MI Turkey Season Double

[JD338]

Well I took my friend out on opening day of the late MI Turkey Season, her first time ever hunting.
I was able to call in 5 toms and had her take the biggest one. Using a 870 12 ga 3" Magnum topped off with a Nikon 4x scope and stuffed with the new Winchester Long Beard Turkey loads
consisting of 1 3/4 oz #5's, she pole axed her Tom at 15 yds. After the OMG what have I just done expressions and a high five, she handed me the shotgun. I racked a shell and watched as the second largest Tom hung around. He must have has a score to settle with the big Tom that was down. I confirmed that he was a shooter with my Meopta 10x binos and put the cross hairs on his waddles at 40 yds. Sending the load of #5's on the way, he went down instantly.
Sue's Tom has a 10.0" beard and 1.5" spurs. My Tom's beard is 10.5" and 1.125" spurs.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Wow! A double! Congratulations to both of you. Fine work, for sure.

 

[HOGWILD338-378]

:shock: nice pair of birds and 2 lucky hunters Hard to beat those results! Congratulations!! :grin:

 

[LD375]

Nice birds Jim ..congrats to both of you 8)

Lou

 

[SJB358]

Very cool Jim! That looks like a great hunt!

 

[muleman]

Very sweet Jim!

 

[truck driver]

Way to go Jim, nice pair of birds. I have never used a scope on a shot gun except for slugs though when I was a lot younger I do remember watch a fellow shoot trap with a 1.5X scope fitted to an 870 with a custom made mount. Do they really help that much with shot loads?

 

[JD338]

Roger,

I have used a Red Dot scope for turkey hunting the past couple of years and it was pretty nice. This year was the first time with a scope. I mounted the scope last fall for deer hunting with slugs.
I left the scope on for a couple reasons:
1. Additional weight to help tame recoil for a beginner
2. Proper eye alignment.
3. Better sight picture.
The Winchester Long Beard loads have a very tight pattern. At 15 yds, the pattern about the size of a soft ball. The scope allows precision shooting and reduces the chance of a miss at close range.
I was surprised when I patterned the load, it was dead on. At 34 yds, I had roughly 90% in a 10" circle. The is very impressive performance!
When I decided to shoot my Tom, I put the cross hairs on his neck and touched it off. The sight picture was perfect. From this point forward, I will always use a scope turkey hunting.

JD338

 

[truck driver]

Thanks for the info. I load my own 12ga Turkey loads because when I first started to hunt the big bird there wasn't any factory ammo that was designed for Turkey hunting. I use a 1100 3" magnum but my reloads are based on 2 3/4" shells that have a published muzzle velocity of 1400fps. I add a special buffering material that holds the shot closer together and makes for a tight pattern. These loads thump the shucks out you but they kill Turkeys very effectively. I would not shoot them out of a pump or single shot.

 

[JD338]

Thanks for the info. I load my own 12ga Turkey loads because when I first started to hunt the big bird there wasn't any factory ammo that was designed for Turkey hunting. I use a 1100 3" magnum but my reloads are based on 2 3/4" shells that have a published muzzle velocity of 1400fps. I add a special buffering material that holds the shot closer together and makes for a tight pattern. These loads thump the shucks out you but they kill Turkeys very effectively. I would not shoot them out of a pump or single shot.

I used to load a lot of shotgun shells but never tried loading turkey loads. Instead I just buy them. Hevi Shot Mag Blend has been the standard the past few years but after hearing the reviews of Winchester Long Beard loads, I wanted to give them a try.
The 12 ga 3" loads pack a punch on both ends but are not any where near the recoil levels of the 12 ga 3.5" loads. They are just plain brutal out of an 11-87 or 870.

JD338

 

[Dwh7271]

Awesome Jim!
Good for both of you.

 

[Guy Miner]

Congrats Jim!

 

[Vince]

Way to go, both of you!
Jim, you done good mate.

 

[cloverleaf]

Nice job Jim! CL

 

[Wondermutt]

Nice job. Now come to my place and thin the flock of about 60 that go by my front door every morning.

 

[GeorgeS]

Nice going, Jim!

George