what caliber??

[one shot 52]

here in pa. i use adouble barrel 20ga. for spring gobbler for fall turkey hunting id like to use a rifle which caliber would you suggest?? thanks and merry christmas.

 

[Rat Trapper]

For fall turkey hunting with a rifle, I'd think you would do well with a 32 or 36 caliber. If you go with a caliber that is too large, I would think the meat damage would become unacceptable. From what I have read about rifle hunting turkeys shot placement is very critial. Turkey vitals are real small. Often state DNR offices will print vital charts for bow hunters. Recommend you check to see if you can find a vital chart for turkey hunting.

 

[Canerod]

A .36 is perfect for turkey. You can use 000 buck if you don't cast for it, it's easy on the powder and lead, and is a great small game gun the rest of the year.

 

[roundball]

.40/.45cals would be fine as well...also, be certain that rifles are legal where you'll be hunting...many states are shotgun only.

 

[Protrucker]

...also, be certain that rifles are legal where you'll be hunting...many states are shotgun only.

I don't know the logic behind the regulations, but in PA only shotguns are legal for spring turkeys & rifles or shotguns are legal in the fall. :youcrazy:

 

[trent/OH]

At what distance do you expect to take shots in the fall season? I can think of no other form of ML hunting which requires more accuracy for such an important shot. Squirrels require a well placed shot too, but if you miss, there's probably another one nearby. So your shot has to be as accurate as possible.
Perhaps you should buy a live turkey. Watch it from every angle. Then kill it and disect it, to see where the vitals actually are within the bird. A picture is worth a thousand words, but seeing is believing.

 

[roundball]

...also, be certain that rifles are legal where you'll be hunting...many states are shotgun only.

I don't know the logic behind the regulations, but in PA only shotguns are legal for spring turkeys & rifles or shotguns are legal in the fall. :youcrazy:

If the deer and falol turekey seasons overlap, it may be because of the number of deer hunters who are carrying rifles and are already wearing hunter orange (I assume).

But in the spring turkey season there's no other season open that would be requiring hunters to wear HO so without it, I guess its assumed that shotguns would be safer.

Athough it still amazes me the number of stories every year about some turkey hunter getting shot with a shotgun by somebody else only 30-40 yards away :shake:

 

[GANGGREEN]

I shot this one in Pennsylvania this fall with a .54 caliber rifle and 50 grains of FFFg. Probably not the ideal caliber/load but it was all I had and it was a new rifle that I really needed to baptize anyway. I didn't want to shoot it through the breast with that big ball so I took it right through the hip joints, broadside, at 54 yards. My shot was perfect and the ball did its job, basically grounding the turkey and killing it within several seconds.

I'm presently building my first rifle, a .50 percussion, but the next one will be a .40 caliber flintlock, primarily to be used for fall turkey.

 

[bucktales]

During Spring Turkey, we hang a couple of orange bandanas from branches near our setups. At least it's something visible to another hunter and Turkeys don't seem to mind.

 

[roundball]

During Spring Turkey, we hang a couple of orange bandanas from branches near our setups. At least it's something visible to another hunter and Turkeys don't seem to mind.

I've noticed that over the years while deer hunting...turkeys will seem to pick up the HO color of a cap and pause/look momentarily, but as long as you don't move they get over it and don't get alarmed, continue foraging along, etc...for turkey hunting I cut up one of those old cheap cotten slip-on HO vests into a couple long strips and tie it around the tree I'm sitting against...

 

[410-er]

I have a 36 TC Seneca that I just gotta get a turkey with!

 

[Protrucker]

If the deer and falol turekey seasons overlap, it may be because of the number of deer hunters who are carrying rifles and are already wearing hunter orange (I assume).

That would make sense, but PA doesn't overlap the seasons.

When I'm hunting in my home state, NY, it's full camo for everything unless I'm going dressed in traditional 18th century clothes.

 

[roundball]

I assume you mean full camo for turkey, not deer

 

[Protrucker]

Deer too!

Hunter orange is not a requirement in NY & a lot of people don't wear it.

 

[roundball]

Deer too!
Hunter orange is not a requirement in NY & a lot of people don't wear it.

Surprised to hear that in 2008...I grew up in NY state, up around the Saratoga area of the Adirondacks back in the 45-63 time frame...red & black plaid coats were the thing back then but I left in '63 and haven't lived there since...just assumed that as HO swept the country all states had it in their regs.
I don't / wouldn't go into the woods during deer season without HO whether or not it was required...too many people get shot every year as it is

 

[tg]

"...red & black plaid coats were the thing back then"
That brings back memories I inherited my grandfathers red and black plaid wool hunting coat with the game bag in the back in '65 and used it for birds for quite a few years, took it off the back porch one November and went out to the farm, put on the coat and headed across a wheat stubblefield with the 16 gauge Mdl'97 in hand and shortly had a terrible sharp pain in my back,then again and again...shucked the coat as fast as I could it was full of queen yellow jackets that woke up when the coat got warm, kept the coat indoors from then on, those were the good old days :shake:

 

[roundball]

Thought you were going to say that great big game tag holder "safety pin" had come unsnapped and was sticking you...

 

[Protrucker]

...red & black plaid coats were the thing back then....

That's what I started out with too, back in the mid-late 60's. I wore one out & got another one....still have it, but haven't worn it in a few years now. I've had two of the matching hats too & I do wear one yet when I feel like being a little more visible.

 

[PGTMG]

here in pa. i use adouble barrel 20ga. for spring gobbler for fall turkey hunting id like to use a rifle which caliber would you suggest?? thanks and merry christmas.

I would cast my vote for a .40 caliber. Good luck!