Author Topic: Remington Turkey Gun (Read 1224 times)

JPSaxMan · « **on:** August 18, 2004, 02:41:21 PM »

For those who use Remington's for their turkey's...what's your favorite? I'd like to think my ol' faithful 870 Wingmaster as the turkey slayer (even though it's never taken a turkey :cry: ). But I would love to get an 11-87 SPS-T Camo RS/TG (if I only had $$$). Thanx!

7magWoodsman · « **Reply #1 on:** August 18, 2004, 03:52:30 PM »

I like my old 870 Express for turkey....I love the Wingmaster but just prefer the matte blueing on the Express for turkey.

I am not a "dedicated" enough Turkey hunter to go buy an all Camo gun, like most everyone else around here.

11-87s are nice but I just like to eject my spent shell myself. Don't Know why, just do, I guess it's just a "Trust" thing.

Graybeard · « **Reply #2 on:** August 18, 2004, 04:38:40 PM »

I bought one of the camo 11-87s back in the first year they came out with them. Paid $600 back then. Heavens knows what they sell for now. Has the 23" barrel with choke tubes and ya best not lay it down and walk on in the woods if you know what I mean. I've done a ton of crow hunting with it and use it more for that but it is really an all round shotgun for me capable of doing most anything I need of it.

My old Wingmaster sees more duty as a back yard squirrel gun on the maurauding squirrels out to steal my fruit from the trees before I can get it.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #3 on:** August 19, 2004, 01:46:03 PM »

Well 7Mag, here's how I see it and a few other people (those who write for Field and Stream)see it. If you have a pump gun in the turkey woods and you're using a magnum round, not only is the recoil less when you fire the shot, but if you miss the turkey and he's dazzled...when you work the pump you will immediately alert your position and that bird will suddenly remember his hot date in the other neck of the woods. Just some food for thought.

dukkillr · « **Reply #4 on:** August 19, 2004, 02:53:51 PM »

2 counter points: when that big tom is strutting out there you won't feel any recoil and my experience with turkey hunting is that the lightest gun money can buy is worth it. I always end up carrying it all day. Add that sometimes you have to hold your gun up at ackward angles for prolonged periods and you find that an 870 with a short barrel (mines 23") is the perfect turkey gun. I wouldn't worry too much about that follow shot either. I scored a double this year with my 870, obviously cycling was not an issue.

Also add that turkey hunting often involves crawling through mud and foliage and the more pumps secure action has another advantage.

flintlock · « **Reply #5 on:** August 19, 2004, 03:01:31 PM »

There is no need to miss a turkey with a shotgun...None...If you do...
you don't deserve a 2nd shot....kinda like a muzzleloader....btw...My
favorite turkey shotgun....Browning B-80 3" mag...puts 12-15 pellets
in the head/neck of a turkey at 40 yards...I use... #5 Federal 2 oz turkey loads...with a Hastings .660 choke...My favorite turkey gun....40 caliber custom flintlock with a 42 inch barrel...Now THATS a turkey gun....with 50gr fff...can either center the head to 75yds or hit just above the wing....deadly...its what turkeys were made to hunt with...Just wish I didn't have to travel to VA to use it... :cry:....flintlock

PS...The guys on "Primos Truth About Hunting" use 870 pumps...They have forgotten more about turkey hunting than all the writers at Field & Stream will evey know...

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #6 on:** August 19, 2004, 03:06:50 PM »

Flintlock, to be quite honest I think that you are (Deleted by GB as a rules violation) for blasting the possibility of missing a turkey. Suppose it's an older hunter...or someone slips on the trigger or something. Your response had a very unlikeable crudeness. And I see that you use a semi-auto shotgun. So...what are your reasons for using it for turkey hunting?

7magWoodsman · « **Reply #7 on:** August 19, 2004, 03:40:09 PM »

Quote from: Fishman029

Well 7Mag, here's how I see it and a few other people (those who write for Field and Stream)see it. If you have a pump gun in the turkey woods and you're using a magnum round, not only is the recoil less when you fire the shot, but if you miss the turkey and he's dazzled...when you work the pump you will immediately alert your position and that bird will suddenly remember his hot date in the other neck of the woods. Just some food for thought.

Have you ever even killed a turkey?
Why do you think that magazine writers are the Gods of hunting?

I have never missed a Turkey myself. I think they are more worried about the big blast they heard and the flopping Turkey more than they are about the sound of my pump working.

If I do miss, somehow, with a shotgun, I guess I will either get another shot or I won't who really cares, If I am hunting for survival I probally would not choose to hunt turkey anyway so that is irrelevent....the hunt is about the chance to be alone in an enviroment that allows open-minded thinking and pleasure, and that is the bottom line.

What about the hundreds and thousands of turkey that are killed all over the country with singleshots???
and as Flintlock said....with a good old muzzleloader.

(Deleted by GB as a rules violation)

:-D

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #8 on:** August 19, 2004, 03:54:56 PM »

OK, u nailed me on the first part. I think that the magazine writers do know what they're talking about b/c they are doing it every single day (or sumtin related to it). And u missed the critical part.

Quote

I think they are more worried about the big blast they heard and the flopping Turkey more than they are about the sound of my pump working.

That's great if u hit em'. And if u don't...well...ur right. U probably wouldn't take another shot if you could and you probably wouldn't care. And I still think that what flintlock said was pretty bold b/c accidents could happen and all of us know it. Even you, 7Mag, could slip on the trigger, or something else could happen.

flintlock · « **Reply #9 on:** August 19, 2004, 04:05:58 PM »

Be careful now...NO name calling... :-D ...When I got serious about turkey hunting...in 1979, I lived in VA..rifles were legal...so, I made me a wingbone turkey call and started getting my education...killed my first that year...called in with the wingbone...using the .40 caliber....I have killed 17 turkeys with that rifle, have added box. slate and diaphragms to my calling arsenal...but...there is still something special about a wingbone...I'm sure you're so educated that you've heard about how Daniel Morgan used one after the first battle of Saratoga, to call back in his boys from VA...When I moved back to my native NC...rifle guns were prohibited for turkey hunting....In the meantime I had an uncle that died and left me his B-80....I had used my 12 gauge double that I had bought when I was 12, for years...He used to throw skeet for me, and loved to watch me break them with his auto...he would load up 3 on the thrower...and I would bust all 3...shooting from the hip...I used to kid him that when he died...I wanted his gun....Be careful of those statements when you are young...because it happened...I started using on dove shoots, and found that the gun fit me well...When NC opened up their seasons for turkeys, I didn't have to drive to VA to hunt....fitted the Hastings choke on, patterned, shot well....Thats how I acquired the auto...bad..it is a turkey killer...12 in last 6 years (limit is 2 a year in NC)..
I grew up as a squirrel hunter...didn't get into deer hunting until I was 16...If you have ever been a true, died in the wool squirrel hunter...You will never understand how some hunters miss turkeys and deer...
You may think I'm ignorant...I don't really care...I've got a 4 year Business Degree from one of the "Majors" in NC...Was teaching hydraulics, diesel engines, electrical systems and power trains for a company called John Deere when I was 22 (btw did you know that they are the 2nd oldest company on the NYSE???) Wonder if you can name the 1st??? I have owned my own my own company for 15 years, yea...I'm a ignorant Southerner....
I have never "slipped on the trigger" hope I never learn how...If a man knows his gun there is no excuse for missing a turkey...If you don't KNOW that you can kill it DON'T SHOOT....Sorry if you think my post was crude....thats one of the problems with the written word...
BUT...you say that you like your 870 PUMP as a turkey gun (although you have never killed one with)....and then explain to 7 Mag that HE might scare the turkey if he misses...by pumping in another round (according to experts at Field & Stream)....And you don't think the sound of the shot will scare them?

Do you have a silencer???
btw...11-87...too heavy to be a perfect turkey shotgun...870 is better choice, as dkkiller pointed out...11-87 patterns fine...but its too heavy...Turkey hunting often involves a lot of walking...
They range over 5-6 miles...often they "hen up" and you have to move and setup quickly...if I didn't have a good turkey gun...the 870 would get my vote...flintlock

dukkillr · « **Reply #10 on:** August 19, 2004, 04:17:58 PM »

if missing happens more than once in a great while you're either dangerous or incompetent. yes, accidents happen, very very rarely. I've missed one turkey, ever. It just isn't that hard, they're basically a stationary target. I suggest that if you choose your gun based on the ability to have a quicker follow-up shot you should spend more time at the range before you buy any gun.

Graybeard · « **Reply #11 on:** August 19, 2004, 04:36:51 PM »

First up. Watch the comments guys. I've removed parts of two posts for rules violation. There will be ABSOLUTELY NO name calling or personal attacks allowed on this site. PERIOD!

I think the most common reason a person misses a turkey with a shotgun is the super tight patterns they chose and then thru ego in my opinion try to call the turkey way closer than needed. You need an IC at 10 yards not a turkey super duper extra full choke. Shoot them at 20 yards or more and the pattern should take care of most misses. Not knowing where your pattern hits in relation your your point of aim causes misses each year too. BUT that's an operator error too and really you should know before you go.

7magWoodsman · « **Reply #12 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:26:17 PM »

Quote from: Fishman029

Even you, 7Mag, could slip on the trigger, or something else could happen.

What do you mean by "slip on the trigger?" If the animal or myself is "overly" nervous I will not take the shot.(with the exception of the running shot on deer and dogs)

You sent me a PM and I responded and wish to quote part of my response exactly as I wrote it to you.................

What you said makes me think what I asked my Dad when I was probally 6 or 7 years old about bolt actions...I asked "Don't you think that bolt is loud to the Deer?" He said "Not no where near as loud as the sound you made in order to work that bolt."

this holds true with pumps as well.

Greybeard is right about the choke too, it is important to group your gun to spread appropriately across "ALL" shooting ranges, which I do.

7magWoodsman · « **Reply #13 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:31:31 PM »

Quote from: dukkillr

if missing happens more than once in a great while you're either dangerous or incompetent. yes, accidents happen, very very rarely. I've missed one turkey, ever. It just isn't that hard, they're basically a stationary target. I suggest that if you choose your gun based on the ability to have a quicker follow-up shot you should spend more time at the range before you buy any gun.

I like that. Everyone needs to treat those words as gold!

Also if you are like me and use the same gun for running rabbits and high flying dove as you do for turkey you have got a lot of explaining to do to yourself "if" you miss that "stationary" target. just my .02 :money:

Happy Hunting

MLRowland · « **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2004, 07:37:59 PM »

My first turkey gun was 870. I took three toms with one shot with that gun.I have Remington 3" 11-87 SPS-T camo shotgun. I have harvested seven gobblers with this gun. One of those turkeys I shot was too long a shot so I had to shot again. Flintlock is right I did not deserve to get a second shot but I did. Actually I got him on the fourth shot. I missed the second and third when he was do cartonwheels across the field. Not until he came to and began to fly did I get him with the fourth shot in the air. I did not deserve that bird but I got him. If I had a pump I maybe could have pull it off I do not know. But turkey hunting is suppose to be a one shot deal unless you are shooting at two toms. :wink: