Too small for turkey?

I'm nowhere near an establishment that sells ammo and have the opportunity to hunt some turkey in the morning. I have a box of 12ga 2 3/4" 7 1/2 shot 1 1/8oz shells in the pickup. I do have a super full choke that I can throw on. Too small or will that work if I get close enough?

Never too small, but pick your shots and distance carefully. Proper pattern control is a key to shooting where you're looking. A friend just completed his sixth Grand Slam of the year with a 410!!!!

Too small for turkey hunting seems to be the trendy thing these days. I expect to see a thread on here some day about shooting them with rat shot in a 22.

Well, either it was my inexperience, an unfamiliar gun/choke, the shells, or a combo of all three, but I shot at two birds and two birds flew away.

All these were killed with 12 gauge Federal Premium 3” number 4’s. None ever took a step after being hit. You can use your own experience to decide on what’s appropriate for turkey. I use what I’ve been using since the first ever spring season in Texas in 1977.

I have a few boxes at home. I'm kicking myself for not being better prepared.

Cool illustrations
Results! Nice!

Good info here thanks for sharing

Wow that’s a lot of beards !

Controlling nest destroying predators such as raccoons, possums and rat snakes pays off. I run 50-60 traps this time of year and my turkey population has grown dramatically. The rat snakes I just kill on sight, but I will figure out a trap for them eventually.

Many sincere Thanks!

I've been trying to do more to help.
Every hunter in the state needs to try to work on reducing varmints, especially those
with feeders that get raked over by the coons. I would have thought after this last
year's corn prices that more people would be trapping coons, but I haven't seen any
increase of people participating. I'll be trying to work on more coyote trapping hopefully

Federal used to sell a turkey load with 7.5s. It was 2oz of hard shot, though, and buffered to help hold the pattern. The general rule is ten pellets in the neck bones or 100 pellets in a 10" circle. I would expect high antimony 7.5s to work to thirty yards. Soft shot not so much.

Turkeys can take a lot of punishment, some time back I was using 6's and this gobbler was at 45 yards. Really too far for 6's but all of sudden he sticks up his neck and I figure I'd been spotted so I shot, the shot hit low, in the chest- I could see the feathers hit and the tom sort of shuttered and then took off running. That was with 6's. Full load right in the chest. So, 7 1/2? way too small. Now I use either 4's or 5's. Also 40 yards or less..

Don't shoot turkey in the chest or body with a shotgun, the best target is the neck and head.

This is for lead shot distances are for enough energy a single shot carries to break a turkey neck:
7 1/2 can work and I know hunters that kill turkeys reliably with them but keep shots inside 30 yards
6 work well to 40 yards but do not stretch further
5 will reliably break a turkey neck at 50+ yards
4 will kill even further than 5s but you have fewer shot in a load.

You want a pattern tight enough to get multiple hits on the neck/head with any of them. Those yardages are what I have seen work reliably and is also from I think an NWTF thing i read years ago before the days of heavy shot and TSS which change the game a lot.

Went to fill feeders this weekend. We were talking about moving a feeder and blind. I kept telling this guy the blind was too close. He said "I don't shoot a bazooka like you do". I carry my son's gun that shoots 3-1/2" magnums. I would use 4 or 6 shot in the longest shell your gun holds.

5s are where its at , good mix of energy and pattern density. I sold many cases of 2oz 7.5s back in the late 90s but it is really a 30 yard gun with shot that small.

where in North Texas are ya? I have some 12 ga 3 inch nitro turkey loads I will let you have. I do most of my turkey hunting with a 20 these days (or a .222 if the opportunity arises!)

ETA OOOPs I just saw the OP was from December

Somebody shoulda told all those turkeys I killed with sixes they weren't supposed to die.

When I use up the last of my Remington 4x6 Duplex loads, I'll be going back to 5s. I wish Remington still made them. I bought 3 boxes years ago and am on the last.

I've shot turkeys with a variety of methods...22mag, 17, bow, crossbow, and shotgun. I am always amazed at how tough they are and need a bit of umph to get a DRT shot. Neck with 4 or 5s is best bet. Would be nervous with 6+ ... not saying it won't work, but needs to be closer in for sure. I got a tom on Sunday that was a hoss...#4 at 30yrds and neck broke, and it flopped for a minute or so before expiring.

I have killed a ton of them with a 20ga and handload TSS 9s. Have yet to have one take a step. Shot them from 7yds to 63yds as well. TSS was a game changer in the turkey world.

I've had best luck with 3" #4's.