Deer/turkey shotgun thoughts

[Creamer]

So, this has been on my mind for a few years. I don't have a good shotgun setup for deer and turkey (and coyotes) in Ohio. Currently, I have an older Remington 870 20ga with a smooth bore slug barrel and a standard shot barrel. I've killed several deer with that slug barrel, but I'd rather have a rifled barrel with the cantilever scope mount. For turkeys, I had been carrying an old family hand-me-down single shot 10ga with 3.5" chamber. It's heavy, expensive to shoot, and honestly a little overkill. It knocks the piss out of the turkey and you.

I had been considering a new deer/turkey combo in 12ga, but lately I have been looking into just fixing up my existing 870 20ga. I have no reservations about 20ga slugs on deer, but what about turkey/coyotes? I'd like to carry a shotgun for wooded area coyote hunts, it makes more sense than a rifle in most of those situations. Would a decent turkey choke for the 20ga and a heavy load like the tungsten TSS be plenty for turkey/coyote? For less than a new 12ga setup, I could pick up a new slug barrel and choke for my 20ga 870. I'd probably also upgrade the existing wood stock to a synthetic and still come in under the cost of a new gun.

Any thoughts on 20ga for turkey/coyote here in Ohio?

 

[giles]

Sounds to me like you answered your question in your question. Rifles barrel and scope for the 20. Dedicated deer gun. Buy a 12 for turkeys, coyotes, waterfowl. Then you have all areas covered.

Although, you might be able to get yourself into a single shot rifle (CVA Hunter) in a favorable chamber for less money as a dedicated deer gun. Leave the 20 alone to hand down to your son.

 

[jagermeister]

If you're gonna buy a gun for deer, buy something that shoots straight-walled cartridge ammo and be done with it. With today's ammunition advancements, that 20-gauge is more than capable for turkeys and coyotes alike. Get a good selection of chokes and shoot some high density loads. If a coyote is beyond 60 yards, you're going to wish you were carrying a rifle anyway.

 

[switchhitter]

20ga and TSS is plenty for turkeys with the right choke
I have to friends who used .410’s this year and tagged out
I would think the same would be true for coyotes the right shell and choke combination should be fine
As far as deer hunting goes I shot my last 2 with a .44
If I was going to get a deer gun now it would be the 350 legend my brother and nephews went to them this year the accuracy was great with no recoil


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[Fletch]

20 is plenty for turkeys, esp. in the spring when your calling them in and the fun is getting them in close... The older Remington 870's are way better than today's Remington's so hang on to the one you got... As Jagermeister said get yourself a straight-walled rifle for deer...

 

[Hedgelj]

I knocked a coyote down at 50 yards with a turkey choke and winchester xxx #5s this spring. I'm comfortable shooting at turkeys out to 40 yards with that same combo and have patterned it to know this. I missed one at 45 yards this spring. At 25 and 30 yards it flopped my previous two birds (struck out this year).

I've only ever hunted with a 20 gauge when I've carried a shotgun for deer. Using the correct slugs and knowing your gun it'll do it out to >100 yards.

Honestly though here's a suggestion. Upgrade your shotgun how you want it for shotshells for turkeys, coyotes, etc. Then use some money and get one of the straight walled cartridges allowed in Ohio for hunting deer.
(generally) less recoil
better ballistics
ability to reload
cheaper ammo
did i mention another gun? :-D

 

[Hedgelj]

Also with the straight walled cartridges you can get virtually any action type you want from AR15, lever action, bolt, single shot, etc.