Best Red Dot Scope for Turkey Shotgun – It’s Time to Ditch the Bead.

Turkey hunting is one of the rare shotgun sports that requires a well-aimed shot. The tiny kill-zone coupled with the quickness of a turkey is what makes its hunting so fun and challenging.

However, this is also exactly why using a traditional bead sight on your shotgun might prove to be inadequate. Even if it seems silly, taking down a turkey would be much easier if you used a scope – the magnification, special reticles, crisp turrets, and unbeatable durability can go a long way. The fact that turkey hunting is ideally done during dawn’s low lighting is all the more reason to carry a scope.

Top 5 Best red dot scope for turkey shotgun

A red-dot scope is optimum due to its reticle and quick, accurate design. Now, of course, it’s no easy task to hunt for scopes in this niche, especially when you don’t know what to look for. That’s where we come in. We’ve listed, reviewed, and compared the top 5 red dot sights for turkey hunting to help you find the best dot in the lot.

Does this American veteran-owned brand even need an introduction? Vortex Optics is one of the leading players out there.

The Vortex Venom has a sufficiently large and clear red dot reticle that comes with 10 brightness settings. The illumination and power controls are conveniently placed on the left side to allow for adjustments without any change of position. There’s also an automatic brightness setting facilitated by an ambient light sensor. When it comes to glass, the scope comes with a fully multi-coated wide-field lens to increase light transmission and offer a wider range of vision.

Any good scope for turkey hunting is parallax free, just like this one. It offers unlimited eye relief to make your job quick and easy. I also really like the battery life, which stands at 150 hours on a high setting and up to 30,000 hours on the lowest setting!

It’s an ultra-light red dot sight, weighing in at only 1 oz. It’s also super compact, with a length and width of not more than 2 inches each. It is pretty versatile and can be mounted on an array of firearms. It comes with a single piece chassis and offers great performance with its water, fog, and shock resistance.

However, I found that the batteries were a little tricky to change.

Sig Sauer is a world-renowned brand that supplies a variety of equipment in the hunting and military fields. The SEALs use their handguns.

The red-dot reticle on the ROMEO5 comes with 10 brightness settings, two of which are suitable for night vision. Since turkey hunting is optimal during dawn, this is perfect. The illumination is motion-activated, so it turns off to save battery life when it doesn’t sense any movement. I especially liked the clarity of the reticle here. The ultra-wide lens has a signature Spectra coat to bring reflections to an all-time low and ensure maximum transmission of light across the visible spectrum.

Once again, the scope has unlimited eye relief for efficient acquisition and is parallax free. It does an incredible job at holding zero. My favorite part is that the ROMEO5 uses an AAA battery, which is super convenient and cheap. It is also simple to change.

The scope can work with almost all firearms. It’s extremely durable (unbreakable, I would say) and even comes with an IPX-7 waterproof certificate. I’m in love with the aircraft-grade aluminum construction and aesthetics of this device.

However, their customer service isn’t the best if you happen to catch a faulty piece.

Bushnell is another famous optics company that produces scopes to suit a variety of purposes.

Now as the name suggests, the Big D is a relatively large device. It comes with a huge 37 mm fully multi-coated objective lens to considerably increase your field of view and facilitate maximum clarity through light transmission, even at the break of the day when you’re waiting for that turkey. The red-dot reticle has 6 brightness settings as compared to the previous contenders’ 10.

Big D has unlimited eye-relief. The parallax adjustment is fixed at 50 yards. It holds zero quite well and the quality of the adjustment knobs is commendable. The battery life stands at an impressive 12,000 hours.

The scope is recoil-resistant and quite sturdy. The construction ensures that it will be able to take quite a pounding. The O-ring seals add to the durability. It’s easy to mount and dismount. The scope is heavier and larger as compared to the previous two – it weighs in at 11 oz and is 4.2 inches long. However, this is still a reasonable and manageable size and weight. It comes with lens covers, which is always nice.

For the downsides, the lens has a slight tint to it and the reticle might not be bright enough for some.

Vortex ‘strikes’ again with the StrikeFire II.

The dot reticle is well-engineered. There is an option of 2 illumination colors – red and green. It comes with 10 brightness settings, the last 2 specifically for night vision – just like the ROMEO5 (great for dawn). The 30 mm lens is fully multi-coated and offers a wide, clear field of view. Shooting with both eyes open is an absolute breeze and pleasure.

Once again, like any good turkey hunting scope, unlimited eye relief and parallax free. It can hold zero despite unlimited torture. The grip on the knobs is great. Battery life is pretty decent.

The StrikeFire II is pretty lightweight although not as much as the others. I find that it is easy to mount. The single-piece aluminum chassis is heavy-duty and durable. I appreciate that it came with lens covers. The finish is nice and the body is a little chunky but I don’t mind it.

Vortex offers good customer service and a lifetime warranty.

The on and off buttons are little mushy, though.

Burris is a well-known optics brand known for providing high-end features at low-end prices.

The Burris Ar comes with its special Ballistic CQ reticle that allows for quick engagement and trajectory compensation. It’s often used in the military and can come in major use during turkey hunting.

The dual color illumination comes in both red and green to work across different lighting conditions, so you don’t have to worry about the strain. When the power is off, the reticle is clean and black. The 32 mm front lens provides a pretty good range of view while having Hi-lume multi-coatings to fight reflections and give you the clearest image possible.

The eye relief on this one isn’t unlimited. It stands at 2.5 inches, which is a little risky when it comes to recoil. The fixed 3x magnification is perfect for short-range (up to 75 yards). You can zero the scope in less than 3 shots. It holds this zero well. Adjustments are easy.

This is a versatile optic that can be paired with multiple other firearms besides your shotgun. The mounting process is quick and easy, you don’t have to fumble around with any rings. It feels pretty sturdy. I always appreciate a scope that comes with a sunshade and some lens covers. Burris has a forever warranty as well.

However, it is the heaviest and largest scope on this list.

Things to look for when you’re purchasing a red dot scope for your shotgun

There are a plethora of red dot sight scopes on the market like Aimpoint Comp M4, etc. Are all of them reliable? Definitely not. Since you’ve already made it to this article, take 5 minutes to read this segment. Here are some basic but often forgotten factors that you need to keep in mind if you want to achieve maximum efficiency:

Durability

This goes without saying. An efficient hunt requires a durable scope. Materials like aluminum and stainless steel are best. Make sure your scope is shockproof and can take whatever your turkey gun throws at it. Look at the seals and the purging (O ring seals and Nitrogen/Argon purging is best). Turkey hunting is an exciting chase and you need a scope that can take a few bumps.

Clarity

Everyone hates a blurry image. Then why compromise here? Choose lenses that are coated well and can withstand bad weather. If you look through your scope and the image doesn’t make you smile, give it back.

Design and finish

A simple design is always best. Complicated features only look good on the box. Choose a scope that you can understand and operate quickly. Trust me, boasting about your game is much better than boasting about a couple of scope features. when it comes to finish, go with matte, black, or camo to stay concealed.

Magnification

Turkey hunting is usually done at a short distance, so a fixed low magnification should suffice. However, if you want to remain hidden while you try to take a shot at a turkey, you might prefer a higher magnification range. If you intend to use the scope solely on a shotgun, then 4x is the upper limit. A scope with a larger range can get weighty, so choose only up to what you truly need.

Conclusion

Using a scope instead of a bead can make an astronomical difference and revolutionize your turkey hunting game. You will save a lot of your precious time and ammo. Amateurs might believe it’s unnecessary but wise hunters know better. A red-dot reticle is a great reticle that can be used for a lot of other games as well. The illumination is always a plus.

Therefore, we’ve suggested scopes that are versatile and can be of great use outside of the turkey guns also. If your confusion was preventing you from spending money on a turkey gun scope, I hope this article has aided it. Our list comprises of scopes from all price ranges to suit your needs and intent. As always, you can trust us and the products we suggest. May the lead meet the head!