Scope or Red Dot for turkey gun?

[Frank in the Laurels]

70 yards is definitely doable with TSS. My longest was 42 yards and I think you're kind of taking the fun out of Turkey hunting shooting 50+ yards. Just my .02

It's almost an unfair advantage!!! Just like decoys and sitting in a blind over a know strut area and never calling..., takes the up close and personal out of it for sure....lol.

 

[Orange Dust]

As the tile says, low power scope or red dot for turkey gun. Please provide me with your experiences and thanks for the replies.

Use a bead sight and back off the choke a little. Tungsten kills so well you don't have to put 100 pellets in his head to kill him. They don't always hold still, Especially their heads. Give yourself a little room for error. I shoot IM choke @ turkeys with Tungsten and have killed them over 60 yds without even a flop. I know a ton of folks that have missed big toms with a super tight turkey choke and red dot. Most shots will be under 35yds. Why make those extra difficult when you can still kill one twice that far?

 

[Marc Young]

As the tile says, low power scope or red dot for turkey gun. Please provide me with your experiences and thanks for the replies.

Vortex venom red dot

 

[Orange Dust]

I' going to get flamed, but neither belong on a shotgun not shooting slugs. The reason for them in the first place is because most folks over ckoke their guns. Most turkeys are killed under 30yds. This range and closer are also where most birds are missed with turkey chokes and red dots. I use a hevi shot handhold of #6 shot and 1-7/8oz of shot at 1300fps in a 3-1/2" hull. I have killed several in excess of 60yds. I use an imod choke. Velocity matters more than amount of shot at long range. The best thing about this setup is if you need another round you can put it on target nearly instantly vs any optic. The key is the gun has to fit you. I simply use my waterfowl setup and tune the load at 60yds.

 

[Buck-bomb]

I would def choose a red dot over a scope for turkey hunting. I can get on the bird and shoot quicker with the red dot.

 

[James DeTorre]

Going to experiment with lesser choke at range. I have definitely missed a short range before and I have seen and heard of it multiple times in well seasoned hunters. Great idea.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

That's one of the issues with modern guns, chokes and especially SHELLS... they shoot such tight patterns that you have very little room for sighting error. A simple neck or head movement at 20 yards or less and it's easily a miss. Especially since TSS shot has come on the market and WW Longbeards. In my turkey guns I solved the problem by abandoning the super tight extended chokes and going with a standard full choke and TSS #9's, since there are so many more pellets and there extremely dense it only takes a few to harvest even at 50 yards so I've been far better off to give a little pattern density for a little bigger pattern at close ranges, still need to use my scope anyway...

 

[Danny1030]

I have used both and prefer a 3 MOA reflex sight due to the light weight and being small/streamlined. I've only used Vortex's "Venom" and a couple of Burris FFIIIs. Both were flawless. The only difference was the Vortex had several manual brightness settings whereas the Burris had 3 which was still adequate. Both had an auto brightness mode and were priced comparably.

 

[birddog 68]

In my turkey guns I solved the problem by abandoning the super tight extended chokes and going with a standard full choke and TSS #9's, since there are so many more pellets

I use Winchester long beard 6 shot and also have abandoned the extra full tubes. Strictly full choke for me

 

[biednick]

Going to experiment with lesser choke at range. I have definitely missed a short range before and I have seen and heard of it multiple times in well seasoned hunters. Great idea.

If you can find them you might try Federal Third Degree shells. I figured it was mostly a marketing gimick, but they pattered well across all a wider range than anything else I've tried.

 

[Toneloc]

Red dot all the way. The pistol red dots are very handy. I bought a mount from Sumtoy Customs for my kids .870 youth 20 ga. Drilled an tapped the receiver in the drill press. Turned out great. After he's tagged out, I've found myself toting his gun. Loaded up with TSS....it's a hammer and is great to carry for run and gun.