In the spirit of, " If I knew THEN what I know NOW...". ,
If you were starting from scratch, what would be your #1 trad turkey hunting bow set up? Amo? Draw weight? Make/model? And most fun part to read... "Why?"
Thanks in advance.
I use my deer hunting rig except I may use a string tracker this year.
56 or 58" recurve, 44#, Easton FMJ, Helix 2-blade single bevel, 4" feathers.
I use this to keep things as simple as this tinkerer can stand,
Same bow I use for all my hunting. 64" Caribow Featherhorn 53#
I've killed them with 70" hill bows to 52" recurves but all were deer hunting setups. Bows in the mid to upper 50's 2 blades, 3 blades and 4 blades all worked well.
The last dozen years or so it's been always the same, D style bows 66-68" Douglas fir arrows with 2 blade 200g Ace heads. Around 650g and 56-58# bows, I build bows so there's no way I can say a specific bow just the style of bow I like to shoot. I change nothing from deer to turkeys to elk to small game.
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Tracy
Well I like a short bow, the shorter the better. The shortest bow I can shoot is 56" but I have a 29"+ draw, if I had a 28" or less I'd shoot 54" or shorter. Why, because your either hunting out of a pop up blind or sitting on a stool in a natural blind or even sitting on your duff if the situation requires. All of these methods require a bow be short and maneuverable. I like a mid 40# bow, you don't need a lot of weight and you may have to hold at full draw longer than normal waiting for the Gobbler to come from behind a tree or waiting for that perfect shot. The lighter weight is just easier to shoot more accurately, turkey vitals are very small even at 10 yards your shooting at a tennis ball. Brand doesn't matter, lots of good sticks on the market.
As for arrows I like them heavy, just as heavy as for big game but for different reasons. You want to inflict as much shock as possible on the bird. Lots of times I have rolled a Gobbler and had enough time to get to him and put my foot on his head, just a safety measure because if you have hunted long enough
you've had them get up and take off never to be found. I use the biggest 3-blade heads I can find, 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" 250 to 300 gr. Again the vitals are small I want as much cutting surface as I can get, also aids in the shock.
Works for me.
RW
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(http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b560/roywmackey/image_zpswxef8hsj.jpeg) (http://s1291.photobucket.com/user/roywmackey/media/image_zpswxef8hsj.jpeg.html)
I'm with Tracy but I also shoot a few 3Ds with my hunting bow. After all, 3D is hunting practice to me. Score means diddly cause I shoot angle just like game and that doesn't always make a 10....
I'm shooting a 56-inch Bear TD for turkeys, 45-48#@28 inches. Arrows are either Sweetland forge woods or Easton Axis .500s tipped with Wensel Woodsman broad heads. This combination has worked very well for me. Bow is light enough to hold for a while if I need to to position for a shot and still enough zip to skewer a turkey quite well. No worry about catching a limb tip on the top or side of the blind. For most other critters, I shoot longer bows -- 60-inch recurves and 64-66-inch r/d and straight longbows.
40# Omega, like most everything else. Woodsman or Grizzly heads.
Nice guys! I'll be using my new 56" 50# helms deep this year 560 gr Doug fir tipped with original woodsman's
This year I will use a 54" longbow 47#, not because I plan on tucking into a small blind or anything, just because that's the bow I like.
Going to toss some deltas, a kodiak, and a simmon's tiger shark in the quiver (all rigged to be 300 grains up front) and see what happens :archer:
I shorten my bow quite a bit because I shoot out of a blind. I use a Bear T/D, A handle and #1 limbs (56") 48# w/2018's and a Magnus head.