This last weekend, Vicki and I had a shooting clinic here in Houston, and I wanted to share what I learned from two of my students. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of our job as shooting instructors is that we are in a constant learning situation whenever we teach. It makes our job not only interesting, but challenging as well.
John was just getting into shotgun shooting and was referred to us by one of our former students. He had called two weeks earlier and signed up for the shooting clinic. He’s an airline pilot and had asked what he could do to prepare himself for the clinic. I told him to get our book, read it, and practice his gun mount. He did just that and picked up our shooting system as quickly as anyone I have ever seen. He had incredible hand-eye coordination. He flew F-16s in the service and knew the value of practice and what a big role it plays in confidence.
At the end of the day, we were talking about how to practice, what to practice, why to practice, and the importance of practice. All my students that day were hunters, and all but one was interested in shooting sporting clays competitively. They all understood the importance of practice and realized it would take some practice to implement the new things they had learned that day. Then John shared with us something he had learned as a pilot: “Competence and confidence go hand in hand.” That stopped me in my tracks. I had always known that but had never heard it said in that way.
Then Jimmy chimed in. Jimmy was a combat pistol and rifle shooter. Because of his rifle and pistol shooting background, he had the most difficult time learning to mount the gun without looking at the front bead. But when he got it, man, was he deadly. He used to love to hunt ducks and was passionate about turkey hunting. He shared with the group the painstaking ordeal he went through when he began hunting turkeys. He had tested different brands of ammo, different shot sizes and payloads, and different chokes all at the same distance (30 yards). When he found which load patterned best in his gun and choke combination, he shot that choke and load at different distances to make sure of its performance at 20 and 40 yards.
Jimmy was quick to say that he would not shoot at a turkey beyond 40 yards because he would not risk wounding it. He then shared with us a story about a bird he had hunted for a whole week. “I probably could have killed that bird several times but didn’t feel confident because there was always something in the way,” he said. “I’ll only take a clear shot and the bird must be in range. The only clear shot I had at the bird was at 20 yards, but my 4-wheeler was directly behind the bird so I didn’t take the shot. I could have taken some longer shots and probably harvested the bird, but I’m not going to take a shot I’m not 100% confident in.” You could see his passion for turkey hunting as he told the story. You could also see his respect for the turkey and his pride in himself as he told us about not taking the shot.
I guess it’s true that confidence and competence do go hand in hand. When you are confident and competent it makes it easy to make the decision to shoot or not to shoot, because you know your equipment and your ability. At the end of the day it’s not about killing a bird. It’s about harvesting a resource cleanly, efficiently, and most of all ethically.
If you haven’t patterned your turkey gun with the ammo you are going to use when hunting, you should. Now is the time to start this process. If you put this process off it’s our experience that you probably won’t do it or won’t do as good of a job when you do because of time constraints. I know it takes time but if you are going to be an ethical hunter you must make the time to not only choose the right load and choke but practice shooting your shotgun like a rifle.
People look at a shotgun as a scatter gun. When you hunt upland birds and waterfowl, spreading the shot cloud is an advantage because they are flying. The larger the pattern, the better chance you have of hitting the bird to a certain point. When hunting turkeys, you use the shotgun more like a rifle because you are not just trying to hit the bird – you must hit the bird’s neck or head to cleanly and humanely harvest the bird. You are shooting at a very small area. Therefore, you must have a tight choke to keep the pellets as close together as possible.
If you are using a 12-gauge, use a turkey choke (not a full choke) if you want to have the option to shoot out to 40 yards. A turkey load of #4, 5, or 6 copper-coated lead shot through a turkey choke will do the job, provided you can place the load where it needs to be with confidence.
If you want to use a 20-gauge, use a full choke and #6 lead (copper coated if you can find it). But keep your shots within 25 yards, because you don’t have as many pellets in a 20-gauge load as you do in a 12-gauge turkey load. You will probably have to go to a 3 inch 20-gauge to get the maximum number of pellets in that small of a shell.
We recommend #6 shot for pellet count. When you are trying to hit something as small as the vertebra in a turkey’s neck, more is better. Another reason to use a 12-gauge is that there is a much greater variety of 12-gauge loads available for you to try in your gun. This gives you the best opportunity to find the optimum load and choke for your gun. Pattern your gun with your hunting load before you go hunting. It’s your responsibility.
Now let’s talk about the shooting part. If you aim for the head, you are placing half the pattern over the vital area you are trying to hit. If, however, you aim at the neck where the feathers stop, (which is about the mid-point of the neck) you have a greater margin for error when you pull the trigger.
Shotgun shooting is a game of percentages, whether the target is moving or standing still. Heavy loads create heavy recoil, which is why we would recommend a gas operated semi-auto in either 12 or 20-gauge. Practice with a light skeet load, but each time you go to the range to practice, shoot a couple of the big boomers just to get used to the recoil and to gain confidence in your load, your choke, and yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you think you can or can’t. And competence and confidence do go hand in hand.
