Tested: Turkey Hunting with the Federal Premium .410 TSS - UC Hunting Properties
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Tested: Turkey Hunting with the Federal Premium .410 TSS

Pam | May 9, 2019 | HuntingTips

By Kristin Alberts                          

Understanding new .410 potential means getting down and dirty with TSS specs

Outwardly, the gun was nothing special. An old single-shot .410 with a loose action and decades of wear generates little interest from hunters or collectors. But the gun belonged to my grandfather, the man who taught me to shoot, walked with me through the dense woods bordering our farm, and imparted his wisdom of the ways of the wilderness. It was the first “real” gun I ever fired, and the one with which I learned the great responsibility of harvesting game. I used it to take squirrels from the tops of the 100-year-old stand of oaks for the evening’s supper.

It was in that very same forest on opening morning almost 10 years ago that turkey hunting took hold of my heart. I’d never seen a more beautiful sight than a mature tom strutting inside of 15 yards toward my decoys. I saw his neck covered by the worn brass bead of my Papa’s single shot, and I remember the moment the gobbler fell to that small-bore shotgun.

It was a clean kill just 12 yards from the blind, even shooting high-brass 6s. The gobbler wasn’t the biggest I’d ever taken, but it was the most memorable. That bird, which hangs on the wall today, proved to me that turkeys could be responsibly harvested with the .410, but with great restrictions. Those were the days before specialty ammunitions, guns and chokes. Given advancements this year and last, the world of four-tenning for turkeys is opening up for a new generation.

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© Kristin Alberts photo

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© Kristin Alberts photo