As usual, PCP speaks the truth.

H and r single shot 10 gauge youth model with a leupold fixed 4x heavy duplex slinging tss #4s. Because I don’t like the way they look at me.

Nice Pic poorcountrypreacher

I shot the Mossburg 835 for 30 years and it whipped my butt - the SBE 2 was huge upgrade - I will use that mostly

I did my the stevens 20 gauge this year I will try some - got to go pattern

I don't know why anybody would shoot a 12 gauge anymore honestly now that TSS is commercially available. Other than duck hunting (thanks to the Feds) I have no use for a 12 gauge anymore

Agreed. Heavier gun, more kick. My daughter has a 870 compact and I use a compact auto in 20 ga. She got to put her own custom paint job on it to make it her own.

If you like the Stoger I wouldn’t let the duck hunting patterns make you not like one. In the woods I don’t think it matters

a bunch of rookies on here that don't mind toting a heavy 12 ga up and down hills.

a 12 is unnecessary in this age of TSS, I don't know why anyone would tote one today.

THIS

^^^this^^^

and if it really bothered you, buy the black version which will be around $100 less than the camo, and have it dipped in the pattern of your choosing for $150ish...

Honestly, get a gun that fits your style and budget. If you want to save up and get a specified "turkey gun," by all means get that Benelli M2. If you want to save money and get a gun that can do the job, get a Remington 870. I shot one for years and still do from time to time. And remember, it is still ok to be a man and tote a 12 gauge in the turkey woods.

Maybe not with the availability of commercial loads, but if you roll your own there are a few reasons to still to grab a 12 ga out of the gun safe, especially if you load them with light payloads (<1.75 oz). You can push them at higher speeds, have them pattern more easily and consistently with a wider variety of chokes, and have less recoil than a sub-gauge shooting an equal payload (assuming the 12 weighs more).

I grab a 20 ga most days, but reach for an old friend and feed it 1.5 oz shells almost as often.

It's a personal preference. I dont shoot TSS and I carry a 12ga. If anybody that has sworn off the 12ga has 3" turkey shells I will happily take them.

I still tote me 870 12 gauge and shoot tss. The 870 12 gauge doesn’t weigh hardly anything already. I’m too cheap to buy a secondary shotgun just for turkeys.

. Too many old guns that I still carry for nostalgia sake. The fit of those new guns is just not the same as the old stuff, I have a Browning Gold Hunter I bought in 05-06, it just sits on the shelf compared to the ones from a different time.

And that's a dang good reason to carry a 12 gauge. The only advantage that a 20 gauge has is that it's lighter to carry. That makes the 20 a good choice for women, children, and old men. I fall into one of those categories so I carry a 20.

You can tune a 12 to kill turkeys further than any 20 can if that's what you wanna do, or you can tune it to have a wider kill pattern at closer range, giving more room for error. I think that most turkey hunters would benefit far more from the wider pattern than the tightest choke possible, but that ain't cool so few do it.

i’m one of the few — learned my lesson w/tight chokes & LB XR’s when I missed a bird 3 times right in front of me ... i need all the margin of error i can get ...

I agree with this. I've shot way more birds under 10 yards than I ever have over 40. Probably more under 10 than over 30. I don't want a really tight pattern.

It makes sense that as a person ages a lighter gun would be better. But, that hasn't happened with the older hunters I know. Most don't even have slings for their guns and are still using the same guns they have since the 60s or 70s.

They have turkeys in Ireland?

. I get hammered when I talk about carrying an old model 12, 12 gauge with a full choke. Nope, it doesn't have a sling, and my uncle started using it in the 40's, I started carrying it in 1974.

GomerPyle & I used to work with a guy that turkey hunted with his grandfather's old Browning shotgun; modified or improved cylinder & he shot heavy dove loads ... he had success in the woods -- but he had to wait for the birds to get right on top of him before he'd shoot ... he told me he saw many birds walk away -- but he just enjoyed his times in the woods; killing one was just a bonus ...

i'm not saying i subscribe to his method -- just sharing -- different strokes for different folks ...