Choosing a Turkey Load
Written by M.D. Johnson
Before we dive into turkey loads, let me first say a couple of things—
One, dead is dead. Missed is missed. It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting a .410 in the spring woods or a 105mm howitzer. Dead is dead. Missed is missed. And both the .410 and the 105 have their limitations, depending on any number of variables, including—but not limited to—the ability (or lack thereof) of the person pulling the trigger.
Two, turkey hunting is 90% confidence. Confidence in your calling. Confidence in your scouting. And confidence in knowing how your shotgun, with the ammunition of your choosing, performs every time you pull the trigger. How do you gain this confidence? Two words—range time. And patterning. And a time investment. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
Turkey Guns, Chokes, and Ammunition 101
One more thing before we get rolling—this article is not an attack on modern technology and 21st-century turkey ammunition. It’s not. Tungsten and a single-shot .410 do have their place, and in capable hands, they’re just that—capable. But there’s nothing wrong with Old School, either.
How old school? I killed my first gobbler in 1990 with a ’66 Mossberg M500 pump and an original Poly-Choke screwed down to extra full. Inside were three Federal 3” shotshells, each containing two ounces of copper-plated #5 lead pellets. Yes, I said lead. When I pulled the trigger on that Athens County, Ohio, longbeard at—well, about 35 yards—he dropped dead. End of story.
My point? As long as you commit to range time, patterning, and familiarization with your gear, that old Remington M870 with a fixed full choke and a 2-3/4” 1-1/2 ounce load of #5 lead will get the job done just fine. If—and this is a big if—you also add patience and self-discipline, meaning a 25-yard shot rather than a 55-yard hail mary.
Now, if you want to invest in a tricked-out turkey shotgun—pistol grip, Red Dot sight, $150 aftermarket choke tube, and $10-a-shot designer ammunition—that’s fine, too. But even if your rig looks more like something out of Star Wars than Sears and Roebuck, you still need the range time, patterning, and familiarization.
Patterning: The Key to Success
I used to start my turkey hunting seminars with this question:
“How many of you deer hunters would go out, buy a new centerfire rifle, slap a scope and a sling on it, buy 20 cartridges ‘of some sort,’ and then go out and hunt with it that afternoon—having never fired a shot?”
The response? Laughter. And a unanimous “none.”
But when you don’t pattern your turkey shotgun—test different choke tubes, different ammunition, sights vs. no sights, and distance—you’re doing the same exact thing. You have no idea how that gun performs. None.
That’s why you spend time at the bench. No, it’s not cheap to experiment with different choke tubes, brands of shotshells, and various shot sizes and weights. But that’s how patterning works.
Sights can help, especially now that your shotgun is essentially a tight-shooting rifle. Some of my turkey guns still have a single front bead. Others have a front and a mid-bead. My 12-gauge Encores have traditional iron sights, while my wife’s Beretta AL390 wears a Burris SpeedBead. The M870 20-gauge youth model? An Aimpoint Micro S-1 Red Dot.
Do what works for you, your shooting style, your hunting conditions, and—last but certainly not least—your wallet.
Turkey Hunting Ammunition: What’s on the Market?
What’s available in turkey ammunition? The short answer—a lot. But let’s break it down.
The Big Three shotshell manufacturers—Remington, Winchester, and Federal—all offer old-school lead turkey hunting options, from the tiny .410 up to the massive 10-gauge. Modern lead turkey shotshells, like Winchester’s Longbeard XR, are excellent performers and relatively affordable. Most turkey hunters will want to focus on shot sizes ranging from #4 to #6, with #5 lead being a great all-around choice.
In addition to lead, these manufacturers offer non-toxic turkey loads, including bismuth, tungsten blends, and Tungsten Super Shot (TSS, 18 g/cc). TSS has taken the turkey hunting world by storm, offering unmatched performance—but at a steep cost. A box of Federal’s Heavyweight TSS 12-gauge, 3-1/2” shells can run anywhere from $12 to $15 per shot.
Beyond the Big Three, other manufacturers like APEX, HEVI-Shot, Fiocchi, BOSS, Kent, and Browning also offer high-performance turkey loads. The advantage of TSS and other heavier-than-lead materials is that they allow hunters to drop down in pellet size (e.g., from #5 lead to #9 TSS) without sacrificing penetration or energy—while increasing pellet count and pattern density.
But whether you shoot lead or non-toxic, one thing remains true—patterning is key.
What does your shotgun prefer? What shot size, charge, hull length, choke, and pellet type works best in your gun? What’s your maximum effective range? And—let’s be honest—how much are you willing to spend?
At the end of the day, spring turkey success often comes down to one shot.
Will you be ready?
