Turkey hunting with a 12 gauge is beating me up

[Road_walker]

Last year, after a morning of turkey hunting my shoulder was destroyed. I am thinking about switching to a 20 gauge. Am I soft or is 12 gauge overkill for turkeys? What gauge do you turkey hunt with?

 

[turkeymanwade]

3.5" 12 gauge for me. 2 1/8 oz Longbeard #5. Could be that I'm just not recoil sensitive, but I only shoot 5 shells most years, so I don't see a problem.

 

[Hardshell]

A lot of my hunting buddies switched to 20 gauge shotguns a while ago and they swear by them. Modern shells pack enough punch, and your shoulder will thank you after a long morning in the woods. A clean kill is what matters, not how much your gun kicks.

 

[Proton]

I switched to a 20 gauge a while ago and haven't looked back. My shoulder feels better, and I still bring down birds just fine