Turkey Anatomy and Shot Placement

[Guru]

Been meaning to do this for a while, and since the seasons will be here before we know it, now is a great time to share some pix and personal experiences.

I'm no expert turkey hunter and certainly not a turkey biologist. But I have been chasing them for a while, and I pay attention and notice the details.

That being said, I'd just like to share some of what I've learned and hopefully help some others along the way.

I have a couple hunts, the shots, and the results to share through text and pictures.

A couple basics with turkeys...

- unlike deer and other four legged critters we persue, and turkey's vitals are at the top of their body, just under and right up against the backbone.

- it's about impossible to hit a turkey "too high", as you'll see in the pix to follow, everything that keeps a turkey alive is in the upper 1/3 of their body.

- like the boys from Double Bull used to say, "high they die, low they go".

- on a broadside bird, I aim to hit a gobbler just in front of the thigh and high. A little high and you sever the backbone, a bit forward and you hit the front of the vitals just behind the wingbutt. If it's a bit back, you shoot throught the thighs, a shot some archers prefer anyway. Just remember, higher is better and in some pix to follow, you clearly see why.

-a shot from the back gives you an even bigger target. A centered hit anywhere from the back of the skull to the base of the tail will almost always anchor the bird on the spot. Slightly off the spine either side still has a chance of punching vitals.

- on quartering shots,remember to adjust where you want your arrow to enter. Further forward on quartering toward, and further back on quartering away. But again, always keep it high!

- don't worry about shooting through your turkey. Turkeys have very hard bones and tough feather quills. I perfer not to add anykind of "stopper" behind a broadhead. Let the blades do the job they were meant to do!

First off, some great anatomy pix I pulled off the web that shows ,by a series of over lays, just how a turkey is put together...

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Another good diagram that shows the bone structure really well...
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[maineac]

Thanks Curt.  Looking forward to the rest. I usually know where I am supposed to hit them.  i just have to get the arrow to go where I want it to.

[Mike Gerardi]

Great pics Curt.

[Big Riser]

THATS COOL, WHEN I HIT THE BACK BONE THEY GO DOWN EVERY TIME.

[Guru]

This first bird was taken about half way through our season here in NY.

I heard two birds gobbling, set up, and purposly left my jake decoy in the shorter grass of the two-track so the gobblers could easily see it as they approached(a hen was set a couple yards in front closer to the blind)...
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Both gobblers showed up after about 10 minutes of calling and came right to the jake decoy. I shot the strutter at about 10yds, slightly quartering away.

Arrow looked to dissappear right where I wanted it, and both gobblers took off and were out of sight over a slight rise after 20yds.

This is what I found after waiting about 20 minutes(I'd have waited longer had I not been so sure of my shot)...

First sign was right at the spot where the gobbler stood when hit...
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A couple yards further along, some scattered small drops of blood and a cut feather with no blood where it was cut. Indicating the it was cut on the near side before the bh entered the body...
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Couple yards further...now the blood is coming out both sides...
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About 10 yds. into the trail...the arrow where it fell out the far side of the bird(blood from bh to nock)...
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Going through the tall grass...
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 The gobbler had gone down just after it went out of sight over the rise...about 25yds...
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Next we'll get into the shot placement pix, and autopsy...

[Shaun]

On a bird in full strut there is a lot of nothing (feathers) in the top third. Aim just above center over the leg. My favorite shot is from the back like Guru mentioned. Good chance of anchoring and the feathers are easier to penetrate.

[frassettor]

Thanks for posting this Curt. Unfortuntaly, Turkeys are my NEMISIS! Sat in the blinds countless hours (11 hrs at a time) with no success, but when I leave, there they are! Hopefully one of these years if I ever get presented with a shot , I will remember your thread on where to put the arrow  

[East Coast archer]

Cool thread Guru.  Can't wait for more as I finally got permission for some property that has them.

[Guru]

Slightly quartering away shot...

The broadhead took the gobbler high, just in front of the thigh...
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And came out right behind the wing butt...
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Skinned out...this is once again where the arrow entered.The knife point(Chris Surtees' "Cutter") is on the wing butt.   I've tried to outline as best I could about where the vitals, and entrails lay in the body. The heart, lungs, liver are in the front outlined section...

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Where the arrow exited...
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Next is an eye opener...

[cacciatore]

For sure a small target compared to the whole size.Great tutorial Curt,thanks for sharing.I am sure it will help me on my first turkey hunt next April in Nebraska with a fellow TGanger.

[3Feathers]

Thanks for the great info I,m sure it will help in the harvestof my first bird.Great picture of your bird.I guess thats how you get it done.What
broadhead did you use??

[Hopewell Tom]

Man, that's informative, the skinned bird especially. We don't have turkeys here, I'd love to chase them, tho. The thing I note about the high hit is that the "mess" will be low in the roasting pan. All good meat is saved. Good post!

[Guru]

Here is where you can see how a seemingly basketball size target gets small real quick!

With the breast meat taken away, entrance...
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Exit...
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Also not the chunk of thigh meat missing in the entrance pix..You can also see in these pix that the near leg was further forward when the arrow hit the gobbler.

Easy to see now why a low/forward shot, like you'd shoot a deer, will lead to nothing but frustation!  Nothing there but meat, crop, and keel of the breast bone.  Keep your shots high!!!

Now with the breast plate pulled away from it's normal position...you can see the the bh went in front of the liver, and into the heart/lung area further forward...
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Here's the heart...you can see by the bloody tips on three of the four "hoses" attached to it. Those are the one's cut by the bh as it passed though.The biggest one, I cut to take the heart out for the pix, no blood on the cut.


More to come      
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[LongStick64]

Awesome thread.
I have a question, when you position a decoy, I know some that position the Jake so it is facing them, this way they say the gobbler will strut facing the decoy and give you a turkey facing away from you, giving a good back shot ? True or false

[Spurs]

This is really good stuff. I am ashamed to say it took me 3 hits to realize that I needed to shoot higher.  Good thing is 2 birds were just feather grazed low beneath wings, but the 3rd was a breast hit that I lost.  It's bowhunting, but I had a misconception of where to shoot the bird.  Curt has this nailed.  Archery turkey hunters should burn this info into their heads.    

[Hawkeye]

Excellent thread, Curt.  This really helps clarify my mental image of what to "go for."  Thanks!

[Dirtybird]

Wow, amazing Curt and thank you for the info.  Keep it coming, I always enjoy the learning experience that comes along with hunting.  Every time I go out I learn something new.

[magnus]

This great! Makes the 3D target zone not
The place to aim for. At least on the few I've seen.

[Molson]

Excellent Curt!!

[FerretWYO]

Great thread Curt. I have taken quite a few turkeys and am learning a lot from this.