Turkey Videos and shot placement commentary

[highPlains]

Well I finally got the turkey videos from opening weekend up on YouTube.

I will offer my comments on the shot placement and the effects of each shot.

Let me start by saying that it is extremely difficult to guarantee shot placement on an animal this small, and one that moves around as much as turkeys do. For this reason I shoot the largest broadhead that I can get to fly well. Because the chances are high that an arrow will go through non-vital portions of the turkey, I want to cause as much damage as possible to create as quick of a death as possible. It's not like turkeys are large birds, so a large broadhead does a lot of damage. But at the same time they can be incredibly difficult to kill. My experience has led me to become a firm, firm believer in LARGE broadheads for turkeys.

My opinions are based off of my observations from my experiences, as well as research I have done on my own.

I shoot at turkeys from any angle the shot presents itself, and I aim at the intersection of an imaginary line drawn straight up from the legs, and horizontal from just above the beard. Essentially this is the top of the hips for a broadside shot. I shoot here for two main reasons. One: I have a hard time picking a spot on a turkey, especially a tom in full strut. So looking straight up from the legs gives me a good reference to where his body actually is, and helps me zone in on a small aiming point. And Two: I have found that from any angle the turkey is standing, this intersection is very lethal, and kills the turkeys quite quickly.

Take a look at where I would aim at any one of these turkeys:

 
(I killed the turkey on the left in the above photo but did not get it on video. I shot him at this angle, in the exact spot I was aiming for. He died within 5 seconds.)

 

 

 

Like I said, it's difficult to guarantee shot placement on an animal so small as a turkey. So if my aim is off by a few inches than I should still have a relatively easy recovery. If I am high then no problem, higher shots generally result in quicker deaths. If I am low, I still take out the turkeys legs, and a turkey that cannot run cannot fly.

[highPlains]

Now on to the videos:

We'll start with the turkey that I killed on opening morning. Watch the video first and then we'll discuss the outcome (don't laugh that I missed such a close shot at a little jake!).

   

The turkey died at the spot last seen in the video.

 

You can see that I missed by shooting higher and to the left of where I would ideally like to shoot.

Having seen several turkeys shot in this exact same place I knew that this turkey would not go too far. You can see the damage done to the turkeys leg by the way he was walking. It would have been difficult or impossible for him to fly away.

I was shooting an extremely wide four bladed broadhead. The bloodtrail from the spot of the shot to where the turkey died would make any deer hunter happy. You can even see the blood pumping out of him in the video. So, while I don't recommend this spot to shoot a turkey in, I have seen it be quite lethal, several different times.

Next lets take a look at the turkey my Dad shot.

     

 

This was a breast shot and did not pass through any vitals. The shot should have been further back, towards the intersection drawn.

We knew right away that it would require some time to recover this turkey. Lucky for us he stayed within our sight for the entire time. The turkey laid down on a hill, so Dad came up the back side of the hill, while I walked straight towards the turkey. He ran up the hill and Dad met him on the other side. The turkey was too weak to fly and had a hard time running.

I truly believe that if we had pursued this turkey right away we would have never gotten him. He would have had the strength to run or fly well out of our sight. Also, I think it helped that we were able to watch him for a long time and see where he laid down. Had he wanted to I am sure he could have covered quite a bit of ground before laying down.

All in all, I hate this spot to shoot a turkey, it usually leads to very difficult recoveries, and almost always requires a follow up shot. But sometimes you get lucky!

Now lets take a look at the turkey that Ashley shot.

   

As you can see Ashley made a great shot (third time's a charm!) and the turkey died on the spot. She completely took out the far leg and it was barely salvageable to eat.

Hopefully I'll have a few more videos later this season!

[Orion]

Wow!  You folks are in turkey heaven.  Thanks for sharing.        

[skilonbw]

really liked the videos of turkey hunting.

[Basinboy]

Lots of birds! Congrats to the three of you!

[Blaino]

Talk about being covered up with turkeys!!!! Great stuff.

[redant 60/65]

Great videos, and good shooting.  

[Hooper]

Congrats on your bird's. Great video's, thanks for posting them.

[Shan]

Awesome visuals! thanks for the narrative    

[turkey522]

Great video,congrats on the birds.

[Dave Thaxton]

Well Done!! Great Videos!!

[JParanee]

Thx very good stuff

[Guru]

That's good stuff Tommy          

Unbelievable amount of birds!  Really enjoyed the videos, never get enough of bowkilled turkeys!!

[bansheewins]

Awesome videos.  No shortage of birds there.

[Fritz]

Thanks for the refresher on aiming points. I hope to get a chance to try them out in KS next wk.

[MJB]

OUTSTANDING !!! I'll Add this...
 

[snakebit40]

That's great Tommy! Thanks for sharing!  

[Tall Paul]

Way to go, Ashley!

Thanks for putting that together!

Your method of drawing two lines seems like a good idea!

[Tall Paul]

I learned something on the breast shot!  I didn't think it was possible to recover that bird!

[highPlains]

Thanks guys, yes we are super lucky to be in to that many birds. It only lasts about a week before they break up and spread out, then it is like normal turkey hunting again.

Tall Paul, we got lucky to recover that turkey. If we were not able to watch him until he laid down it would have made it even more difficult. Having a 4 blade 1.5" broadhead helps! There was a ton of damage to the breast, and the bird was quite weakened from the shot when we pursued him.