A Tale of Two Turkey Guns

When it comes to turkey grand slams, I guess I’ve done things a little out of order. I’d killed several Easterns over the years, picked up a Rio in Oklahoma, bagged a Merriam’s in Montana and then headed to Sonora, Mexico, for my Gould’s. Although that was four turkeys, it wasn’t technically a slam of any kind, as I lacked the Osceola. Most hunters would have knocked that off the list before making the trek to Mexico — especially since I only live a few hours from Osceola territory — but what can I say? Out of order.

Thankfully, I got a chance to line things up and complete two slams at once — my Grand Slam and my Royal Slam — this past spring on a trip to the Gainesville area, hunting with Tall Tine Outfitters. And even better, I’d be hunting with two friends, Linda and Kristin, with whom I’d chased Gould’s a couple of seasons before, as well as my boss, Derrick, and a couple of folks I didn’t yet know. The hunt was sponsored by Mossberg, and we were given the option to choose which gun we wanted to hunt with. Interestingly, most of us chose different firearms.

Though I’d had success with the Mossberg International SA-28 (a semiauto 28-gauge) on my Gould’s, I wanted maximum firepower on this trip, so I knew a 12-gauge was in order. Given the beating today’s very effective but hard-hitting TSS loads can dish out, a semiauto seemed prudent, so I opted for the 940 Pro Turkey in 12-gauge. It’s optics-ready, and mine was equipped with a Holosun red-dot optic.

Derrick, on the other hand, wanted to try something different, and he picked the Mossberg International Silver Reserve Eventide Turkey — a 3 1/2-inch 12-gauge over-and-under with 20-inch barrels. Mossberg mounted a Holosun red-dot on it for him as well. Kristin wanted to give a sub-gauge a try for turkeys, so she went with the same over-and-under but in 28-gauge, and she opted to use the fiber-optic sights that came on the gun.

We sighted in with our Apex Ammunition and anxiously awaited the early morning wakeup.

The Hunt

“We often double here,” outfitter Ted Jaycox told us in the pre-dawn hours on opening morning. “But don’t try to shoot at the same time. Decide right now which one of you is going to shoot first, and if multiple birds come in, let the shooter take their bird and then just wait a second for the other birds to settle down and get still again, because they almost always will. Your guide will tell you when the second shooter can shoot their bird.” It sounded easy enough.

Kristin and I flipped a coin and determined that she’d be the first shooter, and we soon found ourselves tucked into a ground blind with our guide, Sam, she with her 28-gauge over-and-under and I with my 12-gauge semi. Our blind overlooked a small clearing that wasn’t more than 20 yards across and a wide, open path that stretched a hundred yards or so ahead of us to a larger clearing. We spent the first hour watching a tall, skinny bird (I later found out Osceolas have longer legs than Easterns) hang up in that far clearing, uninterested in our decoy setup. “When they come,” Sam whispered, “they’ll probably come down that road. Don’t shoot until I say so.”

That was easier said than done when at least three gobblers sounded off to our right and, to our surprise, came straight into the small clearing 15 yards away rather than coming down the road. They headed straight for the decoys, but a quick poke around made them suspicious, and they turned back around and started working their way back to the woods, neatly lined up in a row, heads suddenly blazing red. I settled my red dot on the turkey in the back and followed him until Sam hissed “shoot!” and the lead turkey dropped at Kristin’s shot. The other two turkeys jumped in the air and then settled immediately where they’d landed, standing around as if nothing had happened. I watched my red dot on the rear gobbler’s head for what felt like ages and finally determined I was about to shoot with or without the guide’s permission when I finally got the call “shoot the rear bird.”

And that’s how two hunting friends completed their Grand Slams and Royal Slams within a few seconds of each other, using two really different but equally effective shotguns. We were back at the barn taking pictures by mid-morning and were soon joined by Linda and her hunting partner, Drew, who had pulled off a double of their own.

Meanwhile, Derrick had to sit another afternoon and morning before he bagged his bird, but when the opportunity finally came, he made the most of it, and his over-and-under got the job done handily.

The Guns

Mossberg’s had a huge success with their 940 line since introducing it several years ago, and each year brings more models and line extensions. The 940 Pro Turkey has been an excellent addition to the lineup, bringing an updated, cleaner-running gas vent system to the table to allow for reliable cycling. The self-draining stock sports a camo finish and is adjustable for drop, cast and length of pull. The receiver is drilled and tapped and optics-ready, using the Shield RMSc footprint, and Mossberg sells a model that includes a Holosun red-dot already mounted. It’s got a 3-inch chamber and an 18.5-inch barrel with a vent rib, and it comes with an X-Factor XX-Full turkey choke tube.

I’m not going to lie to you — sighting in with Apex TSS loads was still a bone-shaking experience, but I was very grateful I’d gone with a semiauto for its inherent recoil reduction. I also found the enlarged loading port handy, and the fact that it’s optics-ready means that if your customer selects the plain model, they can direct-mount a red-dot with a low profile, giving them optimal eye alignment without having to raise the comb to accommodate a high-sitting optic. MSRP is $1,260; $1,441 with the pre-mounted optic included. Many if not most of your customers are going to want a red-dot on their turkey gun these days, and with optic footprints being a bit complicated for anyone who’s not familiar with them, I’d strongly recommend stocking the 940 Pro Turkey with the pre-mounted Holosun. This is a modern, almost high-tech turkey gun with all the bells and whistles and the justifiable price tag to match.

On the other hand, hunters who want a more stripped-down experience might flock to the Silver Reserve Eventide Turkey over-and-under. There’s not much to go wrong on an over-and-under, and these guns are reliable, durable and affordable, with an MSRP of $952. The Silver Reserve Eventide features extractors, a tang-mounted safety and barrel selector, dual locking lugs, and corrosion-resistant chrome-lined barrels and chambers. With 20-inch barrels, the gun still managed to come in at just 6.5 pounds, and the barrels are short enough to keep it easy to maneuver and even break open in the confines of a crowded blind.

“I really liked the length and weight of the over-and-under,” Derrick told me, “and even though it was a modern version, it felt like I was using a firearm that was more traditional in some ways. To me it creates a situation where you really feel like you’ve got one shot to get it done, even though you have two shells chambered. There’s no chance for a third, and I liked the mental challenge and the focus that came from that ‘get it right the first time’ feeling in the back of my mind.”

That traditional styling is a major selling point for a certain segment of the hunting population. There’s just something classic about a break-action double gun, and they’ve been regaining popularity among waterfowlers in recent years, too. Stocking a traditional gun with a modern twist like this one might be a smart business move.

One of the major advantages of an over-and-under for turkeys is that you can choke your two barrels differently — one tight choke for way-out-there birds and one more open for the in-your-face kind of action we saw in Florida. The Mossberg International Silver Reserve Eventide Turkey comes with three chokes: Two XX-Full and one Improved Cylinder, so your customers can set up their choke constrictions according to how they hunt. No one ended up needing a second shot on our hunt, but I know from previous hunts how incredibly handy it is to be able to change your choke constriction with the flick of the selector when the situation changes in an instant.

It ended up being a very memorable week in Florida, when old-school (break-actions) met new-school (semiauto) to seal a couple of Royal Slams. It’s worth noting that like our hunting party, your turkey-hunting clients likely span the gamut of tastes and preferences, and if you’ve only been stocking one standard type of turkey gun, you’re missing out on catering to the nation’s die-hard turkey hunters who might want something a little higher tech, like the 940 Pro turkey, or a little more traditional, like the Silver Reserve Eventide Turkey. If the question is which one to stock, the answer is both.