Archery Shot Placement for Wild Turkeys

Wild turkeys can be difficult to recover even after they have been shot with a razor-sharp broadhead.  Turkeys are able to take a hard hit, and still have the stamina to walk, or even fly away, and possibly never are found.  If an archer is unable to his mark, recovery will not be easy.  Every hunter has an ethical and moral obligation to know here to aim for the quickest possible kill on a bird that has left many hunters scratching their heads as they search diligently for a turkey that they thought had just taken a lethal hit.

Turkey hunters have three options as to what type of broadhead to use when pursuing turkeys.  They include the fixed, mechanical and guillotine-type broadheads.

Fixed-blade broadheads that are at least 1 ¼ -inches in diameter, or mechanical heads that are shot at the vitals are they preferred choice by many hunters.  Other hunters choose to shoot at the neck of a big bird with a big four-blade broadhead made just for the neck and head region of a turkey.  If you ask 50 hunters if they prefer a body shot or a head shot for a quick kill, the answers will likely be split even between the two choices.

For years all that turkey hunters had available to them were large, fixed blade broadheads.  This type of head has accounted for countless numbers of turkeys over the years.  As technology improves, so does the broadheads available for the turkey hunter.

Arrow penetration has been a highly debated topic among turkey hunters for as long as turkeys have been hunted with archery equipment.  Some hunters prefer a pass-through shot that will cause a lot of damage, as well as leave a good blood trail to follow.  I believe that the turkey will receive a good deal of damage, but I have found that most turkeys do not leave a good blood trail to follow.  Their thick feathers will soak up most of the blood before it ever has a chance to reach the ground.

Some hunters, including, myself, like it when the arrow does not pass through the turkey.  I like the arrow to stay in the bird so it will continue to do damage.  One way to keep your arrow from passing through the turkey is to put some sort of a stopper behind the broadhead.

Open on impact (mechanical) broadheads are quickly becoming favorites of turkey hunters.  Mechanical broadheads that offer a wide cutting diameter will cause plenty of hemorrhaging along with a lot of damage to a turkey.  A well placed open on impact heads will quickly put a bird down for the count.  Rocky Mountain has some great mechanical heads that are great for turkey hunting.

This past deer season I began using the Slang Blade broadhead from Fire N The Hole. After having unbelievable luck with this giant 4-inch broadhead on deer, I carried it over to spring turkey hunting.

The 4-inch mechanical is a different design from other mechanical broadhead on the market with 2 goals in mind:  1) A firing mechanism that guarantees it to open ever time and 2) the largest cutting radius than any other broadhead.

Size:  The 4-inch cut is attained by removing the ferrule out that the traditional broadheads have and replacing it with the weight of the cutting blades.  This gives the blades four times more material than traditional blades of other broadheads.  Each blade weighs 37.5 grains, which means that 75% of the weight of the broadhead is in the blades.  This turns blades into small knives, which are tough enough to cut through skin, fur, flesh, bone, vital organs, etc.  At 50-thousandths thick and 200-thousandths wide, this makes the 4-inch mechanical an exceptionally durable broadhead that gets the job done.

Cut:  The blades are sharpened in one direction, like the blade of a lawnmower or scissors, sharpened on the point making the broadhead cut on contact.  This gives the broadhead superb accuracy as it spins through the air closed and continues spinning through the animal at 4 inches width for unmatched penetration for such a large broadhead.

Opening Mechanism:  The most common complaint of the mechanical broadhead is that it does not open.  We have designed a broadhead that opens using angles, friction, and levers that upon striking the deer must open. The cut-on-contact blades engage the deer and cut in like knives, and the friction and angle move the blades out to the sides as it slices through and enters the vitals cavity.  This mechanism fully opens within the first inch of engaging the animal and will be open at 4 inches while passing through the vitals. This broadhead saves enough kinetic energy to get a pass-though, leaving you a superb trail to follow.  With the amount of damage this broadhead does, you should be able to watch your animal expire.

The biggest mistake that bowhunters make is hitting the turkey too low, or too far back.  It will be very hard for even an experienced turkey hunter to find a bird that has been shot in this part of its body.

The size of a turkey’s heart and lung area is no bigger than a man’s fist.  That is not a big target to hit, especially if you are accustomed to shooting at the vitals of a mature whitetail.  Turkeys that are strutting appear to be a larger target than what they really are.  The truth is what you see on a strutting turkey is mostly air and feathers.  

There is very little actual body under all that fluff.  Do not be tricked into believing you see something that is not really there.  Turkeys are constantly moving.  For this reason, shot angles are always changing, making it difficult to get a shot at the vitals.

It is almost impossible to tell where the vitals are located on a strutting tom.  A better shot would be to wait until the turkey is facing head on and try to put your arrow just above the base of the beard.  If a strutting tom is facing away from you send an arrow through the vent (anus) of the turkey.  The arrow will either pass through the chest or hit the spine.  Either way it will result in a quick, ethical kill.

Nothing is more exciting, or sometimes frustrating, than attempting to shoot a spring tom with archery gear.  Make a good shot and recovery is quick.  If you make a poor shot, you are libel to never find that turkey.  A great practice target is the turkey 3D target from Shooter Buck.  It has all three aiming points I discussed in this article.  If you can master hitting the bullseye on this target, you will not have any problem killing a turkey this spring.