Does A Red Dot Sight Really Help?
Put a heavy payload into a specialized turkey shotgun with an extra full choke, and it packs a punch. In fact, it kicks so much that it’s a primary reason for many missed shots.
With its ability to shoot immensely tight patterns, a turkey shotgun should be handled more like a rifle, not a shotgun you’d use for hunting ducks or upland birds. In other words, it should be aimed, not pointed.
Big front beads, thick rear sights and vented ribs with a high rise can all impede your ability to find a tom’s head and make an accurate shot. When your heart rate rises, and you pull the trigger, only to see that tom run off into the distance, it means it’s time to evaluate your setup.
Enter red dot reflex sights. Properly mounted on your turkey shotgun, this is a cannnot-miss setup.
By properly mounting, I mean keeping it as low to the barrel as possible. The higher it sits, the more you’ll lift your head, the higher your cheek is from the stock, the harder you’ll get kicked in the face at the shot, and the more you’ll flinch and miss. It’s all connected.
With a low-profile red dot sight, you’ll comfortably stay in the gun and adequately follow through. All you have to do is put the red dot on the mark and squeeze the trigger.
Invest in a red dot sight with a range of light settings to dim it when hunting in shadows or dark timber. A brightness setting that can be turned up will also help you quickly acquire the dot on sunny days. The smaller the dot, the more you can see the turkey’s head, and the easier it is to place the shot pattern where it needs to be.
A guide buddy of mine takes over 75 turkey hunters out every spring. Fed up with misses, which ultimately cost him time and money, he required all clients to use a red dot sight, either on their gun or one they borrowed from him. His success rate went from 72% to 97%.
After mounting your red dot sight, sight it in as you would a rifle: Shoot at a turkey target while solidly resting on shooting bags, and shoot it at 30 yards to test the pattern, then at 20 and 10 yards, so you know the point of impact at close range.
You’ll be amazed at how tight a magnum turkey load is inside 10 yards, a distance many shots at turkeys come at, which explains the misses.
Invest in a red dot sight to take your turkey shooting performance to the next level. Practice shooting to the point you feel confident you can’t miss. You’ll end up shooting fewer shells and educating fewer birds.