doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 20 Guage for Turkey, Duck and Geese ?????

You should get excellent results by using HeviShot in 20ga PB 'Urika' or Benelli SA.

John:

I arrive late and offer my thjought too.

The key to the issue is pellets in the pattern. If what you are seeking can be reliably killed by a decent 20g load, more power to you. If you require more than 1 oz ( actually 7/8) lead or Bi by volume, then I would pass on it with the 20g.

For turkeys, since the intent is to head shoot, I would expect the 20g with larger pellets will work just fine, inside the range where a clean head shot can be obtained.

All of this begs the question - why not just handload some decent 2-7/8" ( or other appropriate length ) Tens, and go from there, without messing with the sub gauge tubes?

Regards

GKT

My thought is anything under a 12 gauge for geese is just plain irresponsible hunting. Turkey on the other hand, the shot is relatively easy althought the target is extremely tough, someone who has practiced alot with their shotgun maybe a 20 gauge would be fine. But waterfowl with those big heavy birds blasting by you if you use anything under a 12 I think you are doing the game and name of hunting a great disservice.
All the best

I don't see how one gauge can be responsible hunting and the other not when my 12 and 20 loads are the same weight. I never use more than 1 1/16 or 1 1/8 either gauge on ducks and geese,

Really the best for turkeys are the small bore under preformers. Rifles in the 22mag, 22Hornet, 218Bee, 25-20 and 32-20 class - as this would lessen the pot shots at rustling bushes and cracking twigs.
Spring turkey, is the most dangeous time of the year to be in the woods of Missouri.

King B why such a small load for the 12 gauge? When I hunt those big B17 bombers they call Canadian Geese I can't get enough shot in the air.

Treblig, I handload bismuth but also use Kent Impact TM, the 20ga three-inch 1 1/8 and 12ga 2 1/2-inch 1 1/16. I shoot over decoys; that's enough. One of my buddies ran out of three-inchers two seasons ago and I gave him some pipsqueak TM. He killed a full-bore black at 40 yards and hasn't been the same since. "A lifetime of wasted gunning," he says. For ducks 12ga No. 5, for ducks and geese 20 gauge No. 3 and 4. It's probably just a foolish notion but I think TM is significantly more lethal than bismuth.

Back in the early 1980s when I had a Goose hunting lease near Bucktown on the Eastern Shore, it didn't take long to figure out that a Skeet gun with #6 was plenty. They were either going to be in over the decoys, gear down and locked, or they were going by so far that Elmer and his Magnum-Ten wouldn't phase them. The two seasons my Father came back to visit for Geese he used my Wife's very early 20-gauge ic & mod Red Label to good effect. The guy that ran the lease often used his 20-gauge 1100 Skeet gun, and I used a 12-gauge A5 standard weight Skeet gun. I'm sure that in a situation where you would be shooting on a pass would be an entirely different situation then our field pit blinds.

King, I think your "foolish notion" NOT!

TM 5's in even the 2.75" Twenty (or 16 for that matter) are very effective if they pattern well at the ranges you expect to use them at. My hand-me down 1200 with Briley thin-walls patterns them nicley out to 40yds. Would not hesitate to use them on Geese at that range either.

I load Bismuth as well and find it fine IF you use it a little faster than a comparable lead load...or up a size in pellet.

Best,
Mark

I agree 100% King B that Kent's Tungsten Matrix is hands down better than Bismuth shot!!! I'll back out now as I don't want to hijack the Honorable Mr. Mann's thread anymore than I have!!!
All the best