Decided to try a red dot on the ole shotgun this year. Finally got to the range to give it a go and get things sorted out.
Initial impressions - I hate the red dot haha. No magnification, was hard to see the target center at 40 in the sunny blue skies... I'm hoping it will be better in actual hunting conditions. It will have to do for this year.
Got things sighted in with some target loads at 10 yards or so. Initially using a Kicks .655 for the first time. It gets rave reviews, so I wanted to try it out.
Stepped to 15 yards free hand with the first turky load, a cruddy kent shell with 1 3/4 oz of shot. Looked good.
I say cruddy because these shells have never patterned well for me, at now at 25 yards you can see the difference.
Loaded in an old faithful, winchester supreme 2oz of #6. Killed the majority of turkeys with this load. You can see why.
Also on the list for today was the new Winchester Long Beard ammo. 3" 1 3/4oz of #6. Tight. Very Tight. Still at 25 yards.
I made some adjustments and backed things up to 40 yards.
I had brought some other chokes to try. First up was a TruGlo .665 with the long beard shell. At 40 yards, it's a dead turkey, but nothing impressive.
Next, still at 40 is the Remington Super Full at .665. Also likely a dead Bird, but not a shot I'd want to take.
Stuck the kicks back in the gun and loaded in a hevy 13 shell. These are what I used on my 2 birds each of the last two years. At 40, a dead bird no problem (in fact got one closer to 50 last year). This target had maybe 10 killing pellets plus or minus.
And lastly, the shell that's getting all the hype that it looks like it rightly deserves. The 3" long beard through the kicks at 40 yards. 20+shot in the brain alone. My pattern is still a bit high for this shell. It's amazing how much difference the center is compared to everything else. I'll likely just aim a bit lower if I can't get shooting again before opener.
I didn't get a chance to shoot it any further as there were a few other guys shooting. I don't doubt it would be good out to 50, and if I range a bird at 45 or 47 I'm pulling the trigger without hesitation lol.
As for the birds themselves, I've put on over 1000 km scouting already and things are looking better daily. Today I seen a strutter 10 yards in front of my killing tree. That's probably going to be too close from I see haha!
Good luck to all those getting out this year!
