I volunteered to call and guide for a boy on a youth turkey hunt.
Problem: Age somewhere between 9 and 17,may or may not have ever handled/fired a gun, may or may not have his own gun.. Kid will be exposed to firearms and shoot a target to "pattern" the firearm he will use.
I have a "loner" 12 ga, Winchester Mod. 12 and a Browning BPS 20 ga.
Assuming the worst, I expect to be paired with a 9 year old who has never handled a firearm. I am thinking the 20 ga with #4 shot for turkeys. What say you?

Have watched gobblers fold up fron 20 guage at 40 yatds from a load of heavy shot and factory remington 870 full choke

For the younger kids the 20 is the ticket, but some older youth hunters are beefy enough to handle the 12.

I don't have a 20 and last year on a youth hunt I did not get paired up until after the patterning session, so I was not 100% familiar with the gun he was using. He did fine with it, but I would have prefered to guide with my own loaner unless the kiddo had his own. Considering picking up a youth 20 just for that reason.

You going on the hunt with TJACK out by Brackett for the opener, or is this a different hunt?

Its the youth hunt in Brackettville..

B.B.

The first Turkey I ever took was with a SKB 20ga with #4 Buck. Worked well then. Just get them in close. And remember...its about the hunt. If he doesn't get a bird, I will bet he never forgets the hunt! Sounds like a lot of fun.

Good look forward to seeing you and Scoop at the hunt. The kids on this hunt are going to be of different levels with their guns, some a lot more familiar than others. I would say bring along the 20 and if needed it will be used if not then it will remain cased for the hunt.

On the TYHP hunts the youth is only given one shell at a time so single shots work fine for them, if a pump or auto loader it will be used as a single shot for safety reasons. Part of the TYHP rules.

Check out some of the threads from last years hunt for a little more info on the hunt. I think when you leave Bracketville you will be saying you want to do the hunt again.

My son is 10 and is using a 20 gauge Mossberg 500 with the Bantam stock. HEVI-Metal® Turkey will do the trick with it if you think the youth can handle a 3".