• High antimony lead shot (commonly called hard black shot), • Copper-plated shot, • Nickel-plated shot, and • The newer tungsten-based loads.

All kill turkeys quite well. Or at least they will if your gun/choke combo patterns them well -- and more importantly, puts them on the point of aim.

Not all of the above shot types perform the same way with the same choke tube. Copper-plated and nickel shot normally produce tighter patterns from a tight choke than will plain lead. Tungsten-based shot usually requires a slightly more open choke because it is much harder than the others. It actually performs much like steel shot, and generally produces the best patterns from steel-shot choke tubes. It can be confusing, but it doesn't have to be.

"I normally advise hunters to purchase three or four different loads and test each with the choke tube they have," Salter said. "One of them, and maybe more than one, should work pretty well. If they are working well, there's no reason to run out and buy the latest 'new' turkey load and then buy extra choke tubes to try and make it work. Use what your gun likes."

Testing different loads has another advantage. Most hunters want the tightest 40-yard pattern they can get, but that's not always your best bet.

One problem in many Southern areas is thick cover that can let a bird get within 20 yards before you can take the shot. A tight pattern at 40 yards may be so tight at 20 that a miss is easy. A load that delivers what you might consider a marginal pattern at 40 yards may produce perfect patterns at 20 yards.

If you've tested several loads at various ranges, you know which one you want in your gun for open terrain, or for tight quarters.

Savvy hunters often carry two different loads, and may well change them when cover conditions change.

They also pattern those loads under the conditions they will actually shoot them. "I like to pattern the gun from the same position I'm going to be in when I shoot the bird," Salter said.

"That's normally from a Hunter's Specialties small four-legged stool, with my back against a tree. I put the target up and shoot from that position because the recoil can change the point of impact. If you're shooting from a sandbagged rest off a bench, you're getting a different recoil than you will in the field.

"Another thing I do in getting the gun properly sighted," he continued, "is to put up a target at 21 feet and draw a silver-dollar-sized circle on it. That's about how big your pattern will be at seven steps, and I want to get the sights set, or know the bead position I have to hold, to blow that little dot completely out of the target.

"When you get to where you can blow that little silver-dollar circle out of the target, your gun is perfectly sighted in, and will be dead on for as far as you're going to shoot a turkey."

Many hunters assume a 10- or 12-gauge shotgun is necessary, but it's not. With the loads and chokes available today, a 20-gauge becomes a viable tool that combines light weight with light recoil.

In fact, Salter most often uses a 20-gauge Benelli M 1 with the Winchester 3-inch Extended Range load in No. 5 shot. And he's not afraid to shoot a bird at 40 yards with it.

Once you've done your test-patterning and sight-checking, your confidence should be there.