Adequate Pattern?

[hunter177]

I see some guys on this forum and others that give examples of 200-300 pellets in a 20" circle at 40 yards. I shoot a Remington 870 12 ga., Winchester Supreme HV 3", #5 shell with a TruGlo .665 choke. Here's my results with one of the color burst turkey targets:

67 pellets in the head & neck
22 pellets in the vitals
167 total pellets on the 12"X12" target @ 40 yards

My question is, is this adequate for killing a turkey? It's not the numbers some guys report so that's what makes me wonder. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[WillowRidgeCalls]

That is more than adequate . A lot of those high number targets are shot with 7 shot, if your using 5's those are good numbers.

[kenturkey89]

I agree with Scott, those are very good numbers at 40 yards. Any bird that comes within 50 yards of that pattern is going to be in serious trouble![;)]

[hunter177]

Thanks to you both, WillowRidgeCalls and Kenturkey89, I really appreciate the advice. Good luck this spring!!

[allaboutshooting]

It's really all about knowing your gun and how it shoots. A good even pattern is much more important than any particular number in a given size circle. Whenever you can put a good swarm of pellets in the vital areas of a turkey at a range you know and can stay within, you're in business.

A few years ago the 10" circle at 40 yards was adopted by a number of shooters and it has become a standard, mostly for comparison of one pattern to another. I like to see a good "core" 10" pattern and then a good "fringe" 20" pattern. I'm not so much interested in numbers as density.

It sounds like you're ready to go.

Thanks,
Clark