How tuff are turkeys?

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

I understand that anytime you hunt shot placement is key but I was curious as to what some of you veteran turkey hunters think about broadheads for birds.  I've never shot a turkey with a bow before, heck for that matter I've never even killed a turkey. Anyway, I was wondering just how tuff the fabled thunder chicken is.  If I have good two blade broadheads could I be comfortable with a good shot or should I set up some arrows with a three or four blade broadhead for good measures?

[vermonster13]

Turkeys are very tough and their lungs are different than a deer lung. A broadhead through them takes much longer to kill them. You want the biggest head that will do the most damage possible IMO.

[Gordon martiniuk]

depends how you cook them ,, stuff and cook slow

[sunny hill archer]

Gordon, David nailed it.  Four years ago I got a new shotgun(BPS 10 Ga.) that had a fancy sight on it.  I shot a full grown gobbler low and hit him in the breast.  It knocked him backwards but he got up and FLEW OFF.  I was very lucky and found him about a 100 yards away.      When I cleaned him his insides were mush.  In my opinion, IMHO, you should shoot the biggest head you can shoot and aim for the butt of the wing or the base of the tail.  A string tracker should be mandatory.   Michael

[joebuck]

Any razor sharp broadhead will dispatch a turkey through the vitals. Shoot the most accurate broadhead you have and thats probably the head you deer hunt with. Give them time to expire. This is not my IMO but my experience  

[vermonster13]

If you're going to hunt from a blind, shots tend to be close if you set-up properly and you can get away with a much larger head than you may be comfortable with on your deer set-up. You don't get blood trails with turkeys if they fly away and very little when they don't, so the string tracker is a great idea. I've hunted for many years with out one though(I will be changing that) and a turkey can travel a long ways in the air with a vital shot and where I hunt that makes for beyond tough recovery because the woods are so thick.

[elkken]

They are very tough ... if you shoot one and it just tips over, run like the wind and grab it because they can recover quickly even though it looks dead. I had my first bow kill do that and my hunting partner had warned me ... but I did the slow walk over to my dead bird and off he flew down the canyon. Fortunately I found him laying dead. I shoot three blades for turkey the bigger the hole the better.

[bowmofo]

I opt for a head shot ,similar in size to the vitals but a miss is not a wounded bird, and a hit is a easy recovery!

[joebuck]

Turkeys do leave a blood trail just like any other animal that has a large blood vessel severed. Thats pretty much basic Bowhunter Ed. I tracked Rio one time over 200 yards and found him dead curled up in a treetop, an eastern 150 yards in a dry bayou, etc. From my experience 99% of bow shot turkeys fly only after they have been spooked by the hunter after it has been shot.Stay put and give it time. Buckeye your current deer hunting head is fine plus it's your most accurate.

[vermonster13]

You must have a lot more relaxed birds than we do here then.

[Steel]

Just put a reel on your bow and reel them in after the shot! LOL I am just kidding  :eek:

[saltwatertom]

Go to You Tube and look up bowhunting for turkeys. There's some great vids of the new turkey broadhead in action. The broad head I am talking about has 3 or 4 blades about 4 inches in diameter (cabelas has them). Head shots are impressive and DEADLY! It's what I would use if I was able to go on a turkey hunt (I think).
Maybe some one else on here will have some experience with these? I would like to know if they work ok without the training wheels.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

Thanks for the help so far guys.  Right now I'm thinkin about maybe trying a 150 gr. woodsman with a string tracker(I shoot a 150 gr. stinger for deer).   Out of a ground blind.  Great advice.  Keep it coming.

[maineac]

I think I am leaning towards the guilotine for a first shot.  If I miss, uninjured bird, if i don't dead bird, though the pics after will have to hide the head/neck area.

[joebuck]

Nope ,just experience from personal traditional bow kills on all 5 species. That all react the same mostly.

[wollelybugger]

I shot one through the chest with a three bladed muzzy, still didn't get him. One tough bird. String trackers are a good tool for recovery.

[joebuck]

You wont find many just shot through the chest muscles either. If you shoot a game tracker thread which comes stock 17# test, it's important to have a setup to shoot through the bird because your 17# tracker thread becomes 34# when it's double lined. Otherwise a mature gobbler can snap sometimes a single lined 17# thread. I have had it happen. If i use a game tracker, i shoot 30# test line and shoot through my birds therefore i have 60#

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

Since I'm shooting a 150 gr. stinger two blade for deer would I be better of with a 150 gr. stinger four blade?  The bleeders aren't that big plus it's still the same broadhead I shoot for deer.

[joebuck]

what do you shoot most accurately? Buckeye, it's really no trick bell and whistles about broadheads for turkeys.It's about placing an arrow in the vitals. I love a cut on contact 2 blade because it will cut through quills and shoot through the body.

[CallMaker]

Big 2 blade broadheads and a string tracker are the best/only way to go. They are hard to put down with body shots. Wing butts are a good shot from the side. From behind the center of the back a little low and from the fron the beard makes a good aiming point.