How to Avoid Missing a Turkey

Most hunters neglect to properly pattern their shotgun. It’s not enough to shoot a piece of cardboard at 40 yards and call it good. You need to know what your pattern does at ten yards, not just your max range. If you’re running a turkey choke and TSS, your pattern probably resembles a softball at ten yards. That constricted pattern makes it easy to miss at close ranges if you flinch or a turkey bobs out of the way.

Of course, you need to determine your shotgun’s max range, too. Assuming you’ve patterned your gun (you can read more about that here), test out your choke/ammo combination at various distances. As a general rule of thumb, I think most hunters should aim for around 100 pellets within a 10-inch circle from a seated position, not the sled. Shoot from seated and kneeling positions to see how your pattern will perform when you’re in the woods. You won’t replicate the heart-thumping moment when a gobbler walks into gun range, but it’ll be close enough.

If you obtain 100 pellets within a 10-inch circle at 40 yards, try it at 50 or 60 yards. If your pattern falls apart at these distances, you know your max range. Sure, TSS loads, red dots, and choke tubes theoretically make it possible to kill turkeys at 60 yards, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Turkeys have a small kill radius (head). If you’re off just slightly, you’ll wound or miss one altogether. You should aim at the base of a gobbler’s head, right where it meets the feathers. If you have a red dot on your turkey gun, you can sight-in the point of impact accordingly. I’d advise practicing with a few turkey targets, they’re a cheap investment that’ll go a long way.

Never shoot a turkey in full strut. The kill zone becomes exponentially smaller, and you’ll ruin a lot of the breast meat. Wait until a gobbler stops before you pull the trigger. If he’s walking, give him a few soft clucks to get his attention, just be ready to fire as soon as he stops.

Of the turkeys I’ve missed, I know for a fact that I rushed the shot and forgot to exhale. You might be a dead ringer at the range, but I’ve seen strutting gobblers make the best turkey hunters crumble.

Exhaling while you squeeze the trigger (don’t punch) allows you to make a more relaxed shot. It also gives you a shot process, whether you realize it or not. You become more aware of each step: lining up the bead, exhaling, squeezing the trigger, and following through. I shake like a phone on silent when it comes time to pull the trigger, but I’ve never missed a turkey when I remembered to breathe.

One of the biggest reasons hunters miss turkeys is because they raise their head up too quickly. It’s a simple matter of following through. You want to keep your head down on the comb of your stock throughout the whole shot process.

If you pick your head up to see a dead turkey, you’ll likely miss high and watch that bird sprint out of your life. If you practice those field shots I mentioned earlier, you’ll naturally follow through. There might be times when you need to make a follow-up shot or grab your bird quickly, but as long as you take your time, follow through, and execute, there’s no need to sprint to that turkey.

I used to be skeptical about optics on turkey guns, but I’m a red dot evangelist now. They absolutely increase your efficacy, and I’ll gladly die on that hill. You can read more about why you should drop a red dot on your turkey gun here. But, you’ll have a better field of view, direct point of impact, and a visibly brighter bead.

I’ve missed a few turkeys with a traditional bead, but I’ve never missed one with a red dot. Over the years, I’ve tested some of the best red dots, and any number of them make solid options for a turkey rig. They sure made a believer out of this skeptic.