U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- As every turkey hunter knows, even the slightest mistake can spook birds and send them fleeing from your setup, whether you are targeting them over decoys or running and gunning through the woods.
Having your gear tuned up to prevent errors and maximize your chance of success is key—and there’s no better place to start than with your shotgun.
Traditional shotguns are designed for wingshooting—hitting flying targets—and as such are not optimal for turkey hunting, which requires precise aiming and shot placement on stationary (or nearly stationary) targets on the ground.
With that in mind, here are five steps you can take to tune up your turkey gun.
1. Upgrade Your Stock: The cramped positions turkey hunters often find themselves in are made worse by a stock with dimensions for wingshooting. Having a pistol grip to help support the gun comfortably for extended periods of time, and so you can work a call with one hand while maintaining a grip on your gun with the other, is a huge benefit. The other must-have requirement for a turkey gun stock is an adjustable length of pull (LOP). When hunched up against a tree or rock, being able to shorten the LOP lets the shooter sight down the gun more easily. It also allows other shooters to use the gun and quickly customize it for their physique.
Aftermarket stocks with these features are available from many companies and are simple to install.
2. Add A Sight: Upland bird hunters and waterfowlers point their shotguns to hit their targets. Turkey hunters aim. This critical difference calls for a better sighting system on a turkey hunter’s shotgun than a plain bead on the muzzle.
Most shotguns come drilled and tapped to attach bases to the receiver, and once that’s done it is not difficult to affix either a low power scope with a base 1X magnification or a red dot sight.
Both options have their advantages. A scope is somewhat more versatile as it can be dialed up in power and can be employed on other platforms, like a hunting rifle for the timber or a general-purpose AR. Meanwhile, a red dot sight is more forgiving because of its unlimited eye relief and automatic parallax correction, meaning the shooter’s eye doesn’t need to be centered in the optic in order to make a precise shot.
3. Dampen Recoil: Shooting turkey shells isn’t fun unless there’s a bird in your sights, and even then having less recoil to contend with makes for a better experience—to say nothing of reducing the likelihood of a flinch-induced miss.
Many replacement stocks come with some type of recoil-reduction features, usually buffers that are either spring-loaded or made of some type of squishy material that spreads the kick of the gun over a longer period of time, making the recoil feel softer.
Other options include adding a thicker recoil pad to the butt of the gun or switching to a ported barrel that will vent off gasses that would otherwise propel the shotgun back into your shoulder.
4. Swap Triggers: Lots of shooters get pretty picky about the quality of the triggers on their rifles—and with good reason. A crisp, clean trigger break that isn’t too heavy helps with marksmanship. Given that the target on a turkey—the head and neck—is pretty narrow to begin with there’s no reason to put up with a trigger pull that’s gritty, creepy and heavy. Adding an aftermarket trigger isn’t very difficult and once you have a quality trigger with a nice light pull you’ll kick yourself for having waited so long to make the change.
5. Camo Up: Nothing has eyes as sharp as a turkey, and the slightest glint coming off your gear will be noticed instantly by a boss hen or wise old gobbler. Even many shotguns that come with popular camo finishes are unnaturally reflective and can give away a hunter’s position. Fuzzy camo tape is not expensive and can help cloak a too-shiny shotgun. Another option is to use flat, earth-toned spray paint and give your gun a custom paintjob. One advantage to this is that you can match the color palette of the terrain you hunt.
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About Burris Company, Inc.:
Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Greeley, CO, Burris Company offers a complete line of premium optics, including riflescopes and sights for hunting, competition, and law enforcement; plus handgun scopes, spotting scopes, mounts and accessories.
For more information on the complete line of Burris products, visit BurrisOptics.com or Facebook.com/BurrisOptics.
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