Follow the links for targets that can be printed from your computer.  Please remember to always wear both hearing and eye protection when discharging a firearm.  Also be aware of everything that lies beyond your target.

Shotgun Patterning for Turkey-          Turkey Target

Begin by taping your target to a box or large piece of cardboard (4ft. x 4ft.) so that the entire pattern may be seen.  Then use a range-finder or pace off approximately forty yards from the target.  If possible, shoot from a solid rest while aiming just below the head into the neck area.

In the past, most of us were taught to shoot for the head but this is not the best method.  When shooting directly at the head, half of your shot is above it.  Shoot for the neck and you'll place many more shot in the kill zone.

Don't be afraid to spend a little extra and try different loads from various manufacturers to see which one performs best with your shotgun/choke combination.  After finding the one that puts the most pellets in the kill zone, try it at both fifteen and thirty yards to see how your gun shoots closer in.

With the introduction of the twelve gauge, three and a half inch shotshell some years back, thousands of turkey hunters have blindly taken to them with the idea that they are automatically superior to the old three inch loads.  Do yourself a favor and try some of both to see how they pattern in your gun.  The "old standby" three inch may outperform that longer, shoulder busting three and a half.  In fact, I've seen a number of twenty gauge guns that, with the right choke and shell, are better "gobbler getters" than many twelve gauge shotguns loaded with three and a halfs.

Sighting in Your Rifle-          Rifle Target

Before attempting to sight in your rifle, have your favorite gun shop/hunting store bore-sight your scope.  This will save you a lot of money on ammo and keep you from overheating your barrel which robs your gun of accuracy until it has cooled down.

After this has been done, place your target at a comfortable height with a safe "backstop."  This can be as simple as a large dirt mound or a hill.

Using a range-finder, take your first two shots from a solid rest at twenty-five to fifty yards and make adjustments as needed to put your mark dead on.  (If you don't get a tight group with the first two shots, odds are your rest is not steady enough.)

Next, move back to one hundred yards and shoot again.  Make your next adjustments to sight in your rifle at your desired placement on the target.

Many hunters sight in their rifles to be "dead on" at one hundred yards while others, including myself, like to be somewhere between one to two inches high depending on the caliber.  The purpose behind this way of thinking is to split the difference between the point of impact at a hundred yards and the amount of drop in bullet trajectory at two hundred.