The more I watch turkey hunting shows on TV the more I have noticed maybe half the hunters will "putt" the bird to take him out of strut. The others just squeeze a shot off with the head almost tucked into the chest. I always putt them. I hit one a little low once, took of part of his beard and a few pellets to the chest. I was able to remove most of the pellets from the breasts but what I missed hurt when i crunched them. . What am I missing? I actually try to hit him with the bottom of the pattern to minimize it.
I don't shoot one in strut. Its usually pretty easy to get him to throw that head up and freeze. putt, cluck, yelp. I think one guy says GUESS WHO. I don't watch turkey SHOWS eather.
I love shooting them in strut, especially when they are inside 20 yards. I'm not sure why guys get so fussy about it but the aiming points are the same and the head is tucked closely to the spine/backbone.
Feathers fly everywhere, they never flop and it makes for great video!
You must have tougher teeth than most
prefer out of strut but would take a strutting shot
Generally a whistle or two will make him drop out of it and stick his head up.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on May 28, 2013, 11:45:04 AM
I love shooting them in strut, especially when they are inside 20 yards. I'm not sure why guys get so fussy about it but the aiming points are the same and the head is tucked closely to the spine/backbone.
Feathers fly everywhere, they never flop and it makes for great video!
Same here. I don't care if he's strutting or not when hes in range cause either way he's getting shot. I don't try to get em out of strut either
I'll try and get him to raise his noggin but if he won't and in range feathers are gonna fly
Exactly what some others have said already, prefer head up, but if he gets too close, he's going to get shot!
I had a Kansas bird this year that would not come out. Several times he started to step into the brush with me :o
I had to keep calling to keep him in strut, then I leaned back as far as I could, and took the shot at 8 feet...
mudhen
I do not have a preference I just shoot him in the head when I can. I generally cut my meat into strips and it makes it easy to make sure all shot is out if any hit the breast. I have never bitten a pellet.
I don't care if they are in full strut or not if he gets in range he is going to get shot. My son's gobbler was in front of us for nearly ten minutes before he could work himself into a postion so he could shoot(we do not use blinds or decoys). That gobbler never came out of strut the entire time. He bit the dirt at 25 yards. :happy0064:
If he's close enough the pattern will be quite small...
I called first, gave him a weak Rick Flair "woo-hoo" and he was still trying to impress the lady. When he turned to his left I pulled the trigger. I managed to save most of the fan.
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc5/cuppednlocked/DSCN1490.jpg) (http://s217.photobucket.com/user/cuppednlocked/media/DSCN1490.jpg.html)
Quote from: headbanger on May 28, 2013, 04:46:17 PM
I'll try and get him to raise his noggin but if he won't and in range feathers are gonna fly
x2 :icon_thumright: