Shotgun shooting tips

Turkey hunters using a shotgun face a very small target – the head and neck of a turkey. Combine that with today’s specialized turkey loads shooting very tight patterns, and making a clean kill shot might depend on a steady shooting rest.

Turkeys are nervous-looking birds that seem to never stop moving. Because of their monocular vision and eyes set on the side of their skull, turkeys are often moving and bobbing their heads to try to decipher what they’re seeing.

Consider a shooting rest

If you’ve got your gun in a ready position, and are waiting for a turkey to stop moving before you take a shot, you’ll appreciate having a steady shooting rest to help bear the weight of the gun.

Being able to support the gun in a ready position, or close to, will also minimize movement that could spook a bird.

Kinds of shooting rests for the open

If you’ve set up in front of a wide tree, you can use your knee or a pad on your knee as a gun rest. If you’ve placed your decoy 20-25 yards from your position, you should be able to predict what direction the turkey will be coming from.

Depending on the lay of the land, you may need to hunker down and lower your head to make the shot while the gun is resting on your knee. If you need to sit upright and have to lift the gun off your knee to shoot, wait until the tom’s head is out if sight, ideally behind its fanned out tail as it’s strutting by the decoy, before lifting your gun to a ready position.

Resting both elbows on both knees is stable and comfortable, but it’s hard to maintain this position and sit absolutely still.

A bipod shooting rest is another good option. Adjust the bipod to it’s the proper height for where the potential shot will come. Position the legs of the bipod ahead of the fulcrum, so the bipod actually pushes the resting shotgun toward you; this will prevent slipping and minimize gun movement.

Finally, be sure the bipod is camouflaged, as turkeys see in color.

Tripod sticks for a ground blind

If you’re hunting from a ground blind with a shotgun, consider a tripod shooting stick. A tripod shooting stick can stand on its own, so when a turkey approaches, all you have to do is put the gun on the rest and you’re ready to shoot. Some tripods are designed to hold the entire shotgun, which can help you position the gun and eliminate movement.

Be sure to get your gun in the ready position as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the closer a turkey gets and the more likely it will sense your movement, even in a blind.

Before hunting with any shooting rest, practice with it first. Know how your shooting rest works and how to adjust it. Shoot off your rest from a variety of positions, including from inside a blind.