Turkey shot placement ?

[Archer156]

I turkey hunt more than most poeple and have for several years! Only two out of years of hunting turkey have been taken with a shotgun the rest with a bow! Broadheads for turkey should only be an expandable broadhead because they do the best job on a turkey if you place the arrow in the vitals! Shot placement is if they are facing away shoot center of back just above where the tail meets the body. Side shot is just above the top of the leg thigh area! Or if you good enough a head shot will put them down on the spot! I have never had a bird go out of site with these shot or broadheads. Fixed blade heads work but the turkey sometimes will take flight or run a long way before dying. Expandable heads put more shock into the birds and they don't go far! My experience!

[ClayW]

It's generally not a "kill zone" shot - you may have to go wring their neck - but they are not going anywhere. I read where alot of guys (it'''s happened to me) miss the spine, neck or tiny vitals, and get a pass through but the turkey has enough life left in them to run and get airborne. Or the wings are broken and they take off like Carl Lewis through the woods. They may die shortly thereafter but they don't have to fly or run too far to be lost forever.

That makes sense but I prefer well placed shots in the areas I marked. All of my shots are under 15 yards so shot placement usually isn't a problem

[ClayW]

[ATTACH]308240[/ATTACH]

[jerp]

I did not get to turkey hunt last Spring for the first time in many years - all these gobbler pics are getting me pumped - come'on April!

[cd7467]

Gonna have to print those pics off for target practice

[JW]

Magnus Bullhead. Upside the head!

[ClayW]

My main argument against the hip/thigh shots is that you are shooting blind. You really don't have any reference points to use. Depending on the posture of the bird, sometimes you can't even see the legs let alone the hip area. If you can accurately put an arrow through both thighs, then it is a dead bird. However, I've seen my fair of "one legged" birds hobble off and bury themselves in a cedar bush to never be found. When this placement is discussed with novice hunters, I think the majority of them "center punch" the bird and the bird is lost.

The shot placements I posted can be referenced regardless of the birds posture. I use the legs, bronze wing band, and the dark black stripe above the bands as reference.

Again, these are just my opinions I've developed over the years. There are many ways to kill a bird and these are just the ones I found most effective

[huntingpj]

Magnus Bullhead. Upside the head!

I am gonna try these!

[glen]

Right up the ok coolero works every time

[Concho Man]

Magnus Bullhead. Upside the head!

Or just the regular stingers (I know, I got lucky)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpRTv-Ksynk&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Head Shot on a Rio with Magnus Stinger - YouTube[/ame]

[Target-panic]

Trophyridge Hammerhead 4"-6" above where the legs go out of sight in the body feathers = deadbird.

[GYWOOD]

For Turkey Body Shots, The Hartcraft X-Change Thumper

For Head/Kneck shots the Hartcraft X-Change Lopper

[big_smith]

I have had pretty good success putting a BH up the behind on turkeys. In general I shoot for the big part and have been successful.

[Hills of Texas]

I shoot them through the wing joints with a fixed blade and have had real good luck. turkey are tough birds and can be pretty hard to kill.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I've killed literally dozens of turkeys with my bow since the early '80's with recurves and wheelie bows. The one shot you should NOT take is a face on shot. (unless it is a head shot with a bullhead or guillotine. Pretty much all the above posts are actually saying the same thing about shot placement locations. They just describe them a bit differently. From behind or from the side or even quartering you can get the vitals easily by splitting the difference between where the legs and body line intersect and where the wings attach. A turkey really doesn't have a "spine". It does have a back bone structure that supports the wings and if you break it they are dead meat. I once killed a turkey with my bow by hitting both legs and cutting meat and the Achilles tendons on both legs. The turkey immediately dropped to the ground and flapped his wings frantically trying to get off the ground. He did this until he bled to death all the while with me trying to get another arrow in him... I missed him 3 more times. By the time I climbed down from my tree stand and retrieved the closest arrow and ran to him, he was dead... If you shoot one when facing away, if his head is down, shoot him pretty low. if his head is up and erect, shoot just below dead center (again split the difference between his legs and wings.) My favorite shots of all time though have been a couple years ago with the guillotines... sure made for a heck of a video, and no tracking necessary.