First time chasing turkeys.

[therenaissancewoman]

Hey ya'll. Laid up with covid is giving me plenty of time to study my turkey hunting plan, I've got tags in WI and MN. I've never chased birds before, and I am so excited to get after it. I'm using a 40# bow and 600 spine arrows...still on the fence about broadheads. I have read everything on the shot placement page, what a great help that was!

What do you think about Zwickey Delta's for turkeys? Anyone have some solid tips they can share with me?

[hawkeye n pa]

Are you hunting with or with out a blind?  I don't see any problems with your equipment.  Take it easy and have a lot of patience, pressured birds will come in very slow and wary.   Best of luck and stay alert for other hunters.

[Mark R]

By no means am I an expert but I know from experience that they pickup movement like crazy. In spring the Tom will come to a call more so then in the fall. A blind will help. Have fun with it and good hunting

[Flingblade]

I like Simmons Treesharks.  The width provides greater margin for error and they fly like darts which surprised me when I first shot them.  I've shot several turkeys with them and most dropped within sight.  Good luck!

[Orion]

Zwickey Deltas will work fine.  I'd stick with the two-blade though.  Turkeys are tough to penetrate for two reasons.  Their heavy feathers and feather quills are tougher to get through than deer hide, IMO.  But the big reason is because they are relatively small and physically light vis-a-vis a deer, for example, they tend to move with the arrow at impact.  The arrow hitting them pushes them a bit, which expends some of the arrow's energy outside the bird and reduces penetration.

Though I've killed a few birds with Zwickeys, I've gone to Woodsman 3-blade heads the past several years.  Good mechanical advantage and penetrate very well for a 3-blade head, and not too much width for a 40# bow.

A pop-up blind and decoys will increase your chances tremendously.

Good luck.  Turkeys are a hoot. Or is that a Gobble.   

 

[mnbwhtr]

I've shot all my turks with 3 blades, I think the woodsmens would work fine with your setup, I've seen you shoot!

[therenaissancewoman]

Thanks Randy! I was so bummed to miss the last shoot last night. The woodsmen eh? I’ll look into it! I was planning on asking you all last night what your turkey set ups were!

[Friend]

Hoping to successfully arrow gob #36 this season. There are plenty of others that have harvested many more.

I have used tree sharks exclusively the last five years. Confidence is a primary player in selecting a broadhead.

[mj seratt]

You also might consider a string tracker.

Murray

[mjh]

I use Zwickey heads on turkey.  They work just fine.   I use a blind.  Sometime I use decoys sometime not.  If you have the time, pattern the turkeys in your hunting location this can be helpful.  Roosts, common travel routes.  Get a turkey target or two, 3D--paper--burlap.  Practice from your shooting position, different distances.  Practice out of your blind if you can as well.  Have a variety of call and practice them.

Have fun and enjoy!

[lt-m-grow]

Good advice here already...  Couple things more.

1.) Best advice so far is use a blind, use a blind, did I say use a blind.  :-) Put some under your belt before you ditch the blind if you want.
2.) Place your decoys close... I am mean five yards close.  The decoys work and the blind doesn't affect turkeys.  Bring them in close as the kill zone is small
3.) YMMV but I have gone away from large BHs like the tree shark.  I used the Centaur version.  Though I killed some birds with them, I also lost some and in part penetration was the problem for me and I shoot a 60# bow.  I use a smaller two blade now.
4.) Lastly, consider a string tracker.  I use one for turkeys always but only for turkeys.  They can go a bit after being shot and without a blood trail getting on them is tough without one.

And have fun, and be patient.  Turkeys do things on turkey time.  You might have talked to the tom at 8:00 and it doesn't come in until 10:00 isn't uncommon.

[Bullchaser1]

Like others have said, blinds help big time. Turkey aren’t afraid of the blind, you can stick it in the middle of a field with a decoy and they will come in. Best advice I could give you is don’t call too much. They are pretty easy to call in to 60-70 yards, where they will strut and keep gobbling at your calls. If they’re coming in or hung up out of range usually the silent treatment will bring them in the rest of the way.
If they have hens with them you want to call them in and the gobblers will follow. Often copying the hens sounds will tick them off and bring them in. Good luck and enjoy the chase!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

As mentioned patterning them will increase your chances ten fold. Dont forget to pick a spot in the heat of the moment.  Good luck and have fun.

[Warden609]

I have killed my fair share of birds over the years with archery gear. Everyone has an opinion and you know what that means, but if you are starting out here is a list of some equipment to research and consider.

I would highly recommend a blind that has plenty of clearance to shoot a traditional bow. I have heard too many stories about the top limb of the bow hitting the blind. This means you need to practice from your blind on a target at turkey killing range.

I would also highly recommend the best decoys you can afford. There are always lots of opinions on decoys.

If you are using a cut on contact head and body shooting birds please use a string tracker. Turkeys can be extremely hard to kill and a string tracker is a great investment to assist with the recovery.

Have fun and be safe!

[therenaissancewoman]

I practice from sitting all winter long as my basement range is too short for the top limb of my longbow, so that should help with sitting and shooting in a blind. I have redhead decoys, not really something I’m investing a lot of $ into at this point. I’ve been working with my primos calls to try and get a sound that doesn’t resemble a dying bird 😂  I’ll be using a ghost blind and my Zwickey deltas. I’ll have to look into using a string tracker, I’ve never seen one.

[Will Telluteyrd]

The best advice I can give to a new Turkey hunter is quit calling when the bird gets fired up. He will either come in or move on.

[Jeff D. Holchin]

I got nothing to add, except: don’t forget to let us know how your season went, with pics, and what worked versus what didn’t.

[Bowguy67]

I’m sorta perplexed. I know you want the equipment right but if you’ve never chased turkey do you have someone showing you? Everyone is mentioning blinds but they can’t be just thrown up for decent results. You first need to find the birds. Hope you’ve got that covered

[Hud]

Sounds like your plan of action is a winner.  I like box calls, wing-bone and slate. I prefer a shorter bow like 56" - 60" even with a blind of 72",  might be standing and find a gobbler in range.  The 2 blade Zwickey is a good head.  String tracker is a must if your in heavy cover.  A combination of a Jake and two hens might work good, but whatever you use, set up the decoys facing the blind, the Gobbler might come and turn to face them.  Use a shoot thru screen if you have it and practice at home.  Good luck.

[BRONZ]

Lots of good advice here!
I really like a jealousy set up with a jake mounted on top of, or right behind, a hen on the ground.
I hunt pressured birds primarily, so patterning is critical. They’ve heard every call and seen every motionless decoy set up out there.
Don’t forget that toms are most susceptible when hens have moved off to their nests; so, don’t give up just because roosted birds didn’t come in. Hard to compete with the real thing!