I’ve heard lots of stuff about what kind of pattern you need to consistently kill turkeys. What’s the truth? — A. Smith
A rule of thumb holds that you must put at least four pellets that retain about 4 foot-pounds of energy into a gobbler’s head and neck for a clean kill. Delivering that much force should cause enough trauma to kill the turkey.
When picking shot size, remember that the number of pellets in a charge makes a difference in how many fly downrange for a relative load. Again, more is better, with the caveat that you must pick a sufficiently large pellet to deliver the requisite energy and penetration at ranges at which you’ll be shooting. My favorite shot sizes are No. 5 for lead and No. 6 for various tungsten alloys. That preference comes after firing more than 11,000 rounds of turkey ammo at targets and game. Read more….