A few years ago I was inspired by a post by now deceased fellow turkey hunting magazine writer, Lovett Williams, on the Turkey & Turkey Hunting Magazine web forum. He dug into the topic of how many shots does it take, on average, to bag a wild turkey.
Over the last 20 years more repeating turkey guns with tubular magazines have been sold than any other action type, so I thought it would be interesting to dig deeper into the subject.
A few years ago, I was at a Remington press conference where they announced that the 2 millionth 870 pump-action had come off the production line, which is a good indicator of the popularity of action type. Other manufacturers have followed suit by producing a few million more pumps and semi-autos, which has given hunters three or more shots at game.
On the other hand, quite a few single-shot and double-barrel guns are carried to the woods each turkey season. When comparing repeaters with three or more shots to a gun with one or two shots, at most, which is better for the average turkey hunter?
Many states don’t mandate that shotguns are to be plugged to a maximum of three shots when turkey hunting, so many turkey hunters carry their guns with one in the chamber and three or four in the magazine for some “insurance.”
When it comes to turkey hunting I have often wondered if all that firepower is necessary. Even though 3 ½-inch magnum 10 ga. and 12 ga. loads abound for turkey hunting, I typically find that the 3-inch loads suit my purposes just fine. In the day when “less is more,” it, again, begs the question of whether we need all that firepower to effectively kill turkeys.
Lovett did a study of spring turkey hunters who hunted on a wildlife management area in Florida in the 1970s. He asked the successful hunters if they killed their bird on the first shot, or if it took two or more shots to put the bird in the bag. He asked them to not include shots that were the coup de grace. They were also asked if they felt that the second or third shot was necessary.
What the Florida biologist found was that 15% used a second shot, and only 4% used three shots to bag their bird. Combining the two meant that 81% only needed a single shot to bag their bird.
Firearms and ammunition technology has moved forward tremendously over the last 30 years, so what Lovett found could easily be cut by at least half, which means that approximately 10% of turkeys bagged, or less, need more than one shot to be tagged. With that kind of success rate for the average hunter with the average gobbler in front of his gun, are we ready to scale back to en mass to an army of turkey hunters who just need to take a single shell to the turkey woods?
In conversations with several turkey hunters I have learned that several feel that using a single-shot shotgun makes them better hunters because they are forced to concentrate more on their first shot. Even though I agree that carrying a single-shot would probably be enough gun in most instances, and I enjoy the portability of a light-weight guns such as the Thompson/Center Encore 12 or 20 ga. that I hunt with occasionally, I’m not quite ready to become a total single-shot or double-barrel convert.
I’ll give you a few examples why I’m not ready to make the switch. Reviewing my turkey hunting journal I find that five gobblers would not have been tagged without follow-up shots.
My first gobbler, years ago, still had his head up, so I put another 2 ounces of No. 5s up side his head as a finisher.
The second instance was a longbeard peeping from behind a sapling at 12 yards. The sapling disrupted that pattern and just addled the bird. He was still on his feet, so again, a second shot was called upon to seal the deal.
On another occasion, I missed a bird at seven yards that was already leaving in a hurry. But, when he took wing and was a little farther he lost his mind, literally. When I did a post mortem I found 37 pellet holes in his head and neck.
Another very close-range shot in a thicket hit some brush and left a gobbler with enough steam to take wing. I took the bark off of three trees and hammered the bird on the fifth shot. The last time I needed more than one shot was in 1997 on a Gould’s hunt in Mexico.
I was shooting a borrowed Remington 870 with a fixed full choke and 2 3/4-inch Winchester No. 4s. Shells were so scarce that the outfitter wouldn’t even let me pattern the gun. When the bird got to 20 yards I centered the bead on his head and lit the fire. He flew, so I let him have another shot, too.
The biggest reason that I like to have follow-up shots is “the one that got away.” What would have been my second tom took the first round at 25 yards and still needed more. My Remington 870 had a broken ejector spring (I later learned) and the second live shell wound up on the ground as I frantically worked the pump. I finally got the third round chambered and got off another shot, to no avail. With the gun empty I had no more chance to put the bird in the bag. For that reason, I never put the plug in a repeater, unless state regulations require it to be limited to three shots. Shells in my vest instead of my gun are just dead weight.
Another reason that I favor a gun with multiple-shot capacity is what Harold Knight told me years ago as we sat over a fine Kentucky gobbler. He said, “Nobody I know can run as fast as a 12 ga. shoots, so it’s silly and dangerous to run to a downed gobbler.” I don’t know how many people have told me that they advocate running to cover a downed tom. WALK, DON’T RUN. If you need to take a follow-up, take it.
Turkey hunting is full of challenges in and of itself. We’re all human and apt to make mistakes from time to time, so having enough firepower to close the deal on that rare occasion is a good idea. Even when we espouse the “one shot one kill” ideal having a backup plan is fitting for such a noble bird when we’re less than perfect.
Get Jay’s book: “Turkey Hunter’s Tool Kit: Shooting Savvy.”
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