New Turkey Shotguns for Spring Hunting 2023

Turkey season is starting up in many places, and spring gobbler-getters are anxiously awaiting their own trips to the starting line over the coming weeks as frost-filled mornings give way to quiet dew-covered dawns; pastoral dawns that get shattered by a loud-mouthed longbeard looking for love and strutting about like he owns the place. And if his spurs are long and pointed enough, he probably does.

• Regional Strut Update: Reports from the field all season long

If you're going to send any kind of serious invite to the dinner table downrange at a gobbler roaming the woods over the next several weeks, you'll need a good shotgun like the Remington 870 I've relied on for years. Maybe, there's already a time-honored candidate like that already in the gun safe. Or perhaps, you're in the market for something else, looking for a new option this spring. If so, here are several shotgun models to consider as you look for a wily old tom entering the strut zone.

Benelli SBE III 28 Gauge

A new introduction as of late last year, the 28-gauge addition to the Benelli lineup was a hit at the 2023 SHOT Show booth in Las Vegas, according to Nick Andrews, the marketing director for Benelli USA. It's been a hit, winning the “Shotgun of the Year” award from Game and Fish sister publication, Guns & Ammo. As a sub-gauge scattergun weighing only 5.6 pounds, this new shotgun features an oversized bolt handle and release, and produces shorter shot strings, making it an ethical weapon for a host of wingshooting opportunities including the spring turkey woods. You can choose from a variety of camo pattern options, including Gore Optifade Timber, which will be right at home in the springtime woods. benelliusa.com | $1,999

Beretta A400 Extreme Plus 20 Gauge

As American hunters continue to gain a little more gray around the edges, a push towards smallbores continues. With that trend noted, Beretta is introducing three new 20-gauge versions of its popular A400 Extreme Plus shotgun. Now offered in black synthetic, Realtree's Max-7, and Mossy Oak Bottomland camo patterns, these scatterguns should be a hit with Beretta fans. "Our A400 Extreme Plus has been popular for years now, in 12-gauge in all different flavors of camo and barrel lengths in 26-, 28-, and 30-inch versions," said Logan Bryant with Beretta USA. "We launched (this) late last year in limited quantities from Italy, 20-gauge models with 28-inch barrels. And we'll look to expand this eventually to different barrel lengths and camo options too." beretta.com

Browning A5 Auric

With a nod to your grandpa's favorite scattergun, this familiar offering from Browning ushered in a new camo look at the 2023 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. "The A5 is everyone's favorite Browning, the old humpback design," Browning's Andre Linford said. While the new Auric camo pattern might be targeted at waterfowlers, the browns, tans, and greens of the pattern will work well for gobbler-getters everywhere from a southern swamp to the brushy prairie country of the Great Plains to even the foothills of the Rockies. Add in the Burnt Bronze Cerakote finish on the receiver and barrel of the 12-gauge and 16-gauge A5 options, a composite stock with textured gripping surfaces, shim and spacer produced adjustability options, a Briley oversize bolt release, and a fully chrome-plated bore among other things and these shotguns can do double duty as a tool for longbeards in the spring and greenheads in the fall. browning.com | $2,379

Browning Cynergy Ultimate Turkey O/U

It's a big year for Browning, as the company celebrates the 50th anniversary of the timeless Citori Over-and-Under with a limited-edition version and a composite stock version. If you’re a stack-barrel enthusiast wanting to take one to the turkey woods, either one will work. Another option is the Utah gunmaker’s Cynergy Ultimate Turkey in Mossy Oak Bottomland. An over-and-under with an ultra-low profile receiver made especially for spring turkey hunters, this scattergun has a fiber-optic front sight, a Marble Arms Bullsye rear sight, or a Picatinny rail system if you want a red-dot option. Add in five Invector-Plus chokes and this is a shotgun that harkens to a time of American shotgun making gone-by. browning.com | $2,649

CZ Hammer Classic

If you're like many spring turkey hunters, you might have an old family heirloom classic shotgun that isn't safe to shoot with modern ammo, especially today's high-powered turkey loads. But if you long for that nostalgic look-and-feel of your great grandpa's old gun, the 12-gauge CZ Hammer Classic brings a taste of the new and the old with a case-hardened sidelock receiver, functioning hammers on the twin barrels, and a 30-inch long side-by-side option that looks early 20th Century classic, but shoots well into the modern days of the 21st Century. Add in a splinter forend and Turkish Walnut stock, not to mention five choke-tube options and three-inch shell capabilities, and this shotgun will help you invite an old gobbler to the dinner table with a distinctly classic shotgunning vibe. cz-usa.com | $1,099

Mossberg SA-28 Tactical Turkey

As turkey ammo pushes the edge of the envelope, smallbore turkey options have become viable options for turkey hunters in recent years. That includes the Mossberg SA-28 Tactical Turkey shotgun, a 28-gauge synthetic pistol-grip offering in Mossy Oak Greenleaf, featuring a 22-inch barrel, a vent rib, and is chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells. Add a 4+1 capacity, an FO Ghost Ring sight, and a weight of just six pounds, and this is a great option if you're looking for a subgauge turkey gun. If you want something a little beefier while still staying on the smaller side of the shotgun market, try this same Mossberg scattergun in the 20-gauge option. mossberg.com | $902

Retay Gordion Turkey

A visit to the Retay booth at the 2023 SHOT Show found all kinds of traffic as the company showed off an impressive line of shotgun offerings. That includes the Gordion Turkey shotgun, available in six different camo finishes like Realtree Timber, and pistol-grip and non-pistol grip stock options. Regardless of the grip model you choose, these are scatterguns that utilize the company's "Straight Line Inertia Transfer" system, and are built around a single-piece, all-alloy receiver. With the Gordion's dead-straight, deep-bore barrel design, a swarm of deadly shotgun pellets is produced downrange for 12-gauge and 20-gauge enthusiasts who want to shoot up to three-inch shells. With five choke tubes, a shim kit, and a choke tube wrench, it's easy to fine-tune and pattern this shotgun into a gobbler-getting machine this spring. retayusa.com | $949

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Weatherby SA-08 Synthetic Compact

Understanding that some shotgunners are young and/or smaller framed, this Weatherby shotgun offering is designed to swing fast, thanks to a 24-inch barrel, work smoothly and tame recoil due to a gas-operated action, and allow for a wide array of shotshell loads with a dual-valve system. Add in three screw-in choke options and the ability to shoot 3-inch shells, and this shotgun designed for women and youth scattergun shooters is a great option for the spring turkey woods in 2023. weatherby.com | $679

Winchester SX4 NWTF Cantilever Turkey

In the 50th year of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Winchester has a great scattergun specifically made for the spring turkey woods with the SX4 NWTF Cantilever Turkey shotgun in 12- and 20-gauge offerings. With a synthetic stock, textured gripping surfaces, and a non-glare Mossy Oak Obsession camo finish, you'll disappear as that wise old strutter closes into range. Once he's there, Invector-Plus extra-full extended choke tubes--including a camo front band on the tube--will deliver a deadly cloud of shotgun pellets from the 24-inch barrel that is at home on the prairies and in tight timbered confines. To aim that swarm of pellets, there's a Truglo Fiber-Optic front sight, an adjustable rear sight, and a Weaver-style cantilever rail to enable a conventional scope or electronic red-dot to be added. With Quadra-vent ports that ensure escape of excess gas and clean operation, the Inflex technology recoil pad also aids in taming a big kick to the shoulder as a gobbler gets invited to the dinner table. winchesterguns.com | $1,249