I've been deer hunting my whole life but just picked up turkey hinting this past year... Along with that came really shooting a shotgun for the first time. I killed my first bird this year but I also missed two birds this year at 10/15 yards shooting right over them!! *hangs head in shame* ahaha First let me explain what I think happened and then I'd love to get everyone wisdom and opinions... I was using a Remington 1100 with just a bead at the end of the barrel. I think I was trying so hard not to move that I didn't fully get the shotgun shouldered and the bead was in fact ON the birds head but the barrel was slightly angled up causing me to shoot right over the birds heads. << If my assumption is correct and y'all have experienced the same thing, would a TruGlo front and rear dot sight help this??
I have the exact same gun. Remington 1100, 30in Hastings barrel, extra full turkey choke. Did you pattern the gun before going out hunting? I sight by looking down the vent rib and cutting the bead in half then putting it on what I wanna shoot. Check out my shot in photography and videography forum. I bought mine almost 50 yrs ago in Walmart on layaway. 287bucks. Took me forever to pay for it.
Yup! Same gun but it’s full choke.. there’s no adjustable choke for mine. It was my dad’s gun that he’s had since he was 16. So 1976 Rem 1100 - full choke. I hadn’t shot it to figure out how it shot before taking it out.. :-/ I should’ve but I thought it’d be self explanatory. Look down the barrel and shoot ahaha
You could check out the sight below. http://www.deadringerhunting.com/product/beard-buster/ You would still need to pattern the shotgun but that would help to ensure that you are centered and aligned. The simplest approach is a second bead like Sota said.
Most shotguns POA is high. You either need to go with a red dot or a scope or adjust your POA. My boys all have 870s. At close ranges I have them aim at the base of the neck and they have never missed.
Where a shotgun rests against your shoulder greatly affects where the shot hits. A buddy of mine cleanly missed two does inside of 20 yards with a shotgun during a late-season man drive about 15 years ago. We diagnosed his problem and showed him via actual shooting at a spare hat hanging from a branch how and where he should have the butt of that gun on his shoulder. We got his form corrected and he got a deer with that shotgun during the afternoon drives! IMO, a single bead is fine if your form is good.
I have the same gun with one bead too. You just have to make sure the top of the barrel is level so when you look down the rail it's completely level and all you see is the bead. Adding another bead will help with your alignment but you don't have to have it. Put a soda can on a piece of rebar at 20 yards and shoot a few times. If you can hit that, you're good.
Did you "sight in" your shotgun? Shoot at a 3'x3' (or bigger) paper and see how you need to aim - where to put the bead in regards to the barrel/rib and target. Also did you pattern your gun? Different shells shoot very different. Same with chokes. I had some at 30 yards that left places as big as my hand with no BB's. I had one that shot 1' to the left than the others. I did find a load that looked like pegboard at 40 yards....perfect.
