How to Choose a Turkey Choke

Turkeys have excellent eyesight and are quick to pick up unnatural movement.

Turkey hunting is an easy sport to get into, but actually coming home with a wild turkey is much harder than it seems. A shotgun and a turkey caller are all the necessary equipment.



Wild turkeys are elusive and very suspicious, which means that hunters may only get one shot at one. Placing the greatest number of pellets in the vicinity of the turkey gives a better chance at bagging it. A well-choked shotgun helps do that.

Things You'll Need

• Shotgun
• Several shotgun chokes
• Shotgun ammo
• Blank sheets of paper

Instructions

1. Choose the preferred shell for the shotgun. The choices are between high-velocity, fewer-pellet shells, and the slower-velocity, higher-pellet shells.

2. Shoot the shells through a variety of chokes at a blank piece of paper set at the furthest distance you'll likely be shooting a turkey. Forty yards is the distance that many hunters use.

3. Select the choke that gives the tightest pattern with that particular shotgun and shell combination. The holes in the paper should be no more than one inch apart. This one will work the best.

Tips & Warnings

• Testing the choke pattern at a variety of distances gives confidence that the hunter will know the patterns well enough to shoot accurately.

• The size of shotgun ammo for turkeys is regulated by law.

References

• Gun Blast: Turkey Chokes
• WildFowl: Choosing The Right Choke For Your Shotgun
• Cabelas: Understanding Shotgun Chokes

Resources

• Turkey Hunting 101: How To Bag A Gobbler