Benelli Nova Setup

[Sea Axe]

This spring will be my first time chasing turkeys.  I am actually new to all hunting and duck hunting this season was my first step into it.  I have a few hunts picked out in SE and NE WA, and most all of my gear already: box call, crow call, hen decoy, camo clothes, camo bag, permethrin, and deet.  Now I'm turning my focus to the siness side of things, my gun.

This year I bought a Benelli Nova 28" in waterfowl camo.  It comes with 3 factory chokes and I am going to pick out a 3.5" shell for turkeys.  I plan to hit the patterning board with my chosen ammo and the factory full choke in the coming weeks, but I have a couple of concerns.  First is that I will have no experience patterning turkey chokes and nothing I can compare my factory choke to.  I won't really know ifnits worth buying an aftermarket choke or not.  What are some clues I should be looking for at the patterning board that would make me realize the factory choke isn't up to snuff?  My second concern is that I had planned to go into the woods this year with just the neon red bead sight that came on the gun, but I'm starting to see lots of information on scoping shotguns for turkey hunting.  I have good eyesight and I can hit clay targets on the move without a sight, so I'm wondering why there are so many options for scoping in a shotgun to aim at a slow moving target at the same distance.  Am i doing a disservice to myself or the birds by not putting a scope on my gun?  If so what is a good place to start that I can add with minimal alteration to the gun.

Finally, I am looking for a camo sling strap for my Nova.  If you have a brand you like let me know!

Thanks in advance for all your help.  Cheers!

[Stein]

I'm a beginner turkey hunter, but you are asking some basic questions so I'll take a stab.

For both ducks and turkey, I haven't seen much, if any, improvement going from factory to expensive choke.  Of course that will depend on the gun,load, etc.

I would start by buying some quality turkey shells (prepare for sticker shock) and go pattern them.  You can print out free 8.5x11 turkey targets which I like because it's easy to see and count the number of pellets in the vitals.

From there, go shoot at yardages you are comfortable with.  The pattern should be very tight with a nice spread within a small circle.  Similar to waterfowl, you want good even coverage within that circle, but a smaller circle than for ducks.

If your bead is aiming point of impact and you can effectively hit the target at distances you are happy with, no need to go any further.  My thought is that sights are for those that either want them, want to shoot accurately farther, don't have a bead or the bead is off and they can't adjust and don't want to hold off for that.

[Henrydog]

A scope in not needed at all in my opinion.  I have killed a fair amount of birds, and being a shotgun with shells only reaching 55-65 yards I have never found myself ever saying I need a scope. 

For patterning a field gun it should shoot "flat" meaning 50% of the pellets about the spot you aimed at 50% lower.   Chokes very in tightness from brand to brand.  The gun should have come with a full choke....that should do the trick.  You can drop money on a "turkey choke" it may or may not be any tighter than the factory tube.    For turkey the  tighter the pattern the better.  That said when my son was young he dropped a huge Rio with a 20ga Mod choke with 3" #4's at 35 yards.

[Yelper Guy]

I've got a Nova also - 28" barrel.
The sling I use is called the claw.

[ian_padron]

I've had the exact opposite experience with factory vs high-end aftermarket chokes.

Dramatic improvements across the board in pattern density with a Remington 887, Winchester SX4, and Franchi Affinity once I swapped to a Kicks High Flyer.

No experience with my Turkey gun however.

I'm a beginner turkey hunter, but you are asking some basic questions so I'll take a stab.

For both ducks and turkey, I haven't seen much, if any, improvement going from factory to expensive choke.  Of course that will depend on the gun,load, etc.

I would start by buying some quality turkey shells (prepare for sticker shock) and go pattern them.  You can print out free 8.5x11 turkey targets which I like because it's easy to see and count the number of pellets in the vitals.

From there, go shoot at yardages you are comfortable with.  The pattern should be very tight with a nice spread within a small circle.  Similar to waterfowl, you want good even coverage within that circle, but a smaller circle than for ducks.

If your bead is aiming point of impact and you can effectively hit the target at distances you are happy with, no need to go any further.  My thought is that sights are for those that either want them, want to shoot accurately farther, don't have a bead or the bead is off and they can't adjust and don't want to hold off for that.

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[270Shooter]

Throw in the factory full choke and pattern it, may need to try a few different loads and 3 1/2” shells are not necessarily going to pattern better than 3” shells. I’d recommend the Winchester longbeard XR, I think they are the best lead loads out there. You don’t need a scope, limit your shots to 40 yards and shoot them in the neck. Benelli’s typically shoot high so you will want to pay attention where you are holding and where the majority of your pattern is.

[hughjorgan]

You might want to buy some 3” shells as well and try patterning those. Benelli novas aren’t very forgiving for recoil.

[huntnfmly]

Throw in the factory full choke and pattern it, may need to try a few different loads and 3 1/2” shells are not necessarily going to pattern better than 3” shells. I’d recommend the Winchester longbeard XR, I think they are the best lead loads out there. You don’t need a scope, limit your shots to 40 yards and shoot them in the neck. Benelli’s typically shoot high so you will want to pay attention where you are holding and where the majority of your pattern is.

Another vote for the winchester long beard xr my youngest daughter shoots that out of her nova great Turkey load

[MtnMuley]

Throw in the factory full choke and pattern it, may need to try a few different loads and 3 1/2” shells are not necessarily going to pattern better than 3” shells. I’d recommend the Winchester longbeard XR, I think they are the best lead loads out there. You don’t need a scope, limit your shots to 40 yards and shoot them in the neck. Benelli’s typically shoot high so you will want to pay attention where you are holding and where the majority of your pattern is.

[biggfish]

I like hevi-shot magnum blend, but I hunt in a lead restricted area. I had good results with triple beard and a Carlson turkey choke. I've used Winchester xx and dropped turkeys in their tracks, I didn't care for the spread but I had them and they were more than sufficient. If you are going with others I would each buy a different brand to test and share between the group if you buy a box that doesn't pattern well out of your gun it may out of theirs. I just didn't like to waste ammo. I buy a box and use it, if it doesn't get the job done I just buy a new one when it's empty. You might consider adding a jake fan to your set up, it gets gobblers pretty fired up to see a young strutter next to a hen.

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[slavenoid]

If you're hunting public land I would tell you to forget about scopes and gear and practice practice practice your calls. If you can't call them in it won't matter what is attached to or coming out of your gun.

[MR5x5]

Turkey - more or less stationary target at relatively close range with a shotgun.  Don't over think it.  That Nova with a factory full or Xfull and 3" is perfect, but why not go 3.5" if you got em.  I like #6.  Pellets in the pattern is what you want. Killing the turkey is the easiest part of turkey hunting....

[kevinlisa06]

Just my opinion on this topic.
Patterning your gun is one of the most important things you need to do before your hunt. If you can afford an aftermarket choke by all means do it. The tighter your pattern is the better especially if your shooting at 40 yards or beyond. But make sure it’s still good at closer ranges. The gold standard for patterns is 100 pellets in a 10” circle. Trying different shells/ choke combinations may be necessary to achieve this at 40 yards. Every gun will shoot differently. A lot of different choke manufacturers now so there’s a lot of competition. Good luck to ya and have fun!


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[TheStovePipeKid]

As others have said if you are going to be turkey hunting you must pattern your load. For your first year out you will be expend many turkey shells to get used to how your particular shotgun patterns at various ranges. Once you get locked in on a choke and load you won't need to blast so many rounds, just a quick check each year. As far as scopes go, I say hard pass on a scope. I've spent almost a decade hunting with open fiber optic sights. I've never had an issue with fiber getting on birds. I hunted this past December for the first time with a scope. I didn't care for it at all and regretted not bringing my open sight gun. That being said I have added a reflex red dot this year at the suggestion of a much better member of this forum. My suggestion would be to pattern out the Nova and hit the field with your bead sight. Once you've done it you will know pretty quickly if it is limiting your success. Then at least you will know how it is before you dive into optics and whatnot.

[bearpaw]

I agree on patterning your gun to find the right load, I'll also throw a plug for the winchester long beard xr, but if you really want to have a dense long reaching pattern try the hevi-shot 7.5 or 9. One other thing wiggle your pump forearm handle to see if it makes noise in advance, if it does be careful about that noise when a bird is close.