25 yards or 40 yards for turkey patterning??

[knight]

I've heard both distances recommended but which one actually matters? At what distance should you pattern for turkey?

 

[Robin1]

I pattern at 25 first, then 40, because turkeys never cooperate with your preferred distance.

 

[RjHawk]

like he said above , pattern up close so you know where your pattern is hitting and then check it out at longer ranges , see how and where it starts falling apart or getting too loose, it doesn't do any good to waste ammo starting off at the longer ranges, especially if your gun is not shooting to point of aim , if that is the case then you will need to put on either a open sight on the rib or go to a reddot or scope

 

[Tom L]

Always did both. That way I knew there was a chance wherever the bird was. Could have one at 25 behind a bush/tree, but one out a bit further with a clear line.

 

[Crash87]

This year I'm getting into the sub gauges/bores utilizing tungsten w/Dot site. I will reload as I have 3# of shot, but with a pound giving me 25 shells its still a pricey per shot endeavor. I will need to sight which I'll do with lead at 25yds first. Then the tungsten shot to sight & pattern at 25 and see where it prints and patterns at 30 and 40, then decide from there. I guess it all depends on your area you hunt. yardage your shots will be taken, etc. But why not, that has already been mentioned, just check all ranges, then your set for any situation that comes up.

 

[Tabby]

I pattern at 25 first, then 40, because turkeys never cooperate with your preferred distance.

Very good advice, but I take it a few steps further. I start at 15 yards simply to see how large the pattern isn't with my extra full turkey choke shooting my chosen ammo, Federal Black Cloud steel #4. I also checked the muzzle velocity and found with the 28 inch barrel on my 11/87 and the advertised 1600 fps in reality was only 1520, which is still plenty fast to reach out an hit a bird hard. At 15 yards the pattern is slightly more than 10 inches so that aim is critical when shooting in close. Very easy to completely miss a bird if my aim is slightly off. It's also possible to blow a Tom's head almost completely off too. While I haven't done that with a turkey I have done that with a goose that flew very close overhead several years ago. I usually check the pattern at 10 yard intervals using butcher paper and computer printed turkey heads copied on regular printer paper centered on a 24 x 24 sheet of butcher paper. Since the only hits that count are the ones to the head the target does not have to be all that large since what I am really concerned about is where in the turkey's head the pellets are hitting. Anything outside of that target area, especially at farther ranges don't have enough energy left to penetrate the feathers or much if any into the skin. My criteria is 5 pellets into the head/neck area to be considered a kill shot. At closer ranges I use the beak as the target, but once beyond 45 yards the top of the head is a better target area due to the effect of gravity on the shot. I've found that killing shots are usually consistent out to around 55 yards with some still possible out 70 yards if shooting downwind, but sometimes only 50 yards if shooting into the wind. Crosswind effects seem to be negligible.

 

[Morbius]

I always zero in at 40 yards since that shows me the real limit. If it shoots well at 40, then 25 yards is pretty much a sure thing. I’d rather know the worst-case scenario than just the comfortable range.