Are tungsten turkey loads worth the money?

[Greybeard]

First off, I'm not an experienced turkey hunter. I've been pricing some turkey loads for a hunt this spring, and holey moley, they are higher than Snoop Dog.
For you folks that have experience, are the tungsten loads really worth it? Also, do I really need a turkey choke instead of my regular full choke?

Thanks!

 

[MNElkNut]

The key word in your question is "worth". Many, many turkeys have fallen to regular turkey lead loads. Having said that, our experience with tungsten is fantastic. Not a one out of the 9-10 we have shot with tungsten has taken a step. IMO that is a statistically significant number, but your opinion may vary. Are they better than lead? I would say in our experience, yes. Especially on longer shots. Do you need it? Absolutely not. It is up to you how much you value better performance.

 

[seeth07]

My opinion on Turkey loads has always been this - you are going to shoot 1 time at a Turkey a year if you have a heavy shot thru a very tight choke. They aren't exactly hard to hit and I feel it is almost impossible to miss one. I'm ok with paying $8 for that single shot knowing its going to drop dead even if its 60 yards away.

 

[Doublecluck]

If you need tungsten to kill a turkey you should work on you ability to hide stay still and call. Spend the money on a quality decoy and box call. I’ve stoned plenty of turkeys at 40-50 with a .410 #5 like 11/16 oz of shot. If a 2.75/3”/3.5” 4/5/6 don’t kill it you probably shouldn’t have been shooting at it. I’ve actually missed quite a few turkeys on the first shot in Montana with “special” turkey loads cause they get in close and between specialized shot, cups and chokes I’m essentially trying to hit it with a slug,

 

[Birdbander]

To answer your question, its subjective. For the setup that I choose to use tungsten is worth the cost. After testing various chokes with lead and TSS, theTSS noticeably outperforms lead holding a tighter pattern farther.

As stated, there's been lots of turkey killed with lead before tungsten made its way onto the scene.

Some gun/choke combos may do better with lead in fact. Test as many different choke & ammo types/sizes as you practically can and base your decision on which to use, and the maximum distance you know that combo to be effective, then stick to it.

 

[np307]

For me, being able to downsize my gun and still be comfortable at 40, even 50 if I misjudge, is well worth it to me. Im personally not a fan of the 3.5" 12 ga loads that people are blasting birds at 100 yards with.

Lead will kill them just fine though.

One note about chokes, tss doesn't usually like an overly restrictive choke. Definitely not the super tight turkey chokes of days gone by.

 

[TheTone]

I’ve shot of bunch of them with pheasant loads, so in my opinion no. Vast majority of mine have been shot inside 20 yards.

 

[NoWiser]

I wouldn’t spend the money on TSS if I still used my 12 gauge, but I like it out of my 20 gauge and .410. I can’t remember shooting more than 1 shot per year so cost isn’t an issue. They shoot great out of a factory choke tube, so no need to buy a turkey choke, which provides some savings. Absolutely not necessary, though.

I’ll say this. If I’m ever hunting public land, I hope the other hunters aren’t using it. As deadly as it is on turkeys, I think it’s probably significantly more dangerous in the hands of a reckless turkey hunter.