Why don’t you use 3.5" shells?

I go with 3″ shells and here is why. Most of the time, you aren’t going to be shooting all that far, and the turkeys are not that hard to kill. When you get up into 3.5″ or 10 GA, you’re talking recoil levels like what you use on elephant. That is simply too much.

Generally speaking, at least in these parts, there is so much cover in the woods after the first week of season that 20-30 yard shots are about it. Some dream of shooting out to 60. I dream of Seeing out to 60 yards. If you can call them into 50 yards, you can probably call them into 20 or closer. Every turkey I’ve shot has been inside 30 yards, and most have been inside of 20. Outside of a couple of jakes I let loose on at 60 yards years ago, all the ones I’ve missed were missed because of the choke being too tight, my cheek weld being off, and poor shot placement. Even the ones I’ve missed got hit with the wad.

I also monitor a lot of turkey forums. A 3.5″ hunter is usually crowing about taking a turkey inside 35 yards. When guys stop talking theoreticals and talk talking reality, they’re trying to get an edge that gets them from 40 yds out to 45, or maybe 35 out to 40. That is a distance that standard high-brass lead 2.75 loads can handle as long as the pattern is right.

Take it from a guy who has been hunting turkey for 25 years: back when I started, a 2.75 inch load in a standard full-choked gun was just fine. If you keep looking for an edge, there will always be someone willing to sell it to you.

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