Im not to good at head shots yet with a compound bow,would i still be able to take a bird with only body shots?
I plan to be able to make head shots soon but i just need more time.
But the question is would i be able to take a bird with body shots ,and what is the best poundage on a bow to be able to penatrate the feathers? :thanks:
In all actuality the head/neck and the vitals are about the same size. Add in a big cutting diameter broadhead like a Bullhead and you increase your kill zone.
You can kill a turkey with a 40# bow with a well placed shot. I would not suggest using over the top expandables with a low poundage bow.
Yes. Broadside shots at the base of the wing with big broadheads are very deadly. Head shots are risky. Shoot all the weight you can comfortably handle. Pass through shots on turkeys are harder than deer in my experience.
This should help with shot placement. Remember hit'm high watch them die hit'm low watch them go.
(http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab312/Cooter2575/f508992c.jpg)
Head shots are no more risky than body shots.imo
Thanks everyone for your help,maybe tomorrow i'll be able to bag a bird.
:funnyturkey:
As much as ther head moves around I dont think Robin Hood could pull off a head shot :OGturkeyhead:.
Call me Sir Locksly cause I have done it. Their head doesn't move much when they are strutting or standing still. It moves a lot when they are walking normally but I don't shoot them then didnt shoot them when they were walking when I was taking body shot either though.
To each their own. I just feel there is less chance of wounding a bird with the head shot.
Head shots are the only way to go. It's either a dead bird or a miss.
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I like wing butt shots or the "Texas Heart Shot" when aiming at a bird strutting from the rear. Let us know how you make out.
The strutting Texas heart shot was my favorite when I was using the traditional broadheads. It gave a real "spot" to shoot at. Shot and chased a number of side shot birds. Watched others do just fine with those shots, just not me.
Decoy placement, can put the birds in the correct position to shoot. I use a strutting jake facing towards the blind. Most of the time the birds come to the front of the decoy and give a good shot. Hen decoys I face away as the gobblers tend to approach from behind to mount. Any thoughts???
And I agree with the head and body kill area being about the same size....SMALL. I've had some trouble with tuning and consistency with the Magnus Bullheads.
Good luck with your bow.
I've gotten three birds with the bow and all have been body shots. A head/neck shot would be great but certainly more difficult. I never shot a bird in strut (like the picture above showing vitals) and took a side-shot at the wing butt. You want to hit a turkey high. A perfect shot at a turkey is to have them standing upright and facing away from you...shoot them right in the middle of the back. The lungs are in between the ribs. I'm going to KS next season and will be taking the bow.
I've killed 15 gobblers with aelf bow zwickys, the last 13,14 years I shot my own trade points and 4 gobblers with knapped heads. all but 3 have been 15 yards or under.
Lots of people shoot wing butts. But top of the drium sticks are much better. The heart lungs a little under the wing butt and back a tat above the drum sticks.
Plus if you take his legs out he can't run orv jump off the ground to fly.
The TEXAS heart shots my favoret. And the ones I get the most. Because I set up differntly and most people. I set up with my back to the gobbler so he has to go by be.
You have a great shot his he's foused on whats ahead of him. The drawings alot easyer.
It's above the drum stick for me.
Quote from: Cooter on April 04, 2012, 12:01:14 AM
This should help with shot placement. Remember hit'm high watch them die hit'm low watch them go.
(http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab312/Cooter2575/f508992c.jpg)
Head shots are no more risky than body shots.imo
Cool picture. That does help.
Just above the legs and they cant go anywhere! !!!
I go straight up the legs and high on the wing,or above the drumsticks will break the legs as well. Many people make the mistake of shooting to far forward into the breast,which many times will not kill a turkey.All those vitals sit in behind that big breast,sans the head.I have had great results with Slick Trick fixed broadheads.I know the mechanicals work,but I shoot fixed just as a personal preference. The Trick broadhead does some lethal damage.The broadside shot gives you the biggest target,but the spine is also an option,as is the texas heart shot,which is a great one also. Turkeys are tuff birds,but a well placed shot will do the trick
Some good info in this thread, but lots of bad info in my opinion. The wing butt is about the worst place you can hit a turkey. The vitals are straight up from the legs as some have suggested. There is nothing behind the wing butt other than breast meat and keel bone. my favorite shot on a turkey is slick feathered facing away, so you can put the arrow right in his back. (Low in his back, in the wing primaries) My least favorite would probably be facing me strutting. I also would suggest facing the decoy AWAY from you. A gobbler never approaches a jake or another gobbler from the front. I have hours of video evidence to prove this. This will get the bird looking the other way so you can get a good back shot, or get drawn for a good head shot. I would also suggest lowering your poundage to 50 or 55 lbs. Keeping the arrow in a turkey is a good thing.
Yes! You won't have any problems killing a turkey with a body shot. When you get Moore comfortable then you can move to the head shots. I've killed plenty of turkeys with body shots.
Quote from: Fox Fire on April 06, 2012, 11:48:36 PM
As much as ther head moves around I dont think Robin Hood could pull off a head shot :OGturkeyhead:.
It's doable........
Just get em in strut or when they aren't walking.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m171/dmmallia/image.jpg1_zpsxp29qnu2.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/dmmallia/media/image.jpg1_zpsxp29qnu2.jpg.html)
I like the Texas heart shot.
Quote from: drenalinld on April 03, 2012, 11:24:39 PM
Yes. Broadside shots at the base of the wing with big broadheads are very deadly. Head shots are risky. Shoot all the weight you can comfortably handle. Pass through shots on turkeys are harder than deer in my experience.
How are head shots risky? If you even touch the head he's dead, if you miss its a miss, and if you hit his body with a large broadhead like a magnus bullhead, he will be hurting in the morning but he'll live another day. With a body shot if you miss the vitals he might die but you won't find him. Even with a hit on the vitals you might struggle to find him. With a head shot you can see the outline of your target. With a body shot you just have to hope that you studied your diagrams. I see no risk in head shots. I see a lot of risk with body shots.
Quote from: Premier Turkey Calls on January 28, 2018, 07:49:49 PM
Quote from: drenalinld on April 03, 2012, 11:24:39 PM
Yes. Broadside shots at the base of the wing with big broadheads are very deadly. Head shots are risky. Shoot all the weight you can comfortably handle. Pass through shots on turkeys are harder than deer in my experience.
How are head shots risky? If you even touch the head he's dead, if you miss its a miss, and if you hit his body with a large broadhead like a magnus bullhead, he will be hurting in the morning but he'll live another day. With a body shot if you miss the vitals he might die but you won't find him. Even with a hit on the vitals you might struggle to find him. With a head shot you can see the outline of your target. With a body shot you just have to hope that you studied your diagrams. I see no risk in head shots. I see a lot of risk with body shots.
+1
I will clarify by risk I meant risk of not getting the bird. Not sure what a broad head cut to neck or head that does not hit brain or sound would mean. I don't think head/neck shots are 100% miss/kill but agree more risk of wounded bird with body shots.
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The way I see it, with a head shot you can see the outline of your target and I would much rather miss a bird 10x with a head shot and know that he would live than miss 1 body shot and wound the bird. Plus the added bonus of 0% meat loss with a head shot. Why wouldn't you choose head shots?
When I used a compound, to shoot headshots I needed to get longer arrows and Bullheads or at the time Guillotines were popular, so I went with a large mechanical instead, a 2" Hammerhead. Same arrow, same tune, pins, etc.
Switched to a recurve and thought about Bullheads again, research showed they may not work well with my 45# bow. Went with the biggest 3 blade fixed I could find, a 150 grain Snuffer, and they do as much damage as the mechanicals did.
I would feel a lot more comfortable with the body shots vs head shots. That gives you a little better percentage in hiting that bird vs that head shot.
Quote from: kyturkeyhunter4 on March 07, 2018, 02:42:52 PM
I would feel a lot more comfortable with the body shots vs head shots. That gives you a little better percentage in hiting that bird vs that head shot.
Hitting the bird and killing the bird are completely different. I would miss a head shot any day over a miss on a body shot. If you miss a head shot in any direction he lives. Even if your head chopper hits the body, it will likely bounce off. If you miss a body shot in any direction you still "hit" the bird and now he's wounded. The body shot vitals vs head shot vitals, inch for inch, are nearly identical in size. Then you add a large diameter head chopper broadhead into play and that equals a better percentage of "killing" the bird. Plus an added bonus of 0% meat loss!!!
My own experience with bullheads - hit one low in the wing and it bounced off. We watched him out of range and he was fine.
Hit one in the head...lights out, folded.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180308/5d75a934f02e7515d2e80998ecb12511.jpg)
Accuracy is really what matters, not head or body. Both are pretty small targets, make sure you can hit where them where you need to. That's why I like them close, inside 10 yds with my recurve.
They don't go far if you hit them right....
(https://s20.postimg.org/olmscqp25/P5081471.jpg)
Body shots for me.
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Quote from: Premier Turkey Calls on January 28, 2018, 07:49:49 PM
Quote from: drenalinld on April 03, 2012, 11:24:39 PM
Yes. Broadside shots at the base of the wing with big broadheads are very deadly. Head shots are risky. Shoot all the weight you can comfortably handle. Pass through shots on turkeys are harder than deer in my experience.
How are head shots risky? If you even touch the head he's dead, if you miss its a miss, and if you hit his body with a large broadhead like a magnus bullhead, he will be hurting in the morning but he'll live another day. With a body shot ifu you miss the vitals he might die but you won't find him. Even with a hit on the vitals you might struggle to find him. With a head shot you can see the outline of your target. With a body shot you just have to hope that you studied your diagrams. I see no risk in head shots. I see a lot of risk with body shots.
This is crazy. There's no magic. Hit the brain spine and it's dead. Try hitting him in the face, you might shoot his beak off and it'd possibly die of starvation. Bet lots of "near miss" head shots are cutting birds.
There are pros and cons to both w an adult but there are no touch an area and it's dead that's not actually vitals.
If you're unable to learn where to shoot on a body shot a good head shot is fine. A bad one though is just as horrific make no mistake