Believe the optimum traditional BH for turkeys has not been made available as of yet.
In the dark years, I had harvested 20 consecutively hit birds with a 2 ¾ wide head. (Probably missed 20)
Many birds took less than desirable hits and were all extremely easy recoveries except for one, that with a leg completely severed was still able to fly, but only for a short distance. Took one more shot to get him.
Two of my partners together lost 5 birds with the same BH but in a 2 ½” version before switching to the 2 ¾”.
By using Muzzy’s Slash Factor equation for BH designs that yield equivalent SF’s well above the 2 ½” two blade and up to the 2 ¾” two blade, the following calcs have been derived for the SF target range.
2 1/2” Two Bl yields a SF of 15.0 - which field experience has determined as questionable
2 3/4” Two Bl yields a SF of 16.5- which personal field experience yielded 100% recovery on 20 birds
Possible optimizing traditional BH designs for turkey would have Slash Factor well above 15.0 and up to 16.5.
Calculated findings for possibly optimizing a traditional BH design for improved turkey recoveries are as follows:
2 3/4” … Two blade yields a SF of 16.5
1 3/4” … Three blade yields a SF of 15.75
1 5/16”… Four blade yields a SF of 15.74
Would be interesting to try these designs- The BH would have to tune and lethal penetration would have to be demonstrated. A mature Tom is ~1/10 the wt. of a mature buck and being light, limits penetration by the turkey being knocked off its feet, thus not absorbing the full strike. The feathers themselves absorb energy and limit penetration.
I would believe that for me that my current 32.4% Ultra-EFOC arrow (608 gn) would be a great place to start. The only change would be to start with 5” three fletch instead of 4” three fletch.
Note: My current set-up shoots 1 ½’ Big 3’s marvelously and spot on with my bare shafts out to 20 yards. I have not tried further since turkey hunting is a 15 yard and under game for me.
IMHO there may not be a perfect design, but possibly a more optimized BH design in conjunction with an optimized arrow set-up.
I practice and plan to make a perfect shot and a possible pass thru, but reality demonstrates that I must focus on planning for the unexpected, which often is the case with turkeys.
JMHO