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For years, I have been experimenting various turkey loads. I have killed a number of turkeys using nothing more than ordinary pheasant loads of #5 or #6 lead shot in the 1 1/4 oz range.

Most of my guns are 12 gauge and have 2 3/4" chambers. I have settled on a load that works well for me. It is 1 1/2 oz of #5 lead shot. It patterns well to 40 yards with either my full choke or extra full choke Winchoke tubes. I have killed several turkeys to 38 yards with this load.

When I was a kid, I recall an article in Sports Afield magazine by Tom Roster. It was about long range pass shooting for waterfowl using hand loads consisting of an over powder wad from the bottom of a Winchester AA wad with fiber filler wads and a separate plastic shot wrap with buffer.

My questions:

1. What have you found that works for turkey loads?

2. Have any of you found that shells pattern better/tighter if one uses separate wads with a shot wrap like the old Winchester Mark 5 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1073677/index.htm system as opposed to one piece plastic wads?

Hi John, when did you find your way over? Glad to see you

I haven't plate around with turkey loads much, just load 6 hevi and honestly it is hard to not get a great pattern with the dense stuff.

Jr got some buck shot and almost every type and gauge of nitro card, wad card, Teflon wrap and card type wad that bpi makes for his last birthday, have Ben looking forward to playing around with thy style of load but haven't done it yet.

You do anything with a toon for a blind this year, have a good season?

Jehler,

Hunting season was good/fair this year. Had a great season with geese in the fields in South Central Michigan. Had a great time with kids up on Saginaw Bay early for ducks. Later season was only fair and access was hampered by low water levels.

I did not find a pontoon for a blind this year. I put a stake blind on the Bay back in August. I tried to remove it at the end of the season. The water levels had dropped so much that I only recovered half of it. It was back breaking work with such low water. I tried to get back out the next day and the water level was so low, I could not get an empty boat to the blind site. I went back up the Bay in January to recover it over the ice. We had a thaw and the ice was unsafe.

I am not going to deal with a pontoon until I see what the water levels do. I have a layout boat and a sneak boat and will likely use them for a while. My son is 14 and it is better to hunt with him and his friends from a more stable platform like a stake blind or pontoon. I may make a boat blind with an old boat that I obtained last fall.

John

I loaded lead with thd Turkey Ranger from BPI. 1 1/2oz in Fed Gold Medal was best 2 3/4 load. Cut wad to barely hold shot. Add thin felt wad, mylar wrap, and buffer.
Works even better in 3" usibg BPGS gas seal.
Last year I tried with MM wads, gave good results also.

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I load 1 1/2 oz of #5 lead in a CSD 118 wad over 24 grains of 800X powder with a Winchester 209 primer in a blue RIO hull. The shot fits well in the wad. I have tried mylar wraps and buffer and observed no difference in the pattern quality.

This load gives excellent patterns on a turkey head target to 40 yards with my full or x-full chokes. With a friend's modified choke, it gives a turkey killing pattern to only 35 yards (as expected).

I picked up some vintage Herters over powder card wads and some 3/8" fiber wads recently and test them some.