The first turkey came in silent and sullen. He was shy not because he was afraid of me but because another Mississippi tom had kicked his butt in this same location a day earlier. He couldn't know a hunter was watching and that the bully was now in the freezer at the lodge, so the tom was pretty careful when checking out the hen yelps.

I first saw him on my left and working around behind me. With no shot, I sat tight and waited. I didn't know the bird had slipped up a depression deep enough I couldn't see him. Now he was directly behind me. On a hunch, I slowly twisted until I saw him sulking around, looking for the hen and acting like he was ready to quit the idea. It was a long shot, and I was twisted at a bad angle. With a lot of other shotguns I might have passed, but I knew this gun and its performance. I put the bead on his head and pulled the trigger. That Mississippi gobbler never knew what hit him.

The chance to fill my second tag came two days later. This bird pinned us down before we were ready by charging to a locator call like an inexperienced tom scouting his first hen. He spotted my guide's white T-shirt sticking out of his camo and changed his mind. When he ran through an opening at fifty yards, I dusted his escape plans with a load of No. 5 shot that dropped him so hard he bounced.

Two tough shots, both executed perfectly. Who says muzzleloader shotguns are a compromise? I'll guarantee it's not anybody who has tested them. A well-designed, strongly built modern muzzleloader may actually be more versatile than a cartridge shotgun.

For example, I was hunting with the Knight TL2000, and the payload it was delivering was as devastating as any 12-gauge load on the market. I was shooting 2.5 ounces of shot over 110 grains of Triple Seven FFg powder. This powerhouse load has more pellets than any popular 31⁄2-inch 12-gauge ammo. If pellet count in the pattern is what you like in a turkey load, this is the ultimate, short of a punt gun. It is, of course, a very stout load and one that should only be used in a muzzleloader that is rated for magnum loads. It's always best to consult with the manufacturer to see if your shotgun is rated for charges this powerful.

Of course, the loading options both in shot payload and in propellant are almost infinite with a muzzleloader. While what I was shooting is the upper end of what you should put in a muzzleloader, it's easy to reduce the load to a more manageable level of recoil. You can do this by changing the shot payload or the propellant charge or both. By experimenting, you can fine-tune your muzzleloader for optimal patterning performance, another option not available from factory-loaded shotshells.