post) in today, look forward to trying it out soon. It came with 3 chokes; full, imp cyl, and modified. I understand full would be the tightest of the three but I'm not familiar with the other two. Can someone tell me a little about the mod and improved cyl chokes? What are they typically used for in general?

I was wondering which one would work best with the Federal flight control turkey loads that I mentioned at the beginning of the thread. I would normally assume a full choke but the label on the box said not to use a choke that strips the wad for best result, or something to that affect. I plan to test all three but wanted to have a general idea ahead of time. Thanks
 
Dee said:
I got my new barrel (mentioned in previous post) in today, look forward to trying it out soon. It came with 3 chokes; full, imp cyl, and modified. I understand full would be the tightest of the three but I'm not familiar with the other two. Can someone tell me a little about the mod and improved cyl chokes? What are they typically used for in general?

I was wondering which one would work best with the Federal flight control turkey loads that I mentioned at the beginning of the thread. I would normally assume a full choke but the label on the box said not to use a choke that strips the wad for best result, or something to that affect. I plan to test all three but wanted to have a general idea ahead of time. Thanks
Click to expand...
Modified and improved cylinder are more open than full. Full is used for long shots, IC is for close shots, modified splits the difference. You can shoot steel through the IC and Mod chokes, but not full.

Use the full for turkey or get a turkey (Extra Full) choke tube.
 
Thanks Natman for the explanation on that, still hoping to try the longer bbl and chokes soon.

I was wondering how well those turkey decoys work and if it is worth while to get one and how to set it up. Also I was looking at some turkey calls but again didn't know which one I should try.
 
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