slickbricky

Illinois has lots of good public ground too, mostly in the southern 1/4 of the state. Thankfully the turkeys have made a nice comeback over the last 20 years and dipersed to the north, taking a lot of hunters with them. Makes for a little more elbow room. Hats off to the IL DNR, by the way. They do a heck of a job. (I had to edit this. Guess you have to say "heck")

I think NK may have been referring to me. Union county, Trail of Tears State Forest. It's rough terrain but I like it because it keeps the competition away. Lots of birds if a guy is willing to put in a few miles. I'll be calling for my niece in St. Clair. 120 acres of paradise that I can't hunt, just "guide". Just as much fun, really. You hunt in IL?

Thanks for all of the opinions/suggestions. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post in a couple of months.

I wouldn't carry that thing around in my front pocket.

Any opinions on using the factory full choke in a SBEII for turkeys? I'm bringing this up for a few reasons. First, I already have an 870 that is dialed in for turkeys, and don't have the cash to start experimenting with load/choke combos for my new SBEII. But I really want to use it this spring. I won it, couldn't afford to buy it. Second, I called in a jake for my niece last spring and she dropped him at 18 yards with a full choked 20 ga./ 3" #6's. I also ran into a guy while hunting last spring who was using an old Browning A-5 20 ga. He said he had killed half a dozen birds with it and really enjoyed the challenge of getting them in close. I have those same feelings. Having worked in archery shop a few years back, the whole choke/load combo experimentation kind of reminds me of the guys who used to come in absolutely obsessed with arrow speed. It is nice, but not necessary. More important are woodsmanship and shot placement. Anyway, just wondered if anyone had used or considered using Their full choke for toms.

I've shot 3.5" loads out an 870 and my new SBEII. They definitely get your attention. I do agree with the theory/opinion that shooting at a live target reduces the perceived recoil. Why is this? I don't know. Inversely, shooting at a paper target with turkey loads or slugs (what evil genius invented 3" slugs, anyway?) seems to magnifiy recoil, to me anyway. The high brass field loads kicked a lot less out of the SBEII than the 870 and I was able to re-acquire the target quicker. In my opinion, 3.5" shells are going thump you pretty good no matter what gun you are shooting. But, if you are killing ducks, who cares?

I used to buy every new whiz bang gadget that came out to get that little extra edge. Years of experience lead me to believe that simple is good and no amount of technology will ever take the place of woodsmanship. I use white out on the factory bead of my shotgun (I am cheap too). The batteries never need replaced and the lens never fogs.

Rain. Getting lost. Mosquitoes. Forgetting to put a shell in the chamber. 20 degrees in April. People who stalk "bearded hens". That's more than one, sorry.

I'll be hunting Illinois and Missouri as well as calling for my brother in law and niece here in IL. She killed a jake last spring and I had more fun calling for her than I do when I shoot a bird. That is one thing I really enjoy about turkey hunting, calling for someone else is just as enjoyable as shooting. My 870 is all dialed in for turkeys, but I won a SBEII in a raffle this past summer (best $50 I ever spent) and am sort of anxious to kill a tom with it. No good reason really, the 870 does just fine. Kid with a new toy syndrome I guess.