Aim at the head??

[dirt road ninja]

I usually aim at the middle of the neck. But if you have your shotgun patterned, you put it anywhere on his head/neck, you will kill him.

[Longshanks]

Thought provoking subject is it not?? I hunt for so many more reasons than eating Wild game. The outdoor experience, thrill of the hunt, fellowship, time with family, introducing new hunters to the sport, teaching kids about the outdoors, and the list goes on and on..eating wild game is just a bonus and in my experience more important to the overall hunting experience than it is "what the family prefers to eat."
    I have a buddy claiming his wife prefers wildgame over anything else..I said "you want to bet". We took our wifes to Ruth Chris steak house and grilled venison tenderloin the next night. After the venison dinner we asked them which meal tasted better?? They said "are you kidding??" the venison wasn't even a comparison to the fillets we had the night before..she hated to hurt his feelings but this "wildgame preference" was all in his head. He was acting like he was the great white hunter and his family was enduring eating wildgame all the time to appease him.

Gee. Compared to the prices charged at Ruth's Chris, my $50/lb venison tenderloin is sounding better and better.

The point of that was that a quality beef filet was preferred by all 4 people sitting at the table including my buddy claiming that "the family prefers venison". You can buy quality beef much cheaper than going to Ruth Chris.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

if they are in tight on me (sub 20 yards), I shoot them right above the beard in the body (facing straight at me) or between the wing butt and the wattles if they are walking broadside to me.

if they are out past 20-25 yards I shoot right at the feathers where they meet the neck.

i shoot much lower than most guys do when they are too close but i don't see much meat get wasted.  my patterns inside 15 yards are  the size of a quarter dollar.

it may not be a palletable or acceptable mentality for some, but it has proven highly effective for me.

[Longshanks]

if they are in tight on me (sub 20 yards), I shoot them right above the beard in the body (facing straight at me) or between the wing butt and the wattles if they are walking broadside to me.

if they are out past 20-25 yards I shoot right at the feathers where they meet the neck.

i shoot much lower than most guys do when they are too close but i don't see much meat get wasted.  my patterns inside 15 yards are  the size of a quarter dollar.

it may not be a palletable or acceptable mentality for some, but it has proven highly effective for me.

Thats how you put em down! Rarely miss that way as well. I killed one this year inside 15yds and aimed a few inches above his beard. The pattern was the size of a baseball or smaller. Turkey didnt even flop. Normally im on the feather line but adjust when they get that close.(< than 15yds)

[Reloader]

If you miss turkeys by aiming at the head, you need to spend many hours on the range.

I'd say out of the last 30 turkeys I've killed in the past few years, the only high miss was because the turkey was too close and it happened too fast. Luckily I killed that bird with a follow up.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with aiming at the turkeys head. I could care less that part of the pattern is going over his head, part of it is going left or right as well, big deal.  That's why we have patterns and not single projectiles.

Pellets in the breast would be far more common if I where to aim at the base of the neck.  More beards would get slaughtered as well. I aim at their head and frequently get pellets in the top of the breast. I also commonly get a pellet in the base of the beard knocking a few strands out.  Aiming lower would increase both.

The beauty is everyone can aim where they chose, none are wrong. 


Reloader

[Longshanks]

I've killed way over 100 longbeards in my life and have seen at least twice that many die in front of gun.  When people with 40-50 years of turkey hunting wisdom try to share their experience with you might want to at least have an open mind and consider what they are saying..last time..a little common sense.

   Most of the turkey guns that folks shoot these days will put the entire pattern in a 10" circle at 20yds. At 15 yards and less that pattern can be 6-8 inches. Being satisfied that half your pattern is all you need..you would only have 3 or so inches as a margin for error..if you don't think you could get off target 3 inches or so on a moving target you are very mistaken..it wouldn't matter if you slept at the gun range and shot every day..

[OLE RASPY]

It's going to be o.k., really.

[Gadget]

I've killed way over 100 longbeards in my life and have seen at least twice that many die in front of gun.  When people with 40-50 years of turkey hunting wisdom try to share their experience with you might want to at least have an open mind and consider what they are saying..last time..a little common sense.

    Most of the turkey guns that folks shoot these days will put the entire pattern in a 10" circle at 20yds. At 15 yards and less that pattern can be 6-8 inches. Being satisfied that half your pattern is all you need..you would only have 3 or so inches as a margin for error..if you don't think you could get off target 3 inches or so on a moving target you are very mistaken..it wouldn't matter if you slept at the gun range and shot every day..

Easy big fellow. Ronnie likes to shoot them in the head and stacks 'em like cordwood every year. And my family really and truly prefers venison to beef. It's going to be o.k., really.

Ronnie needs to respect his elders a little more.... lol


sent from my HTC EVO using Tapatalk

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

If you miss turkeys by aiming at the head, you need to spend many hours on the range.

I'd say out of the last 30 turkeys I've killed in the past few years, the only high miss was because the turkey was too close and it happened too fast. Luckily I killed that bird with a follow up.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with aiming at the turkeys head. I could care less that part of the pattern is going over his head, part of it is going left or right as well, big deal.  That's why we have patterns and not single projectiles.

Pellets in the breast would be far more common if I where to aim at the base of the neck.  More beards would get slaughtered as well. I aim at their head and frequently get pellets in the top of the breast. I also commonly get a pellet in the base of the beard knocking a few strands out.  Aiming lower would increase both.

The beauty is everyone can aim where they chose, none are wrong. 


Reloader

Ronnie,

I tend to agree with you but I will provide this alternative perspective.

Even the tighest shotgun pattern inside of 15 yards is not nearly as small as a single rifle projectile.  That being said, I do not have the luxury of shooting every turkey off the steady rest of my knee.  Occasionally, my body is contorted, my arms are tired, I'm shaking from the pain of the discomfort, and the last thing I want to be worried about when I finally get the chance to shoot 'em in the face is how smoothe my trigger pull is.

Consequently, I see no reason to aim at a 3" wide head given the totality of those circumstances.

I allow myself to believe that I am a fairly proficient shooter and tend to shoot several times per month.  That being said, I will never incur the chance of a head shot miss at point blank range in favor of shooting at a larger mass (i.e. the areas I mentioned in my earlier post).

If someone wants to do so, by all means that is their perogative and I have no qualms with any of it. But....a bird shot at 5 yards with a shotgun shell size hole through its head is just as dead as my bird with a shotgun size hole high in its body.  I just tend to shoot there at extreme close range because it is a higher percentage shot, especially when movement is factored into the equation.

[OLE RASPY]

butterball at the grocery..they taste better too.

Not me.Dont get me wrong i like butter balls to but wild turkey is the best.Wild turkeys dont have all the extra stuff injected in them to make them grow big in a shrt amount of time.Theres a difference in my opinion.
I aim at the wattles on a wild turkey (if hes facing me) im shooting a little high anyway.Never seen a problem.

[Reloader]

Longshanks,


I've killed piles of the rascals as well and called many more to the gun.  I'm not knocking your experience nor your aiming point, just simply stating there's more than one way to skin a cat


Keep shooting them in the neck and I'll keep holding that dot as close as I can to the noggin and we'll both keep stacking them up.

The only time I ask folks to shoot them at the feather line is with newbies or kids on close range birds and neither should have a super tight turkey rig in their hands IMO.

VA,  I agree with you on the close shots, I prefer them out past 20 myself. Killed a nice 3yo a couple seasons back at 12yds and had one slug like hole through his neck right below his head. Call it lucky I suppose.

Have to agree with you fellas that like the wild turkey taste over the steroidballs. Seems everyone gobbles up the wild turkey when we cook them.  Can't say that about the store bought birds at Christmas time, but the dogs sure like the leftovers.  I prefer venison to beef as well.  Luckily we don't have to buy any meat with the cattle farm in the family and all the big game adventures every year.

Ya'll have a good one,

Reloader

[Hognutz]

I agree with reloader. I shoot for the head. The lower half of my pattern takes care of the neck. The head is a very cozy aiming point, for me..Each to his own..Mike

[Gobble!]

Why so much anger over shotting a turkey?
I hope I stay young and dont get old and mad about everything like you older folks 

I shoot for the head. When I patterened my gun. I sighted it in so the top of my 10" circle touches the bottom of where I am aiming. That way half the patterned dosent "fly over his head.
I guess you might as well say I aim for the middle of the neck.

[Longshanks]

Longshanks,


I've killed piles of the rascals as well and called many more to the gun.  I'm not knocking your experience nor your aiming point, just simply stating there's more than one way to skin a cat


Keep shooting them in the neck and I'll keep holding that dot as close as I can to the noggin and we'll both keep stacking them up.

The only time I ask folks to shoot them at the feather line is with newbies or kids on close range birds and neither should have a super tight turkey rig in their hands IMO.

VA,  I agree with you on the close shots, I prefer them out past 20 myself. Killed a nice 3yo a couple seasons back at 12yds and had one slug like hole through his neck right below his head. Call it lucky I suppose.

Have to agree with you fellas that like the wild turkey taste over the steroidballs. Seems everyone gobbles up the wild turkey when we cook them.  Can't say that about the store bought birds at Christmas time, but the dogs sure like the leftovers.  I prefer venison to beef as well.  Luckily we don't have to buy any meat with the cattle farm in the family and all the big game adventures every year.

Ya'll have a good one,

Reloader

Are you saying that you have newbies and kids shoot at the featherline because thats an easier shot for them to make and they will have a better chance of killing the turkey that way??  I think you just supported my reasoning for shooting at the featherline/ waddles....because its the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE SHOT.  If you are shooting red dots or scopes... visibility is not a problem but if you have beads or rifle sights and the turkey is 35-40yds and you aim at his head you can see absolutely nothing when you pull the trigger..if the turkey has made a sudden move you never even see it..

[Longshanks]

Why so much anger over shotting a turkey?
I hope I stay young and dont get old and mad about everything like you older folks  

I shoot for the head. When I patterened my gun. I sighted it in so the top of my 10" circle touches the bottom of where I am aiming. That way half the patterned dosent "fly over his head.
I guess you might as well say I aim for the middle of the neck.

Just curious.. but why wouldn't you just sight in your gun so that the center of your pattern is where you are aiming..that way you have more visibility of the bird when you shoot..you would instead aim at the featherline/ waddles and be able to see more of the turkey when you make the shot..I guess if you have a scope... visibility is probably not an issue but i would always have my POA/POI on..