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Turkey Talk

Dsabhunt said:
Pretty sure I just ruined my turkey hunting for the day. Well worth it
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I did that once a long time ago at first light on an opening morning. Struck up another bird after a pretty good rain, moved into position and killed a different bird ( two year old w/ a thick and wide beard - not in a rope form ) that was one of four following a hen. She had been drawn in by my quiet slate yeps.
When I came back to the coyote, the rain put dimples all over its coat like you'd see a light rain put a pattern in sand.
Only time I'v killed a bird on opening day.

I'll never forget that day. Really cool.
 
Center Punch said:
I did that once a long time ago at first light on an opening morning. Struck up another bird after a pretty good rain, moved into position and killed a different bird ( two year old w/ a thick and wide beard - not in a rope form ) that was one of four following a hen. She had been drawn in by my quiet slate yeps.
When I came back to the coyote, the rain put dimples all over its coat like you'd see a light rain put a pattern in sand.
Only time I'v killed a bird on opening day.

I'll never forget that day. Really cool.
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Very similar hunt for me. The coyote came in at first light and was sneaking in on my decoys when I shot it at less than 20 yards. I went and got it off of the field and tossed it in the bushes and an hour and a half layer this tom came in following 4 hens. One of the hens walked just behind my decoys and he followed. Super cool hunt. Won't ever forget that one
 
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Dsabhunt said:
Very similar hunt for me. The coyote came in at first light and was shaking in on my decoys when I shot it at less than 20 yards. I went and got it off of the field and tossed it in the bushes and an hour and a half layer this tom came in following 4 hens. One of the hens walked just behind my decoys and he followed. Super cool hunt. Won't ever forget that one
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Happy for you!
 
NMSbowhunter said:
I'll spend $2.00 on one every day, but not $22.00.
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The box of 10 was $21.99 i believe. I couldn't spend that much per shot. I was buying turkey ammo with my dad and he looked at a box of long beard xrs at $26.99 for 10 and said man those are expensive shells. I then directed him to to tss where he said words I can't type out here
 
Dsabhunt said:
The box of 10 was $21.99 i believe. I couldn't spend that much per shot. I was buying turkey ammo with my dad and he looked at a box of long beard xrs at $26.99 for 10 and said man those are expensive shells. I then directed him to to tss where he said words I can't type out here
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I was talking to a friend of mine who just got back from an out of state hunt with another buddy of ours. He told me about our mutual friend unloading his 12 gauge at a turkey as it sped by his tent blind. Three 12 gauge TSS at probably $22 per shot rapid fire and he missed the bird completely! He burned about $70 in two seconds to no result.
 
I couldn't convince anyone to use TSS with the insane prices nowadays. But a box of 10 with the turkey density around me is probably 7 to 8 years if not longer of shells.

I was not of TSS believer until 2022. A bird came in super early. I killed him at 555. I was on a long losing streak and really lost my composure. I ended up shooting him about 35 yards away, but I yanked the trigger and ended up being a solid body hit.

I was a bit disgusted thinking about 400 pellets being stuck in his breast, rendering them inedible.

When I breasted him out, I couldn't find a single pellet. What happened, was all the pellets blew through his right breast, out the breast bone, and blew through the left breast. The only pellets I found in that entire bird were jammed in his left wing socket.

Tss is absolutely insane how hard and how deeply it penetrates. There's no reason to use anything other than #9s.
 
I have a box of 5,7,9 TSS for my 3" 20GA Youth 870.

I'm 'scared' to pattern it precisely because of the cost, but I know I'm going to.

What do you all think its range should be limited to?
 
I have a dozen shells currently and that will last me the next decade unless things improve dramatically in regard to turkey opportunities. I shot 2 shells last year on hogs, zero turkeys. The year before I fired zero shots. The year before one shot, one bird. Yes, it is super expensive, however, I bet almost everyone on this site spends more in a year on takeout coffee, or fast food, etc than a box of TSS, even at $100 per box. So, unless someone is maxing out their state limit and then doing a lot of out of state hunting, or is a patterning junkie, in the grand scheme of things, it's not that expensive if you really break it down.
 
Center Punch said:
I have a box of 5,7,9 TSS for my 3" 20GA Youth 870.

I'm 'scared' to pattern it precisely because of the cost, but I know I'm going to.

What do you all think its range should be limited to?
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I'd sight it in with #8 lead loads and then hunt with the TSS. I've got a friend who hunts with a 20 gauge #9 TSS and he can easily kill them stone dead at 50.
 
Center Punch said:
I have a box of 5,7,9 TSS for my 3" 20GA Youth 870.

I'm 'scared' to pattern it precisely because of the cost, but I know I'm going to.

What do you all think its range should be limited to?
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If that load was used to its maximal potential with the right choke, 60 yards is easy. That's not a hail Mary, let her rip tater chip, or here goes nothing. That's a dead bird 100% of the time rain or shine.
 
Wow. I had no idea.

My son killed a two year old at 40 yds w/ a #6 2 3/4"Pheasant loads way back when with this gun and choke. Then another bird at 30yds w/ something similar. And I've killed dove and ducks with it, so I know it shoots at point of aim with a bunch of different loads.

I still can't leave my 3 1/2" 870 at home because it's taken so many birds, but for my SECOND bird of the season I think I'll grab this Youth gun with the SST's I bought last year.

Thank you for the advice!
 
Center Punch said:
Never seen everything laid out like that before. I've only cut the wings off, dried them in the 'open' position, and given them to those who understand their value in the Turkey Woods.

Thank you! Keep the pics coming as the project progresses!
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I learned how from catmans videos. It’s a fun diy project. After cutting the ends off I cleaned the tubes out and then used a small flat head screwdriver to take out the stringies. After that they got a short soak in peroxide (6 hours). Air dried for a day or two. Next I light sanded to the desired fit. I’m doing another curved and one straight this time. Epoxy them together to fill in the spaces.
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Ok serious question. Google telling me that the average turkey is taken at 40 yards with shotgun. Have you folks consider using crossbow with turkey broadheads? 40-50 yards seem like still a very doable shot for crossbow and way cheaper...maybe?
 
gcr0003 said:
I learned how from catmans videos. It’s a fun diy project. After cutting the ends off I cleaned the tubes out and then used a small flat head screwdriver to take out the stringies. After that they got a short soak in peroxide (6 hours). Air dried for a day or two. Next I light sanded to the desired fit. I’m doing another curved and one straight this time. Epoxy them together to fill in the spaces.
View attachment 126600View attachment 126601View attachment 126602View attachment 126603
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Looks great! I've made a few and they work well.
 
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