Rifle Scopes for Shotguns

[trkynut54]

I've heard of people using regular rifle scopes for their turkey guns. I have a 4 power Bushnell that i'm going to try on my shotgun. Any pros or cons?

[Magnumdood]

That Bushnell 4X should work fine as long as it holds together.  What's it going on?

[Fan Club]

I've used Bushnell rifle scopes on my deer slug shotguns for twenty years without any durability problems. You don't need a special "shotgun" scope, only a scope of lower power magnification.
 
That being said, I've never seen the need for a scope for turkey hunting. I've heard of the occasional case of individual eyesight conditions not being able to focus with front and rear sights. Other than that there is just too much downside. Scope can fog up. Rain. Mud. Red Dot battery can go dead. Scope eye. Near field objects disappear in a scope....like branches or other turkeys.
 
I want to see everything that is going on around me, including other turkeys and their body language and posturing. Not easy to do that when peering at a single bird's head through a tube. Give me some metal fiber optics sights and I'll be good 'til the end of my days.

[wisturkeyhunter]

Cons
 
hang up on brush and make noise when trying to reposition on a gobbling bird
 
bird unexpectingly shows it self at 15 yards because you are set up in this cover you might have trouble finding its head fast enough
 
mess with the feel and balance a shotgun should have
 
weight if you have to cover ground to find a gobbling bird
 
dependability nothing beats a bead there
 
could bust you open if you shoot from a wierd postion your not use to
 
I'm sure there more
 
pros
work better shooting targets off a bench
 
 
 

[trkynut54]

ORIGINAL: Magnumdood

That Bushnell 4X should work fine as long as it holds together.  What's it going on?

835 Ulti Mag but with 3" shells, not 3 1/2 inch

[trkyklr]

stick with your beads...scopes dont go on shotguns

[Magnumdood]

Don't worry about these guys; they know a ton about calling and shooting...and not just turkeys.

But...there's a few things I, and a lot of other turkey hunters disagree with them on.  If you don't hunt like them you're going to catch grief, that's all there is to it. 

One of those points of contention is scopes on turkey guns.  With today's super-tight turkey chokes and ever-evolving tight-shooting shot, a scope is a necessity close in.  You're as likely as not to miss that bird that unexpectedly shows it self at 15 yards because your shot column hasn't expanded much at all at that distance.   You might whiff a shot right by the turkey because you slightly misaligned the beads.  I haven't yet read of a turkey that died from a loud miss.

I will say I think you need a scope that has the capability of 1X to 1.5X magnification, be it fixed or the lower end of a variable scope.  A scope will often show you things you might miss with the naked eye such as tree limbs, small saplings, etc.  A 4X scope might cause you some problems up close unless you are really used to using it and finding game up close with it.  I hunt with a Variable 1.5-6X and keep it on 1.5X.  I have a Leupold Prismatic Fixed 1X scope on my daughter's 20 gauge.  Looking through it makes you envious that you can't see that clearly all the time.

If you can't afford a variable what a lot of turkey hunters (who use optics) use is the Simmons 2x32 ProDiamond reticle.  When the bird's head fits in the diamond reticle, he is approximately 40 yards from you.

***I just checked and Simmons no longer makes the 2X32 ProDiamond shotgun/muzzle loader scope.  They offer the ProDiamond line in 1.5-5X32 and 4X32.

[trkynut54]

Right now I don't have the funds for a scope. That's why I though about using the Bushnell. But on the other hand I have a buddy that will let me use a Red Dot Scope for the season. It's a good one too, I used it last year on my wifes' 20ga. but took it off. It's a Bushnell too.

[trkyklr]

you'll cuss those scopes one day...i know i did  [:@]

[Fan Club]

> a lot of turkey hunters (who use optics) use is the Simmons 2x32 ProDiamond reticle.  When the bird's head fits in the diamond reticle, he is approximately 40 yards from you.<

I was going to bring up this point in an earlier post but didn't have time. I got a chuckle out of that when Simmons started using it as a selling point for "turkey" scopes. If a hunter's range estimation is so inept that he needs a scope to determine if a bird in range, he needs to go to the range! How do you even know your gun is good out to forty yards unless you practice shooting and get a feel for measured distances? I'll also point out that bird's head will fit in the diamond reticle at 60 yards too, it just won't completely fill it. Too much technology and extra thinking and not enough instinct for me. Then again I'm a bowhunter, so Range Estimation 101 was a required course long ago.
 
> stick with your beads...scopes dont go on shotguns.<
 
I agree with that for all standard shotgun hunting applications, i.e.; waterfowling, upland birds, rabbits and turkeys. The lone exception would be shotgun deer hunting. The evolution of the rifled barrel and sabots have made modern shotguns accurate to well over 100 yards. At that range a bead covers the deer's entire body, so a scope is required to make ethical shots and kills. I know we're talkin' turkey here, so that is just a side note.