What is the reasonable distance to quickly kill a turkey with a muzzleloader?

[Mike in FL]

Not relevant I don't reckon, but I like a rifle for turkey hunting. The last turkey I killed was one I had called but he hung up at 40 yards, absolutely would come no closer. He was broadside when I fired my .50 early Lancaster, aiming behind his breast so as not to destroy too much meat. He flopped around then took to the air but immediately crashed. Due to a fowler's limited range, I much prefer a rifle. My next big purchase will be a .40 barrel for my Kibler.

 

[springfield art]

(Joke) About the distance of the Meat Department at your local supermarket!

 

[Trigger]

Not relevant I don't reckon, but I like a rifle for turkey hunting. The last turkey I killed was one I had called but he hung up at 40 yards, absolutely would come no closer. He was broadside when I fired my .50 early Lancaster, aiming behind his breast so as not to destroy too much meat. He flopped around then took to the air but immediately crashed. Due to a fowler's limited range, I much prefer a rifle. My next big purchase will be a .40 barrel for my Kibler.

Yea... depends on the game regulations..

#2goose shot should should goose them just fine for you and not ruin anything... like shooting geese.

 

[Crazdgunman]

I was at a gun store the other day, and the manager was showing me the shot pattern out of some of the 410 and 20 gauge tungsten out at like 75 and 80 yards, they definitely punched paper, but I was wondering if they would really carry the kinetic energy to make a kill at that distance. He was desperate to sell me a box of 4 $80 shotgun shells. I understand the advantages of tungsten, but will it really effectively double your range?

I pattern my shotgun, but I generally use old pieces of cardboard, so I don't really know the penetration power either. I can get a little bit of information with milk jugs, but I don't know if the shot just barely punched through, or went all the way to the back and stopped, so I still really don't know.

Anyway, my direct question is at what range could I reasonably expect to kill a turkey. I have an improved and modified choke double barrel. I use a variation of the sky chief load, and it patterns fantastically, but I'm wondering at what range that pattern will still be effective. At ML velocities. I use pure lead #4 shot, the largest legal in my state.

I searched in other threads and found varying answers, but not with my choke and shot size.

Thanks in advance for any help.

As far as you can make a head shot with a patched ball.

 

[sealgaire]

If'n you dryball it, pretty much the length of your smokepole.

 

[Felonious]

I wish airgun hunting was legal where I was, I could easily get a .177 pellet through a turkeys eye, no problem. Like everybody said above, it seems to be about patterning.

Years ago learned to test hunting loads on tin cans. If pellets penetrated both sides of the can, you were good to go. Likely more ‘scientific’ methods out there, but that’s how I was taught. And remember, that tin can is larger that a turkey head, so look for multiple hits.

I do something similar with an old case to a DVD player, it's just a thin piece of steel spray painted white. Generally speaking, .177 pellets at about 1200 fps will stretch, but not penetrate, and that's about what's required to kill a squirrel, I'm my opinion. Then I just hammer it back out flat, and throw another coat of spray paint on it, easy peasy reusable (ping!) target for small guns (Air rifle, and shotguns). If it puts a hole through the plate it's more than enough for any type of bird, IMO.

I've got an old a 1/8 in sheet of plywood I'll pull out of the shed and play around with distance later. That seems like a really good idea.

It’s TSS and it’ll kill turkeys that far. So much for woodsmanship and calling skills.

I was just looking at bags of that stuff on Ballistic Products, holy sweet Jesus. For that price, it better work, it'd be cheaper to just buy the turkey. Also seems like more of a pain in the butt to get to work in a muzzleloader then it's worth. It sounds like I need to get a really good pattern, and then the TSS will really do its job.

... When hunting from an established blind I use rocks or sticks (or my decoys) as yardage markers, and I avoid the temptation to reach beyond them.

Thank you for the advice, I actually have little orange tags stapled to trees about every 20 yd from my hiding spot. I'm terrible at judging distances, I borrowed my neighbor's rangefinder and have been walking around with it just trying to guess how far things are. I'm off by about 50% the majority of the time.

How far could you put 5 pellets in a golf ball?

All of them, from about 50 feet, lol. I was playing around with wads and forgot to cut one. 2 in the black!

 

[Felonious]

View attachment 254303
As far as you can make a head shot with a patched ball.

Nice bird, good shot!

Not relevant I don't reckon, but I like a rifle for turkey hunting. The last turkey I killed was one I had called but he hung up at 40 yards, absolutely would come no closer. He was broadside when I fired my .50 early Lancaster, aiming behind his breast so as not to destroy too much meat. He flopped around then took to the air but immediately crashed. Due to a fowler's limited range, I much prefer a rifle. My next big purchase will be a .40 barrel for my Kibler.

I wish it was legal to hunt with ball here. I could take a turkey for dinner almost every night. I have an "unmentionable" muzzleloader that can drive tacks with PRB at 100 yards, and easily hit vitals at 150-250 with an actual bullet. I'm sure it could probably do a little better than that, but I can't. The #4 shot limit here makes it really difficult to get turkey while muzzleloading.

 

[SciAggie]

If I’m using a shotgun I want them inside 35 yards. ML or smokeless matters not to me. If I think they’ll be farther away, I use my .40 flintlock.

 

[shaman]

I was at a gun store the other day, and the manager was showing me the shot pattern out of some of the 410 and 20 gauge tungsten out at like 75 and 80 yards, they definitely punched paper, but I was wondering if they would really carry the kinetic energy to make a kill at that distance. He was desperate to sell me a box of 4 $80 shotgun shells. I understand the advantages of tungsten, but will it really effectively double your range?

I pattern my shotgun, but I generally use old pieces of cardboard, so I don't really know the penetration power either. I can get a little bit of information with milk jugs, but I don't know if the shot just barely punched through, or went all the way to the back and stopped, so I still really don't know.

Anyway, my direct question is at what range could I reasonably expect to kill a turkey. I have an improved and modified choke double barrel. I use a variation of the sky chief load, and it patterns fantastically, but I'm wondering at what range that pattern will still be effective. At ML velocities. I use pure lead #4 shot, the largest legal in my state.

I searched in other threads and found varying answers, but not with my choke and shot size.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I can truthfully say that I've brought down a bird at 80 yards with 2OZ #4 lead out of a 12 GA shotgun. It was a mistake. I'd horribly misjudged the yardage. Still, it happened.

That's with a Mossberg 500. With my Brown Bess, I originally figured 40 yards with 2 OZ of #6, and with repeated testing found that was wildly optimistic. I ended up with a 1.5 OZ load at 30 yards-- a SkyChief Load.

I used to write about Turkeys for one of the magazines. I was a pro-staffer. One thing that always bugged me was the obsession with distance. When I got into the sport, any gun that could shoot a lethal pattern at 20 yards was good to go. If you could find a good trap gun, it might reach 40 yards. Honestly, if I were you with the shotgun you describe, I'd start at 20 and work out. I'd also try #6 lead and compare. I thought #4 was going to be right, but . . . well, you'll see. Things change when you're burning charcoal.

Year after year, I was fielding questions from guys that were trying to eke out some extra yardage. I recommended that they
a) mark down on a sheet of paper the yardage of every bird they'd shot at (not just shot) Misses counted.
b) Find the minimum, maximum, and average of all those, and compare that to what they were trying to achieve.

I did that for myself. If you'd asked me what my average shot on a turkey was, I'd have said 25 yards. At that time, the numbers came back as an average of 17, . Since then the average has done nothing but shorten up. Yeah, I took the 80 yard shot, but for every one that's been beyond 30 yards, I've had 2 inside 15.

I don't consider myself a turkey expert. I'm not a great caller. I'm just a decent writer, that's all. My point is, don't worry so much about distance.

 

[waksupi]

I can truthfully say that I've brought down a bird at 80 yards with 2OZ #4 lead out of a 12 GA shotgun. It was a mistake. I'd horribly misjudged the yardage. Still, it happened.

That's with a Mossberg 500. With my Brown Bess, I originally figured 40 yards with 2 OZ of #6, and with repeated testing found that was wildly optimistic. I ended up with a 1.5 OZ load at 30 yards-- a SkyChief Load.

I used to write about Turkeys for one of the magazines. I was a pro-staffer. One thing that always bugged me was the obsession with distance. When I got into the sport, any gun that could shoot a lethal pattern at 20 yards was good to go. If you could find a good trap gun, it might reach 40 yards. Honestly, if I were you with the shotgun you describe, I'd start at 20 and work out. I'd also try #6 lead and compare. I thought #4 was going to be right, but . . . well, you'll see. Things change when you're burning charcoal.

Year after year, I was fielding questions from guys that were trying to eke out some extra yardage. I recommended that they
a) mark down on a sheet of paper the yardage of every bird they'd shot at (not just shot) Misses counted.
b) Find the minimum, maximum, and average of all those, and compare that to what they were trying to achieve.

I did that for myself. If you'd asked me what my average shot on a turkey was, I'd have said 25 yards. At that time, the numbers came back as an average of 17, . Since then the average has done nothing but shorten up. Yeah, I took the 80 yard shot, but for every one that's been beyond 30 yards, I've had 2 inside 15.

I don't consider myself a turkey expert. I'm not a great caller. I'm just a decent writer, that's all. My point is, don't worry so much about distance.

I feel fairly certain some of the claims of longer range shots can only be duplicated on a keyboard. I've known a couple people who have made brags about long rifle shots on game, 700+ yards. But when you take them to an actual thousand yard range, they shorten up their story considerably, usually by more than half.

 

[ScottK]

I feel fairly certain some of the claims of longer range shots can only be duplicated on a keyboard. I've known a couple people who have made brags about long rifle shots on game, 700+ yards. But when you take them to an actual thousand yard range, they shorten up their story considerably, usually by more than half.

Agree. And I also don’t believe any stories out past 100 yards if they don’t own a rangefinder. I can’t even imagine hunting without one. Even when I use mostly old school traditional equipment, the ability to place a humane and ethical shot where I want it takes precedence.

It’s also nice not having to spend hours in the woods tracking a poorly shot animal.

 

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

20 years ago I was hunting in west Texas, there was a guy there from Pennsylvania who kept bragging about how if you didn't use a 10 gauge you need to go home. After about 2 days I'd heard enough. I bet him I could put shoot him at 70 yards, which he quickly accepted.
I took an old sheet of roofing tin and set at 70 yards painted a plate size circle. He took his shot and put 10 pellets on the metal, none penatrated. I shot my 12 ga ( with TSS ,he didn't know) and put 40 plus pellets on the target all of which went through the metal. That was the last he was heard from that week.
Realistically 20-40 yards is what you want, but under 20 you'll likely miss because the bird is looking at you and moving.
I'm going try black powder this fall, from what I've tested 30 yards will be my max range.

Interesting, are you sure you weren’t shooting Hevi-Shot, not TSS? TSS was imported first c. 2006 by Kyle Smith, IIRC, and went to commercial production first by Federal Cartridge in 2018. Anyhoo, Neither of those pellets are recommended for “older guns” and I don’t think they will perform the same with black powder unless you use a .125 nitro card and a though wad designed for non-tox pellets! Kinda defeat the whole Muzzleloading purpose/fun/different approach deal! Anyway, I have hunted rio grande turkeys all over west Texas myself and loved it!

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

My posts of 50 yards is with a properly jugged full choke 10 bore. A cylinder bored gun is a 25 to 30 yard gun at best.

 

[R Ellis]

I think the tin can test is ok but when you shoot into plywood or pine boards you can see how much penetration your shot has and see how many bounce off and some will just barely stick in the wood It can be a real eye opener

 

[waksupi]

I think the tin can test is ok but when you shoot into plywood or pine boards you can see how much penetration your shot has and see how many bounce off and some will just barely stick in the wood It can be a real eye opener

If you can put a pellet in the head, they are dead. We used to kill domestic turkeys with a light tap on the head with a screwdriver butt.

 

[shaman]

I feel fairly certain some of the claims of longer range shots can only be duplicated on a keyboard. I've known a couple people who have made brags about long rifle shots on game, 700+ yards. But when you take them to an actual thousand yard range, they shorten up their story considerably, usually by more than half.

No, sadly this is not one of those instances. The part that I left out was that, while the bird appeared stone dead, he woke up as I was getting my gear together. I had only stunned him. I then had to chase the dang bird 200 yards across a pasture. The chase ended in the back corner amid a pile of slippery rock. I had attempted to grab him by the legs and the bird got me off balance and I fell on the rock. THe next few minutes we were battling 1 on 1 , and I'll tell you that a full grown gobbler is about an even match for a man on all fours.

Believe me. This was anything but a boast. What had happened was I was very intently watching two birds walking down the side of the pasture in front of me. I got my gun up as they both went behind a large tree. When they emerged, I shot. When they went behind, they were less than 20 yards out. What I didn't know was one of the birds had gotten hinky and run out into the field about 60 yards further out. I had my eye planted in the scope and couldn't see he was so far out.

The stun shot was 3 inch 2 OZ Federal #4 loads through a Carlson's Dead Coyote choke. The pellets went low and hit him in the breast and knocked feathers off, but didn't break the skin.

 

[Trigger]

Lmao yup.... lmao an old timer here tackled a deer football style cuz it got up and he was afraid it would get away.

I've seen them get back up, you do have to run and stand on there head just in case. Reason I try to get with more than the min number hits and closer than my max range.

 

[kelljp]

Classic deer hunter transitioning to turkey hunting. A deer hunter waits after the shot, but turkey need to be addressed as quickly as possible. I've seen and heard of numerous turkey that became coyote food because the hunter hesitated on getting to the bird.

 

[shaman]

I have bad eyesight and so even my turkey gun has a scope on it. The moral of the story, from my point, was to keep my eye off the scope and eyeball the bird directly. A scope gives you no idea of depth of field.

I really did not mean to boast. My apologies for having it sound that way. Truth is, it was one of the biggest bone-headed moves I've pulled while turkey hunting. Believe me. I paid for the bird dearly. I came back to camp looking like I'd been in an auto accident.

 

[Reds]

Had somewhat of a similar experience with my Granddaughters first bird. She was shooting a 20ga. 3” #5s and the bird started side to side strutting at 35 yards. We waited but he wasn’t going to come a yard closer so I told her take her shot. The bird flopped on the ground and in all the excitement I jumped up and said “You Got Him Let’s Go”. So we hurried to the flopping bird and when I looked at her she had left her gun in the blind! So I reached down and grabbed him by the legs and he started doing that flapping spin. Well his head was definitely fried but that’s when his 1 1/4” spur wrapped in my net glove, went deep between my pinky and ring finger and seemed to spin for eternity! She bagged a really nice Osceola Tom and once home I bagged a really nice visit to urgent care.
She makes sure to bring that gun with her ever since!!!