# Muzzleloader for turkey - gun/bullet thoughts



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Im in ohio. I think I’ve decided to add a muzzleloader to my arsenal. The property im hunting is 300 acres or 700 acres if the property owner hunts his business partners next door. Alot of open corn field. And i noticed this year walking deep into the woods a disgusting amount of turkey.

I never wanted a muzzleloader because it punches such huge holes in animals and id like some meat recovery. Seeing the backs blown out of deer looked like something out of natural fawn killers. I hunt for fun but wouldnt mind some turkey marinated in italian dressing. Mmm

Muzzleloader seems to fit all my criteria. 200 yard gun. Accurate. Can kill deer or coyote. Hopefully turkey with the right bullet set up.

Someone told me smoothbore is less destructive to the meat than than rifled. But this question is out of my league. Im not familiar with muzzleloaders.


----------



## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

??????
I've killed a few turkeys with a muzzleloading shotgun-- my favorite load is 1-3/8 or 1 1/2 oz of # 5 shot, I'm Good to 35--40 yrds-- 200 would be quit A stretch for me 
I probably won't be hunting turkey and with a muzzle-loading rifle ( in Ohio ?) 
Good luck


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

I take it it must be illegal to shoot turkey with a muzzleloading rifle. I’ve never hunted turkey before. I know i can shoot coyote with whatever gun i please. If i get on some coyote odds are ill be on some turkey. 

I want a longer distance gun for coyote. Just wondering if there’s a longer distance muzzleloader/bullet for both?


----------



## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

For those disgusting turkey I would go with a 50 caliber 400 grain all lead bullet. Only shoot them in the head. You don't want to blow their whole back off like all the deer that get shot with the wicked muzzleloader. Upon buying such an evil weapon grab a copy of the hunting rules for Ohio.


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Ok bobk, what is ur favorite muzzleloader? 

Some people have told me to shoot them in the head/neck. Opposite of deer.


----------



## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

*SEASON* *ALLOWABLE TURKEY HUNTING EQUIPMENT*
Fall and Spring Wild Turkey Seasons
*Shotgun: 10 gauge or smaller shotgun using shot, includes muzzleloading shotguns.
Longbow or bow*: Minimum draw weight 40 pounds. This includes compound bows and recurve bows. The arrow tip needs to have a minimum of two cutting edges which may be exposed or unexposed, and a minimum 3/4-inch width. Expandable and mechanical broadheads are legal.
*Crossbow*: Minimum draw weight 75 pounds. The arrow tip needs to have a minimum of two cutting edges which may be exposed or unexposed, and a minimum 3/4-inch width. Expandable and mechanical broadheads are legal.

A good flat shooting rifle might be your best choice for coyote if your really interested in long range work.
Check the ballistics on something from . 223 up to even the. 243 or even the 25/06 with good optics.
Good luck on the coyote hunt


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

garhtr said:


> *SEASON* *ALLOWABLE TURKEY HUNTING EQUIPMENT*
> Fall and Spring Wild Turkey Seasons
> *Shotgun: 10 gauge or smaller shotgun using shot, includes muzzleloading shotguns.
> Longbow or bow*: Minimum draw weight 40 pounds. This includes compound bows and recurve bows. The arrow tip needs to have a minimum of two cutting edges which may be exposed or unexposed, and a minimum 3/4-inch width. Expandable and mechanical broadheads are legal.
> ...


i guess that pretty much answers his question. i once had a double barrel 12 ga that i had to use for deer hunting while waiting on them to ship my 50 cal barrel. shot a nice buck at 52 yrds with a 690 round ball and 90 grns of black powder.
sherman


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Some people told me if you want a coyote gun and a turkey you can carry your turkey gun and use your ccw to carry a hand gun for the coyote. Said there is no such thing as a 200 yard turkey shot in ohio. 

Ive heard of people shooting turkey with .22 but it must be out of state.


----------



## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

garhtr said:


> *SEASON* *ALLOWABLE TURKEY HUNTING EQUIPMENT*
> Fall and Spring Wild Turkey Seasons
> *Shotgun: 10 gauge or smaller shotgun using shot, includes muzzleloading shotguns.
> Longbow or bow*: Minimum draw weight 40 pounds. This includes compound bows and recurve bows. The arrow tip needs to have a minimum of two cutting edges which may be exposed or unexposed, and a minimum 3/4-inch width. Expandable and mechanical broadheads are legal.
> ...


Don't forget the good old .22-250! One heck of a flat shooting caliber.

To the OP, hunting turkey with a muzzle loading RIFLE is illegal here. PA allows for rifle hunting for turkey in the Fall season, and from what I've seen it's a waste of time! I can't tell you the number of barely alive turkeys my buddy's GSP's have retrieved for us at our game club once pheasant season rolls around! These things have all stunk of decay, and it's just a shame.

If you have an honest to God ML shotgun you load it as follows. Pour your powder down the barrel and seat a "card wad" on top of it. Then, pour in your shot, and seat another card wad on top of it! This keeps your load from running out the end of your barrel if you happen to tilt it downwards!

I don't think Ohio is all that picky, but in the Spring gobbler season PA allows a maximum shot size of 4. I use 5's myself.


----------



## Tinknocker1 (May 13, 2013)

Chuck Norris would prolly just give that ol'turkey a judy chop !


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

Tinknocker1 said:


> Chuck Norris would prolly just give that ol'turkey a judy chop !


yep and van damme could just swoon them to death, LOL.
sherman


----------



## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

hailtothethief said:


> Some people told me if you want a coyote gun and a turkey you can carry your turkey gun and use your ccw to carry a hand gun for the coyote. Said there is no such thing as a 200 yard turkey shot in ohio.
> 
> Ive heard of people shooting turkey with .22 but it must be out of state.


You can't use a CCW to hunt with.


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

This has to be some sort of trolling, right?


----------



## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

M.Magis said:


> This has to be some sort of trolling, right?


 I'm hopeful !


----------



## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

M.Magis said:


> This has to be some sort of trolling, right?


yep


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Muddy said:


> You can't use a CCW to hunt with.


Ive seen people carry side arms hunting. I probably would have tried it if noone said anything. I’ll ask the game warden for confirmation. Thanks for telling me.
-
And im not trolling. Its my thread. If you dont want to help then dont post. I dont care if it’s the dumbest question ever asked on the forum. If it makes me a better hunter then i’ll ask away. Trying to mislead me saying to use a big lead shot for turkey was dirty. 

I didnt happen to see what caliber or what gun to use in the hunting manual.


----------



## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

You can carry concealed while hunting(assuming you have a carry permit), you just can't use your concealed weapon to pursue game. Did you take the hunter safety course?


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Yes, i’ve had my ccw and taken hunting safety courses. Not that it helped.


----------



## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

For Spring turkey hunting. I would carry a 50 cal ml loaded with #5 shot for turkey and short range yotes.
A 22-250 rifle for long range yotes.
A 500 S&W revolver carried in a shoulder holster loaded with flat metplat bullets in case you run across a hog.
Two pearl handled 45's concealed carried super tuck fashion in case you run into terrorist that want to steal your arsenal.

For Fall turkey, the same only add a 22 rifle for squirrel.


----------



## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

A turkey load and extra full choke will take care of coyotes just fine. This one thought that he was going to have a turkey for breakfast.


----------



## Tinknocker1 (May 13, 2013)

i think good calling and decoy placement is the key to getting long beards close ......


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Im aware turkey loads can kill coyote. But they are short shots. coyote i generally come up on further away. So while a turkey load will kill a coyote short range, the coyotes at a distance have an advantage because ohio laws dictate short range weapons. I just wish ohio would change the laws so ohio hunters could get their turkey and lay waste to as many coyote as they see in the process.


----------



## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Tinknocker1 said:


> i think good calling and decoy placement is the key to getting long beards close ......
> View attachment 253081


Yes...bringing cows to use as decoys is an absolute must. Three has always seemed to be the magic numbers for some reason.


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

hailtothethief said:


> Ive seen people carry side arms hunting. I probably would have tried it if noone said anything. I’ll ask the game warden for confirmation. Thanks for telling me.
> -
> And im not trolling. Its my thread. If you dont want to help then dont post. I dont care if it’s the dumbest question ever asked on the forum. If it makes me a better hunter then i’ll ask away. Trying to mislead me saying to use a big lead shot for turkey was dirty.
> 
> I didnt happen to see what caliber or what gun to use in the hunting manual.


you are absolutely right, you can ask any question you want here on ogf. but you'll most likely get a few that just don't get the fact that your asking for help. the only dumb question is the one not asked.
sherman


----------



## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

If you want to kill coyotes so bad, you should be out hunting them right now. The next several months are the best for killing coyotes. They are hungry and it's breeding season. Plus, that way you can carry whatever weapons that your heart desires.


----------



## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Its ice fishing season now. I’ve been reading about the air bow. Can kill game out to 90 yards. That’s a little more reasonable. Ohio may make them legal for game next year is what my game warden says. Can shoot coyote with them now.

I’ve also been looking into the tc encore interchangable. Its expensive like 1500. My friend has one with the bull barrel and a bunch of other centerfire barrels and he’s killed game out to 300 and 345 yards. Says its the best gun hes owned. Can shoot same hole and make it bigger. He’s got an expensive nikon scope on it.

Only thing i dont like is there’s no .22 barrels for centerfire.


----------



## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

many laugh at this thread...but "any muzzleloading firearm" is legal for turkey in georgia! (where im at now) depending on how many wild hogs i see while sitting for turkey, the smoke pole may come out instead a few times. inside of 10 yards with the shotgun on the other hand...ill take the head shot and settle for a thanksgiving ham no problem.


----------

