Dustin,
From experience I agree with the post that says they are not as hard to kill as many may imply. Having said that, I believe there are some distinct DOs and DON'Ts.
For instance, DON'T try a quartering to or away shot. I am sure a thousand hunters will post after this and say that they have killed hundreds of birds with quartering shots.
Here is my reasoning. A turkey's vitals (heart, lungs) are encased in a bony box. A quartering to or away shot can cause the broad head to "skitter" along the bone regaurdless of how sharp it is. Even though it does a lot of damage, not actually poke a hole through anything that will cause quick death. Case in point, my wife shot a bird last year quartering away (told her not to, wives don’t listen sometimes). The arrow entered the bird’s right drumstick at the top and came out the left wing butt. Arrow blew all the way through. What most would call a “complete pass through the vitals”. After I chased the dang thing for 150 yards through the woods and across the creek we realized it had two huge holes (she uses Magnus heads with bleeders) and could not fathom why the bird wasn’t stone dead immediately after the shot. After we cleaned the bird we saw that the broad head, although basically going from stem-to-stern, never did hit the heart or lungs. We counted ourselves lucky to have recovered the bird.
Full broadside or head-on/butt-on shots give a greater chance of the shaft bisecting the heart and lung area.
A couple more DON’Ts in my book: Don’t shoot a bird while it is fluffed up and strutting. It’s hard to tell what is body and what is just feathers. Also, avoid shooting one looking straight at you. If they know where you are and have you pegged, sit still! Don’t even blink! Let them settle down a bit, then nail ‘em. You may shoot the fastest bow in the world but a bird can move faster. The hit may have been right on before the bird moved but after is another story.
How about some DO’s? Do let them get as close as you can. Botch a shot with a shotgun or a compound bow and they will most likely haul out of there. Miss with a quiet, well tuned traditional bow and more often than not you will get a second chance if they are close enough. Do put your decoy off to one side of your blind (or at least not right in line with where you are sitting). Its best if the bird doesn’t have you in line of sight while he is looking at the decoy. This will help set-up a broadside shot.
The last big DO, DO HAVE FUN! What it all comes down to is shoot them in the middle with a sharp broad head while they are as close as you dare have them.
Like I said, my wife shoots the Magnus two blade with bleeders (100 gr.) and I shoot a MA II (150 gr.). We have only had the one time with trouble recovering a bird. We have let a lot walk because things were not just right, but we still had fun.
Good Luck!
OkKeith
Topic: Turkey...Head? Body? BH? HELP! (Read 419 times)
