futurerider103
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I have a 12ga Maverick 88 and I'm looking for a budget turkey choke but I know nothing about shotgun shooting
What bargain choke for turkey hunting?
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Greybeard
Member
While pricey choke tubes can improve your odds, gobs of turkey have been killed quite dead way b4 such was ever invented with Plain Jane full or modified chokes. Just gotta get em to come in a little closer.
futurerider103
Member
Currently my gun has a modified choke but I'd like to reach out and touch them turkey this year
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I shoot a Primos JellyHead. It holds really consistent patterns @ 50 yards with Remington Nitro Turkey #5's. but that doesn't mean it will work in your gun. You need to pattern your gun with different ammo. Yes it costs a little money. But it's better to do that than miss. I went through about $75 in shotgun shells plus the cost of the choke before I found the pattern I wanted.
WestKentucky
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Jellyhead. No other. This year I'm going old school though fixed full on rem 11
buck460XVR
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^^^This.....especially for someone that admits " I know nothing about shotgun shooting". I have bought several special purpose "turkey chokes" over the years, but after patterning, still go back to the factory full choke every year. Go out, learn how to turkey hunt, kill a few birds with the regular full choke and then decide if you need to really "reach out" any farther.
wyohome
Member
#6. Buy a FC barrel
LeonCarr
Member
Go with the factory full choke tube and test several different brands of ammunition.
I think you will see a bigger difference in pattern size/density from the different ammunition than different chokes.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
I think you will see a bigger difference in pattern size/density from the different ammunition than different chokes.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
wyohome
Member
A Ruger 10/22 works pretty well.
futurerider103
Member
I have shot shotguns and been turkey hunting and killed a couple birds but I used what choke that was in the gun when I got it (which was an undertaker) I guess I should have said I know nothing about shotgun chokes not shooting.
I would always want the ability to shoot out farther as I think anyone would if they couldn't call the bird to their feet
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buck460XVR
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Sorry, but thinkin' you were new to shotguns and turkey hunting made me respond as such. Over the years it seems too many new Turkey hunters are concerned more about how to shoot a bird @ 70 yards than what works to bring them in. They also worry more about the type of ammo than the woodsmanship that will make both the type of choke and the type of ammo irrelevant.
Several years ago I called in two toms for a friend that uses a bow for turkeys. One of those Toms had a perfect hole the size of a baseball thru the center of it's tail when it fanned. I assumed it was from someone with a super-duper extra full beard splitter choke that shot at the bird from ten yards. He's probably still tryin' to figure out how he missed! At that range the pattern was smaller than the Turkeys head and if the gun did not shoot exactly as pointed(why we pattern our turkey guns) or the turkey moved ever so slightly when the trigger was pulled, that high price choke cost a hunter a good bird. BTW...my friend missed him with his bow too. I nicknamed the Tom "lucky" after that and chased him the rest of the season with no success. He was easy to identify.
A choke will not increase the range of your shotgun. Only a cartridge with a faster velocity will do that. All a tighter choke will do is keep your pattern closer together for a farther distance...supposedly. They all don't do that, nor do they necessarily do it with all types of shells. Most guys that buy a super tight choke so they can shoot 70 yards do not know how much their pattern drops in 70 yards. They don't realize when they killed that Tom @ 70 yards, that the majority of the pattern hit the dirt 15 yards in front of the bird and it was one lucky flier that hit it in the head and killed it.
Mossberg makes a stock extra full Turkey choke that fits your Maverick that will fit flush like a stock full choke will. Wally-World has aftermarket chokes for a few dollars more that extend past the barrel and many claim to help with recoil. What you will find is that the tighter the choke, the more felt recoil you will experience. Many 12 ga. Turkey loads don't like getting forced thru a 16 ga. size choke tube. Again, I have a coupla after market tubes for both my Mossberg and my 870......but still, I use the stock full chokes in them. You will have to try some yourself to find what works for you.
BrokenSailor
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Used to be that Turkey guns had to be long. Now they are shorter. The new Ammo and the new Chokes make a 35 yd head shot a breeze with these shorter guns. They sure are easier to get through the woods with.
Most any good Turkey Choke will work. Jelly heads are good, Undertaker is another. Put them on your wish list on MidwayUSA.com and wait till one goes on sale. Read the reviews.
Best thing you can do, however, is put a red dot on your gun. When you are cramped up, all knotted and contorted into a pretzel cause the bird came from behind you instead of down your fire lane, they will help you line up the shot.
If the dot is on his neck, he is dead.
Most any good Turkey Choke will work. Jelly heads are good, Undertaker is another. Put them on your wish list on MidwayUSA.com and wait till one goes on sale. Read the reviews.
Best thing you can do, however, is put a red dot on your gun. When you are cramped up, all knotted and contorted into a pretzel cause the bird came from behind you instead of down your fire lane, they will help you line up the shot.
If the dot is on his neck, he is dead.
birdshot8's
Member
Some of the ammo is now being loaded with wads designed to give tight patterns with modified or improved chokes. I like the Federal Prairie Storm for my twenty gauge.
osprey176
Member
I have bought several different brands of chokes and the best I have used by a considerable margin is a vented Carlson I found in the Bargain Cave at Cabelas. With that said, your mileage may vary. I scope or at least put adjustable sights on my turkey guns and find a huge advantage with them.You should pattern your gun and choke with a few different brands and shot sizes before deciding which one to use,as pattern differences can be remarkable.It can get expensive,but you only have to do it once,unless you make changes. Then buy a couple extra boxes of your best shooting ammo of the same lot and you are set for several seasons.The newer ammo with the "Flight Control" wads have given very good results for me at least in my choice of #5 shot in my BPS and 870.I wish I could find them in 2 3/4" and 20 gauge for my wife's gun. You really need to do your own research because shotguns,like rifles are individuals and don't all react the same.
Carlson's choke tubes have consistently been the best performing tubes in my guns. What you have to understand is every shotgun will pattern differently with different tubes. So what works in one guys 870 will not be as good in your maverick. It is expensive to buy half a dozen just to see what works best.
A buddy and I spent hundreds of dollars on tubes and shells to find the best combination in 4 different shotguns. We had a Winchester 1300, Winchester SX2, Browning BPS and a Mossberg 500. We bought 5 different brands of shells in 3 different shot sizes from each manufacturer. We also bought 3 aftermarket tubes for each gun and the stock tubes. After pattern density and penetration tests the Carlson's was first or second in each gun depending on the shell used.
A buddy and I spent hundreds of dollars on tubes and shells to find the best combination in 4 different shotguns. We had a Winchester 1300, Winchester SX2, Browning BPS and a Mossberg 500. We bought 5 different brands of shells in 3 different shot sizes from each manufacturer. We also bought 3 aftermarket tubes for each gun and the stock tubes. After pattern density and penetration tests the Carlson's was first or second in each gun depending on the shell used.
03Shadowbob
Member
IMO your $20-$30 would be better spent on a camo burlap sheet from Walmart and a couple $10 cheap decoys placed about 10-15yds away from your burlap blind. Drive around at dusk and find where they roost and set up there. Call him in and there you go.
How I got this nice tom this weekend
How I got this nice tom this weekend
gamestalker
member
Honestly, I don't think I've ever killed a turkey with a full choke, and I've never really seen a need for one. Although most of the birds I've taken have been at under 40 yds, there have been a few I've taken at longer distances, but I don't recommend doing it.
What you need to do it pattern your current choke at 10, 20, 30, and 40 yards, or just pattern a couple at 20 and 40 yards. Use the shells you plan to hunt with. It's a simple process of drawing a 2" circle on a paper plate, and then put your bead on it and see how many pellets hit the circle, which represents the head. Then draw a circle around the bulk of the pattern, don't worry about the fliers, you'll always have those, and then measure the spread you get at the various distances.
Good luck, and hopefully your suffer the life long addiction to turkey hunting that I've been blessed with.
GS
What you need to do it pattern your current choke at 10, 20, 30, and 40 yards, or just pattern a couple at 20 and 40 yards. Use the shells you plan to hunt with. It's a simple process of drawing a 2" circle on a paper plate, and then put your bead on it and see how many pellets hit the circle, which represents the head. Then draw a circle around the bulk of the pattern, don't worry about the fliers, you'll always have those, and then measure the spread you get at the various distances.
Good luck, and hopefully your suffer the life long addiction to turkey hunting that I've been blessed with.
GS
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