...a freakin' turkey!! Man does my Mossberg 835 have some recoil!!

Monday AM I was hunting a brand new area for the "incredibly smarter than me" wild turkey. Trecked in way before light, set up in an area that looked to be promising and started waiting. After about 15 minutes the toms started hammering. There were at least three about 150yds behind me, along the edge of another field. Each time one would gobble, the others would sound off in sequence. Pretty cool!

Anyhoo...about 45 minutes after light I had three birds come in silent...the other three were still gobbling. The first two came in opposite of where I expected so I had no shot...they were 3-4yr old birds. Finally another came in behind but I was ready. When he made his way around the back side of an apple tree, he was greeted with a load of 3.5" Federal #5 (w/ Flite Control wad) at about 47yds. Laid him out cold!! I love the FCW loads...patterns are amazing. He was a short bearded bird, about 20# but had a good start on spurs...close to 5/8"...so I'm not sure...maybe 2yrs old?

Well...most guys shoot their shotguns with the beads or shotguns optics. Not me...mine's wearing a 3-9X rifle scope!! Sorry...I like big optics!! I even have a slip on recoil pad over the factory pad to make the LOP longer and keep me back from the scope...guess it only works when I remember to keep my head back. The scope was set on three but I crawled a little too close and got busted in the nose...no blood but my eyes were watering for about 5 mintes after the shot and the bridge of my nose is bruised!! Two days later and it's still mighty tender!! But those turkey breasts will be awesome on the grill at our Memorial Day party!!

Dan, Good job on the turkey. Yes those 3 1/2" have some recoil, don't they? I have the same shotgun you do minus scope and to me , it recoils more than my Ruger #1 458 Lott.

I've heard that the 835's are just plain brutal even when compared to other 3.5" guns. I would not know...never fired another 3.5"er. I fire it twice a year...once to check zero and once...and hopefully I connect and don't have to shoot again...on a turkey.

And here we worry more about high magnification rifle scopes on specialty handguns
Congrats on the turk!

Congrates on the turkey and sorry about the nose. Did we learn a lesson?

Doubt it.

It bloodied my nose three seasons ago. It barely touched my nose two seasons ago. And last year I never pulled the trigger on it.

Been there!

dont get mad but that is funny but i wont haha to much i have
a scope scar so i know it waters the eyes and say things you
want no one to hear.
larry

Hey bud, how about a scope with a little more eye relief?

I have the same gun and put the Limb Saver pad on it. It seems to help a little. 3 1/2 are brutal no matter what though. I got out for the first time the other day. Because of midnights I did not get into the woods and set up until 8:00 AM. 5 Minutes after the first call here's what I got. 3 came in and he was doing all the strutting. I used 3 1/2" hevi shot #5's. I have a red dot on mine. beard 10 7/16, spurs 1 3/16 each. 19 1/2 lbs.

XP...why spend more money on something I only fire twice a year?? Just need to learn to shoot it...but after four seasons I have not learned yet!! It is a turkey killing hammer though.

MIH...I got a bruiser two years ago. I'll post a pick of this years bird tomorrow...you'll notice a striking similarity to your picture. As for the gun...I have two pads and a ported choke tube...still nasty wicked!!

Dan B.:

Take a look at this new sight from Burris. I think your nose would like it better.

http://www.burrisoptics.com/fastfire.html

leverman

I feel for you, a few years ago I had a crow land in a tree about 200 feet up. I made the shot at a very steep angle with a Remington 700 Classic in 375H&H, I managed to break my nose. The only other times I've been hit were both by my 300RUM and both left nice gashes on my nose and forehead. My 458Lott and 375 Rum never did get me. My BFR in 45/70 came loose and cracked my cheek bone and later I lost my grip on one of my 475s and lost a tooth for my trouble there.

I expected that type of response from you-I would likely say about the same thing

I had a buddy of mine at the range back in January. He had just bought his first rifle, a M70 30-06. I tried to talk him out of it since he had never fired anything bigger than our M-16. Well, he crawled the stock and before me or our other buddy could open our mouths. He self critiqued. It was a real pretty deep purple. I've had a hell of time trying to break that flinch. We've been to the range at our FOB at least twice a week since we been here. I still see him catch himself starting to yank the trigger.

Man I have gotten off easy. I was shooting my .375 H&H mag Win.mod.70 and I just mangled my glasses a couple of times and made my eye brow area real sore. Maybe safety glasses do help. LOL

Sounds like Fight Club, or a UFC match! And I was getting ready to whine about the scope cover on my 300 having just the right angle to open up the bridge of my nose if I'm not careful...I'll stick with the little cartridges, like 454 and 460!

Congrats on leveling ole tommy three toes...Those scopes do tend to bite when shooting those full house shells...

Congratulations on the bird.

The first time I shot 3.5 in my 835 I thought I was shooting a auto. The recoil shucked the shell and the forward motion put another round in the tube. That didn’t give me worm fuzzes.

Sounds like you need to find a way to put a Burris LER pistol scope on your shot gun!!

Congrats on the bird. 835's are brutal. I shot one with 3.5's for ducks one season and discovered they didnt die any deader than with 3" loads.

Can you set that gun up with a scout scope setup? Just kidding...