At a recent shoot, I took a couple head shots at turkey targets and found it kind of easy to pick a spot and hit vs finding a spot on a black body. I was wondering if anyone likes to take head shots and what has TRULY worked for you. I am semi-interested in the Magnus and other large bladed head, but am open to trying other things like a ?snaro? with the smaller diameter wires which are more rigid. Also, any home-made turkey head takers out there?
thanks for your input!
Matt
Sorry Matt but the Snaro idea for turkeys just ain't gonna work...you'll have a wounded bird :( . I'd go with a good sharp broadhead to the body or else a Magnus Bullhead on the head/neck shot.
Took one with the bullhead this spring. Definitely did the job.
Have a friend who took one with a blunt. About 8 yards I think. Killed it instant. Legal in the state he was hunting.
A buddy of mine uses gobbler guillitines. This lops of there heads. Very effective, but to me it's not right. I'm a taxidermist who loves to mount turkeys and this makes them unusable. But I goota say you either kill 'em or miss 'em.
Matt, check into it but I think broadheads must me used in Michigan for turkeys.
It's a small target that can move pretty quickly. i have used 160 Snuffers and had great success. Ed
I like the Bullhead idea in practice. I sure wish they came in a glue on for my woodies.
Most of the time the turkeys head is moving around.Makes a tuff target to hit.A snuffer in the body will put it down fast.
You have on one hand, guys who are happy with pie plate groups at twenty yards, talking about hitting a turkey in the head; a head that is in constant motion. Here's why I don't like that: Even the Gobbler Guillotine, and other such head, is turning with the arrow as it flies; what happens if it is vertical and just a bit off line(?). You can take the beak right off a turkey, or damage it without killing it. The luck ratio isn't with you on where that head will be as the arrow arrives, probably 50/50 at best. To me that is taking a chance that isn't acceptable. It's the turkey that realizes the consequences, not us, so that is too chancy for my liking. I'll take a broadhead to the chest cavity.
thanks for the input, good point on the law requiring broadheads! Any more experience w/ broadheads vs the head shot w/ the guillitines or bullheads? I got your point Gerorge, something to definately consider.
I will say that I am not seeing a lot of head movement w/ the turkeys coming to decoys. Usually they are very still and just intently looking or posturing. I watched for all of that this past spring, and is why I considered using the head, or actually neck shot.
It all depends on your proficiency with the bow.
Do you shoot tight groups out to 15-20 yds?
Are you hunting from a blind or set up in a natural setting?
I prefer to use large Snuffers and aim for the larger body than attempt a head shot. I know the promo videos for the Guillotine heads show all clean kills but you don't see the bad hits and the results.
Whatever you feel comfortable with...
I'm firmly in the big sharp broadhead in the chest cavity camp!
Yeah, I am leaning for the snuffers like I used last year. I will likely just stick with them. The problem with body shots are the ones that don't hit the very small vital area. I have seen pass-thru shots on the body and the bird was still alive the next day. I have killed 2 with a bow, but just can't help consider the usefulness of shooting the head.
Has anyone had, or seen first hand, one of the large blade head shot broadheads not do an adequate job?
I turkey hunted with a mathews two years ago and never conected, missed six times! I am definetley a better shot now days with a recurve or longbow (odd I guess, but two toally different styles) anyway I am setting up my outfit for the fall turkey season this year. I shoot a 125 grain head usually but am going to use a 100 grain head, a five grain washer, and the 20 grain zwickey scorpios. the scopios are kinda like the judo points but slide up and down the shaft as to prevent a pass through, I figure if I don't get one in the pump station at least it ought to be close and with that broadhead stuck in the chest all tat floppin around ought to do some damge and end the show.
Just my thoughts, Kris
P.S. you can check out the scorpios at three rivers, thats were I got mine.
Turkey hunting is hard work... but awesome. I spent my first morning in a blind this past Spring. Had a nice gobbler coming until a shot-gunner took him first... welcome to hunting public land. Anyway, I thought about the guillotine, but head shots seem way too risky for me. Birds are all fast-twitch muscle and those heads bob faster than any arrow (even from a wheel bow) could every go. I think you should stick with a chest shot, right where the wing joint is. Break the wing, and the bird won't be able to fly away so well, plus it will expire very quickly with a heart/lung shot. Just as fast as a head shot. I plan to use the Eclipse single bevel bh's this season. I really think Eclipse is a great bh. You may also want to check out G5 Montecs. I like these too. 3 blades, spin tuned to .002, and made/molded from a single piece of steel! Just my 2 cents...
I believe the late great Ben Rogers Lee said he tried for head shots on turkeys with his compound bow. I think he used broadhead tipped arrows.
Eric I am gonna go with the G5's and the scorpio I mentioned. I think it will be a turkey stoppin combo!
The guiottine,(if I spelled that right) and the Magnus bullhead have four blades so I don't think you could shoot one and just wound a bird, if it was close. I think the issue would be if a stickbow generates the wallop needed for those 90 degree blades to cut or break necks. If they made one with angled blades maybe?
I killed a turkey once by shooting his head off. Basically I missed the bird and got lucky...an inch left or right and it would have been a miss!
Funny, I thought the rule of thumb was hit them in the hips. A turkey that can't run won't get airborne. And if he can't run, he won't go anywhere either. A flopping mass that's easily taken out with a twist to the neck.
What are your thoughts? I intend on taking my first trad turkey this fall and have been practicing the hip shot on my foam target...
Crandog, plenty of wallop, but I wouldn't use them for other reasons. Smacks of gimmickry.
crandog, think a little bit about that. That arrow is turning; four blades do not guarantee that even two of them will hit. It's like the lottery. How is the head aligned when it hits the bird....providing you can even hit the bird in the head or neck. Now....look at those heads again, there is much more space between the blades than on the blades. Common sense will tell you that it is just a easy to wound a bird with those heads, as kill one. I don't like those odds when an animals life is on the line.
I agree with George! I'll stick with the chest, anyway I seen a dvd with them shooting the bladed heads and it was kind of bruttal and disrespectfull to the bird if you ask me!! just my 2 cents! Jason
all this talk about shot placement...
why would you want to hip shoot a turkey? It is our sole resposibility to make every attempt at a clean kill to harvest any game we pursue. Grant it their are alot of variables to contend with and that is part of it. A head shot on a turkey to me would likely seem quick and painless for the quarry at hand but you are also going from a kill zone in the chest cavity the size of a softball to a killzone the size of a banana. To much margin for error with whole head bobbin thing for me. I will stick with going for the pump station in any case and a good sharp head to do the job.
thanks for the information and your thoughts, everyone.