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Hello everyone, while thinking about the turkey season that is coming up I have a couple questions. First one is that I can't decide if I should grab my shotgun or my compound bow. I would love to bring my bow but I am not very good with it yet. I am going to keep practicing though. I think that I am going to go with a bow and bring my shotgun along. For turkey at what ranges should I practice with my bow. What ranges would you recommend to "master". Sorry for all the questions and thank you everyone and good luck in the upcoming season.
Also if anyone is wondering I have a 5 pin site.
Also if anyone is wondering I have a 5 pin site.
Turkeys are pretty small and have a small vitals area that you need to hit. I would practice and be good at 10, 20, maybe 30 yards.
I've never hunted them with a shotgun, they are just too much fun with a bow. While they do have small vitals, and it seems that beginners seem to have a steep learning curve on where to aim, shots are CLOSE if you have a good set-up. I rarely shoot one farther than 10 yards. Set your decoys about 8 - 10 yards from the blind.
The small vital area can be compensated for by your broadhead choice. Some use "decapitators" - a large BH designed for head shots. You either kill him or miss. However, you need to set up special, longer arrows to use them, be extra careful shooting out of small blind windows, and use a special quiver to carry them. I use a large mechanical. The only caution there is your bow weight. Turkeys are very tough to penetrate. Their feather quills act like armor, and they are fairly light weight targets that can be knocked over by the arrow, absorbing much of the impact. My wife shoots a 45# bow and has had poor/inadequate penetration with mechs. She uses her normal big game broadhead for turkeys. Also, practice at 10 yards. Depending on your set-up, and sight parallax at close range, you need to verify where your arrow hits.
Take your time when they come in and enjoy the show.
Get a 125 grain Magnus Bullhead and go for the head shot. You will need to get a special arrow. I’ve hit and lost plenty of birds over the years with the regular broadhead set-up I use for big game.
Limit yourself to 20 yards. I assume you are using a blind. If so, place the decoys 10 yards from you. You either win or lose and know the results instantly with this head. Take the shotgun along if you work a bird and he just won’t commit that additional 10 yards or you miss and he’s standing there putting at 30 yards.
No, I dont have a blind which makes it even harder. My practice tips are 100 grain, if I get 125 will it mess with the sight in?
I set my decoys up for 10-15 yard shots, place hen facing away and Jake facing the blind, wait for the turkey to be in strut facing away and shoot him right in the asshole, not joking, even though it sounds funny, if you use shotgun have the dekes facing sideways to the blind, it will give you a better profile on the head of the Tom when he's strutting in.
I started using the Bullhead last year and couldn't be happier. Magnus sells a "kit" with arrows and heads. You either kill them or only knock off a few feathers.
As far as range, with these I'd limit to 20 yards. With big mechanicals you can stretch it out a little but understand that a turkey's vitals are small.
I use my 100 grain 20 as my 10 and my 30 as my 20 on my sight. It works well enough. You will definitely want to shoot a few practice shots into a foam block.
If you aren't good at the longer ranges, you could just shoot them point-blank...(see link). If you don't go the blind route, this link is a good option, especially for run-and-gun, scoot-and-shoot, reaping, etc. If you are on public, use the orange Velcro they have on the decoy.
Blinds have made bowhunting turkeys very feasible. They are also great if you are taking a kid along. I would highly recommend getting a blind. They are safe, as some idiot is less likely to shoot you, and your odds of success go way up because you can get away with a lot of movement--like drawing or dropping your bow and grabbing the shotgun. I shot my first archery bird by hiding behind a hay bale back in high school in an open field. I couldn't believe my plan worked. It can be done without a blind but I would not go about it without one or the Ultimate Predator. I saw a nice pop-up at Cabela's yesterday for $80 on clearance. The birds don't care about them in the middle of a field, you'd be amazed.
Good luck and let us know how you do.
I’ve shot several with th trad bows and just my first with a compound. If you shoot a compound, big cutting diameter mechanicals are legit. I shot a turkey last week with a Rage 2.25” head and I’ve never seen a turkey die so fast!
I’ve shot several with th trad bows and just my first with a compound. If you shoot a compound, big cutting diameter mechanicals are legit. I shot a turkey last week with a Rage 2.25” head and I’ve never seen a turkey die so fast!
If I remember correctly you are the teenager that just getting into hunting. Also you were looking for a place to hunt in the foothills. There is also a learning curve with turkeys. If that all is the case unless you stumble on to a hot spot you probably are not going to get whole lot of chances to kill a turkey this season. With that said take the shotgun increase your chance for success. When most of us were your age any kill was a big deal most was with a gun. Get a kill or two under your belt. Plenty of time to focus on bow hunting in the future. Coming from a guy that rarely uses a gun. But if important to you to get it done with a bow nothing wrong with that either.
Good luck either way.
Well, thanks to everyone who gave suggestions, and like the above post I am just a teen and I dont have any extra cash to buy the whole set of the Magnus arrows. I am probably going to go with just a broadhead. I will also set my pins to 10 and 20 and practice that the most. If things are really looking bad, I'm just going to use my shotgun. Thanks again and good luck to ya'll.
Good luck! Turkey hunting is a blast. I have killed almost all mine with a regular broadhead out of a trad bow and shooting for the center of the bird. I did go with a shotgun a couple years ago and had a great time. Lugging the blind and decoys around gets old. Run and gun with just a shotgun and a mouth call is darn fun. Of course you can do the same thing with a bow but it results in getting busted quite a bit drawing.
"Lugging the blind and decoys around gets old" it does but it's so much fun!
John gave you excellent advise "take the shot gun" and start your learning curve that way. Then I hunted with a shot gun for turkeys, I never used decoys. Then and If you find a receptive tom what wants to come in to your calling, set up in an area where the tom can not see too far and have to search for the hens and then come into gun range, ie usualy 30 - 40 yards with a full choke, 12 gage and # 6 shot copper plated and shoot them in the head.
