Not sure where to post this ques. but, I figure when it comes to using scopes for hunting you guys would know. What are the advantages/disadvantages for using a regular (not dot) scope for turkeys. Recently purchased a TK2000 (muzzleloader shotgun) and was considering a scope. Wanted to get your thoughts before I spent the $$$. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Scopes for turkey
- Thread starter Yogi
- Start date
coyotebuster
New member
Well my dad uses them and swears by them, I on the other hand will never put one on my shotgun for turkeys ever again. I had one on my shotgun several years back and had it sighted in with the turkeys head up at 20 yards. I had 2 trophy toms come by at 5 yards with their heads out in front of them. I forgot about the gun being sighted in with the turkeys head up and shot right over its head. I was super mad and ripped that scope off 15 minutes later. For slugs they are good but for turkeys you got to many things to remember in my opinion.
Sorry, but I've just never understood the scoped shotgun concept. You shouldn't be shooting at a turkey over about 40 yards and if you can't put a few pellets in the head, neck region at that range you A)need a different load, B)need a different shotgun, or C) you can't shoot. This is not a flame, I just think a scope is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
Quarter Round
New member
I have a few years of turkey hunting and will offer a very biased opinion. Advantage is better sight picture for hunters with vision problems. Disadvantages: To damn heavy, in the way, cost to much, and nothing but a fad brought on by some goofass wanna be. I would rather spend my money on good ammo, choke tubes, calls, or other useful gear. I feel better blowing off a little steam and that steam was building a head for a few years.
I've been thinking lately that a Bushnell Holosight might work well for a turkey rig. I'd like to try one on my shotgun for using buckshot on deer.
coyotebuster
New member
Thats false about the range, We routinly take them at way past 40 yards. Dad took his bearded hen at 49 yards, dropped her like she had been hit with a truck too. He uses a remington 870 wingmaster, nylon stock, tasco pronghorn 4x shotgun scope, remington extra full choke tube. Throwing about 35 pellts in head and neck at 50 yards, we are thinking these guns will take them at 60. The traditional 30 yard and in is obsolete with these super full chokes. In fact 30 and out is nearly ideal, your pattern has opened up a little bit. Oh ya, he uses federal 3" mags #6 shot. He is also getting full penetration on 1/2" plywood at 50.
Quarter Round
New member
Choke tubes and buffered shot shells have certainly improved the performance and reliable killing range of today's turkey gun. In my opinion #6 shot is shedding energy and speed fast beyond 40 yds. and will not have the terminal performance to break neck bones and penetrate skulls at the extreme ranges some attempt to shoot and yes I've seen them killed with #6 beyond 40 yds. If you want to shoot at these longer distances it would be wise to consider heavier shot which will effectively cluster at POA. High velocity loads and light shot don't accomplish much either since the shot quickly sheds the energy. Pattern and penetration are the effective tool. Calling them in is the challange.
My prefernece for turkey gun sights is the glow dot type. Prefer the small bead/bars and they are easily visible in the low light of overcast mornings often encountered during spring gobbler season.
My prefernece for turkey gun sights is the glow dot type. Prefer the small bead/bars and they are easily visible in the low light of overcast mornings often encountered during spring gobbler season.
I have been turkey hunting for the past five yers and have used the vent rib on my Benelli with good results when I was afforded a shot - the shooting part is the easy part for me.
This year I bought a Savage 24 - .223 over a 12 guage and installed a ATN holographic sight on it. I bought the over - under combo because there is the potential for long shots in Texas and rifle hunting of turkeys is legal here (yeehaa!). It looks good on paper but its just one more button to push to get ready to shoot.
Next year I will probably be hunting with the Benelli again. Don't see the need for the added equipment.
This year I bought a Savage 24 - .223 over a 12 guage and installed a ATN holographic sight on it. I bought the over - under combo because there is the potential for long shots in Texas and rifle hunting of turkeys is legal here (yeehaa!). It looks good on paper but its just one more button to push to get ready to shoot.
Next year I will probably be hunting with the Benelli again. Don't see the need for the added equipment.
spectr17
New member
I shot a plain old front bead sight for years on my Dad's old J.C. Higgens 12 ga. No snickering at the family heirloom shotgun with the duct tape to hold on the sturdy front stock piece. I lost a lot of front beads too by not being real careful where I swung that barrel. One day I picked up a shotgun that had 2 beads on it and VOILA, not so many misses.
I still had a bad habit of peeking and lifting my cheek off the stock when pulling the trigger, causing me to shoot off a bit sometimes.
About 6 or 7 years ago I put a Leupold 1 X 4 shotgun scope on my Rem 870. Camoed it up and put some Butler Creek scope caps on and zeroed it in pretty quick. I used a B-Square mount on my Rem 870 to mount the Leupold rings and scope.
The only problems so far are the sharp edges of the mount rub your hand when you carry it since the mount sticks out from the side of the receiver. Other problem is taking it off the mount to clean the gun and losing the push pins that hold the trigger in.
The advantages of a scope over beads is you can see the birds a bit closer to look for spurs or beard length. No more misses from canting the gun or lifting my cheek, I put the crosshair on what I want and the shot pattern is centered there. I leave the scope on 1 or 2 power to get a wider field of view. Eye relief hasn't been a problem when shouldering the shotgun real quick.
Remington makes a cantilever mount that goes on the vent rib with set screws. Only problem with that setup is you lose the ability to use your bead sights with the scope on if the scope goes bad. (That cost me a deer one year). You can use your beadsights with the B-square mount with scope on as a backup. Here's what the bead sights look like with the B-Square mount on.
Both are same price, cantilever weighs less, but not as sturdy as B-square in my opinion, and believe me, I've whacked my Leupold hard a couple of times with no problems so far.
Haven't seen any Millet shotgun mounts in the field, just at the gun shows. Curious how they hold up. I looked at both and went with B-Square since they were in stock where I ordered.
I've shot some of the hi-vis glow sights and they worked well, especially in low light. I don't know if those plastic sights would last long on my shotguns though, I'm notorious for tearing up shotgun sights in the field.
I looked at the Busnell Halo sights at the SHOT show and I know some goose hunters who swear by them. The red dot sight are interesting but I seem to lose the red dot sometimes while swinging it around.
One last note on scopes, make sure it's legal in your state to use a scope on a shotgun for turkey hunting, in Alabama the use of a scope is illegal.
I still had a bad habit of peeking and lifting my cheek off the stock when pulling the trigger, causing me to shoot off a bit sometimes.
About 6 or 7 years ago I put a Leupold 1 X 4 shotgun scope on my Rem 870. Camoed it up and put some Butler Creek scope caps on and zeroed it in pretty quick. I used a B-Square mount on my Rem 870 to mount the Leupold rings and scope.
The only problems so far are the sharp edges of the mount rub your hand when you carry it since the mount sticks out from the side of the receiver. Other problem is taking it off the mount to clean the gun and losing the push pins that hold the trigger in.
The advantages of a scope over beads is you can see the birds a bit closer to look for spurs or beard length. No more misses from canting the gun or lifting my cheek, I put the crosshair on what I want and the shot pattern is centered there. I leave the scope on 1 or 2 power to get a wider field of view. Eye relief hasn't been a problem when shouldering the shotgun real quick.
Remington makes a cantilever mount that goes on the vent rib with set screws. Only problem with that setup is you lose the ability to use your bead sights with the scope on if the scope goes bad. (That cost me a deer one year). You can use your beadsights with the B-square mount with scope on as a backup. Here's what the bead sights look like with the B-Square mount on.
Both are same price, cantilever weighs less, but not as sturdy as B-square in my opinion, and believe me, I've whacked my Leupold hard a couple of times with no problems so far.
Haven't seen any Millet shotgun mounts in the field, just at the gun shows. Curious how they hold up. I looked at both and went with B-Square since they were in stock where I ordered.
I've shot some of the hi-vis glow sights and they worked well, especially in low light. I don't know if those plastic sights would last long on my shotguns though, I'm notorious for tearing up shotgun sights in the field.
I looked at the Busnell Halo sights at the SHOT show and I know some goose hunters who swear by them. The red dot sight are interesting but I seem to lose the red dot sometimes while swinging it around.
One last note on scopes, make sure it's legal in your state to use a scope on a shotgun for turkey hunting, in Alabama the use of a scope is illegal.
Spectr17, I'll just say that I too went the route of the Leupold Turkey scope a couple of years ago on my turkey shotguns. I got tired of squintting my eyes while in the low light of the woods, trying to focus and find the bead on the front of the barrel. The change from bead to scope was like night and day in my effectiveness at shooting the Big Toms!
I like the idea so much that I even went as far as trying one of these Leupold shotgun scopes on a big rifle of mine. I couldn't believe the difference it made in my shooting. Three cheer's for the Leupold Shotgun scope!
I read an article once by some expert Turkey Hunter.....there's lot's of those folks around evidently. He said you should never go to the woods hunting Big Toms, unless your shotgun can consistently put 20 pellets inside the kill area of a turkey target at 30 yards. He also said that no one should shoot turkey over 35 yards. I don't hold with his advice, just food for thought I suppose.
I have killed Big Toms out to 52yards with #4's in my 870 (12gauge) and a 3.5 inch shells in the magazine. Killed em with a 20 gauge 0/U at 25 yards using #5's also. Both my guns will put at least a 12 pellets in the head and neck section of a turkey target at 30 yards. By the way you only need one pellet to get the job done!
I find that #6 shot is great for 30 yards and under, but after that doesn't have the penetration need for big birds. I like using #5's in one gun and #4's in my 870 Remington pump gun.
I also have an older model 1100 Remington with vent rib full choke barrel that loves #5's and patterns them tight for some reason.
I have seen many a turkey hunter come out in my neck of the woods with a pulled down barrel or extremely tight choke on his gun, then miss turkeys at under 30 yards in the early morning light because their guns were too tight in pattern.....Something to be thinking about for those that don't know shotgun Pro's & Con's for turkey hunting. The new scopes are a big help to those that don't see like a hawk anymore. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I once fired a friends gun who came to the house wanting to hunt turkey's. This was his first turkey gun and he spent a bundle on having it worked on.....said he told the Ole Boy to pull it tight, he wanted a real shootin class gun.
We set up some targets at 20, 30 & 40 yards. Holy Smokes! at 20 yards it looked like a 6 inch diameter missle went through the target, wasn't much better at 30yds mind ya.
Now at 40 yards he missed the target 3 out of 5 times, because the gun was pulled soooooo tight! He had NO scope on this shotgun either, just the beads that came from the factory. I fired the gun and it put 39 pellets in the kill zone! Talk about shooting the center out of things.....Wow!
Too tight for my liking let me tell ya.
I like the idea so much that I even went as far as trying one of these Leupold shotgun scopes on a big rifle of mine. I couldn't believe the difference it made in my shooting. Three cheer's for the Leupold Shotgun scope!
I read an article once by some expert Turkey Hunter.....there's lot's of those folks around evidently. He said you should never go to the woods hunting Big Toms, unless your shotgun can consistently put 20 pellets inside the kill area of a turkey target at 30 yards. He also said that no one should shoot turkey over 35 yards. I don't hold with his advice, just food for thought I suppose.
I have killed Big Toms out to 52yards with #4's in my 870 (12gauge) and a 3.5 inch shells in the magazine. Killed em with a 20 gauge 0/U at 25 yards using #5's also. Both my guns will put at least a 12 pellets in the head and neck section of a turkey target at 30 yards. By the way you only need one pellet to get the job done!
I find that #6 shot is great for 30 yards and under, but after that doesn't have the penetration need for big birds. I like using #5's in one gun and #4's in my 870 Remington pump gun.
I also have an older model 1100 Remington with vent rib full choke barrel that loves #5's and patterns them tight for some reason.
I have seen many a turkey hunter come out in my neck of the woods with a pulled down barrel or extremely tight choke on his gun, then miss turkeys at under 30 yards in the early morning light because their guns were too tight in pattern.....Something to be thinking about for those that don't know shotgun Pro's & Con's for turkey hunting. The new scopes are a big help to those that don't see like a hawk anymore. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I once fired a friends gun who came to the house wanting to hunt turkey's. This was his first turkey gun and he spent a bundle on having it worked on.....said he told the Ole Boy to pull it tight, he wanted a real shootin class gun.
We set up some targets at 20, 30 & 40 yards. Holy Smokes! at 20 yards it looked like a 6 inch diameter missle went through the target, wasn't much better at 30yds mind ya.
Now at 40 yards he missed the target 3 out of 5 times, because the gun was pulled soooooo tight! He had NO scope on this shotgun either, just the beads that came from the factory. I fired the gun and it put 39 pellets in the kill zone! Talk about shooting the center out of things.....Wow!
Too tight for my liking let me tell ya.