aiming for the heart Lung area on a Turkey is a pretty small target, the head neck area is bigger target to aim for and the best broadhead for that target is the either the Bullhead or the Gillotine. lots of turkey are mortaly hit and lost with a regular broadhead, with the 2 bullhead type heads you either hit and kill or miss an not wound or kill.
Unless you hit them in the body with one of those. Then you just break a wing or a leg and they can still get away.
Those are good heads but "BETTER" I am not so sure. Lots of sides to that coin buddy.
You can still hit them in the neck and lose them, or cut their beaks off. 2 seasons ago I shot 2 Toms, on consecutive days at less than 10yds in the center of the neck, on video(so I could confirm the hit). Both times the arrow bounced/deflected off and the birds ran off leaving no blood. One actually went to the other side of the field to harass hens. I switched to woodsmans, snuffers and terminators and have been 6 for 6 with standard shots. I prefer them facing straight away, but have taken them at all angles
No they are not broadheads for body shots, mostly the neck, which is the biggest vital area on a turkey. Skipmasteer did you take off the little plstic covers they have on the blades,
QuoteOriginally posted by howler:
aiming for the heart Lung area on a Turkey is a pretty small target, the head neck area is bigger target to aim for and the best broadhead for that target is the either the Bullhead or the Gillotine. lots of turkey are mortaly hit and lost with a regular broadhead, with the 2 bullhead type heads you either hit and kill or miss an not wound or kill.
I watched a Bullhead from a 50lb Samick Sage hit a big Tom just below the neck. Apparently one of the 3 blades hit the lower body and the arrow flipped upward and the tom took off unscathed except for a few feathers.
I have 3 Bullheads that I paid 40 bucks for. 1 has been shot at a Tom and the other 2 are brand new, they are for sale :biglaugh:
1 other thing. I have the Bullhead video and they use compounds. I noticed the jakes and hens heads pop off and that the Bullhead might work okay for smaller turkeys, but I won't be using one at all. I will just wait for a back shot with my regular old Magnus stinger or 2 blade.
QuoteOriginally posted by howler:
No they are not broadheads for body shots, mostly the neck, which is the biggest vital area on a turkey. Skipmasteer did you take off the little plstic covers they have on the blades,
Yes, the ones I had were never shot, shaving sharp and my arrows were tuned to perfection. The shots did not hit the body at all, I hit dead center of an outstretched neck about half way between the head and body. I honestly think if I was a half inch either way on either shot I would have lopped their heads off. The hits were dead center so all that made contact was that little bullet tip. I was shooting a 49# longbow, so not a ton of weight but should have been plenty. If I took those same shots with a standard BH, I'm sure I would have taken their heads off.
The other thing I didn't really like was passing up great shot opportunities waiting for the bird to look away and still present an outstretched neck.
Not saying they don't work, I've seen plenty of people who love them, but they will never go back on my arrows.
Hard to beat a big Simmons or snuffer...RC
BOS - "Big Ole Snuffer"
I have a pack, but they just sit. I have a stckbow buddy that has shot a LOT of turkeys. He tried them and has had poor results. I prefer to learn from others I trust so I stick with the Snuffers.
I was going to post a question earlier this week about what is the best broadhead for turkeys. Thats the great thing about this forum, if you just set around the fire and listen you can learn alot. I guess it will probably be snuffers for my turkeys!! Thanks guys.
I'll stick with my Magnus or Zwickey 2 blades. 4 dead turkeys in three seasons would testify to their effectiveness if they could.
Snuffers baby!!!
BIG Snuffers for me. Won't use anything else!
They look good, but I can't bring myself to shoot one at a turkey.
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/09springturkkansas3.jpg)
Much prefer a Magnus I w/bleeder.
If only they made a collar/adapter that could be mounted behind a broadhead, like a slotted woodie weight with blades inserted.............or epoxy the blades along the back edge of a snuffer, 90' to the shaft to widen the cutting path by an inch or so per blade????
Bullheads work! I've only lost one bird out of 15 with snuffers but I had to chase everyone of them down. Shot my last bird with a 50# recurve and a bullhead and watched him tip over on the spot. My wife's fall bird dropped on the spot also. She shoots a 42# compound. I like the idea of actually being able to see the vitals, the head isn't covered by a bunch of feathers that all look alike. My 2 cents.
This was covered on another thread recently...
Yes, decapitation type heads work...but just like anything else...it's not cut and dry..."kill or miss".
I think the main problem is some use equipement that is too light for those heads.
It's been said here and I've seen video to proove it...it's just not that way!
I, like Charlie sure have thought about shooting them, but just have a hard time doing it...
Sharp bh to the vitals for me...I also beleive the more you cut the better!
Big Snuffers, MagnusI, Zwickey Delta, Simmons Sharks, anything big and bad! I believe shot placement and a sharp broadhead will do the trick every time! Get 'em sharp, i used to think that keeping the arrow in the bird was optimal for recovery(the fletching would be easier to see in the brush), and id only sharpen main blades and just touch the bleeders with a file! It may have had some merit, but a shot in the boiler room with one of the afformentioned head, and many others will result in a short tracking job!
I've shot at 4 turkeys with Magnus 2 blades and I have recovered them all. All shots to the body and all have dropped within sight.
out the those 2 the bullheads get much better reviews. also wit hte guillotine your suppose to leave the pastic on i believe. idk if i would use ether with trad gear, deff with my compound i would try it out
i killed 2 birds with trad last year.both snuffers.first one i shot perfect down in 15 yds,2nd i broke his back down and the second shot he stretched his neck out and it ended with a big hole in it..i have the pics on the itba.org web site.indiana traditional bowhunters.org
Gee.. I have had lots of turkey in range... I just haven't been able to get to full draw and settled on one... I got to full draw and was setting in when a big ole "PUTT" scattered them all...
I keep trying... but then I mostly hunt high pressured birds...
I like the larger Simmons or a Snuffer. Bill
I'm headin to Kansas in April with some Snuffers on the end of my shafts.
Believe the optimum traditional BH for turkeys has not been made available as of yet.
In the dark years, I had harvested 20 consecutively hit birds with a 2 ¾ wide head. (Probably missed 20)
Many birds took less than desirable hits and were all extremely easy recoveries except for one, that with a leg completely severed was still able to fly, but only for a short distance. Took one more shot to get him.
Two of my partners together lost 5 birds with the same BH but in a 2 ½" version before switching to the 2 ¾".
By using Muzzy's Slash Factor equation for BH designs that yield equivalent SF's well above the 2 ½" two blade and up to the 2 ¾" two blade, the following calcs have been derived for the SF target range.
2 1/2" Two Bl yields a SF of 15.0 - which field experience has determined as questionable
2 3/4" Two Bl yields a SF of 16.5- which personal field experience yielded 100% recovery on 20 birds
Possible optimizing traditional BH designs for turkey would have Slash Factor well above 15.0 and up to 16.5.
Calculated findings for possibly optimizing a traditional BH design for improved turkey recoveries are as follows:
2 3/4" ... Two blade yields a SF of 16.5
1 3/4" ... Three blade yields a SF of 15.75
1 5/16"... Four blade yields a SF of 15.74
Would be interesting to try these designs- The BH would have to tune and lethal penetration would have to be demonstrated. A mature Tom is ~1/10 the wt. of a mature buck and being light, limits penetration by the turkey being knocked off its feet, thus not absorbing the full strike. The feathers themselves absorb energy and limit penetration.
I would believe that for me that my current 32.4% Ultra-EFOC arrow (608 gn) would be a great place to start. The only change would be to start with 5" three fletch instead of 4" three fletch.
Note: My current set-up shoots 1 ½' Big 3's marvelously and spot on with my bare shafts out to 20 yards. I have not tried further since turkey hunting is a 15 yard and under game for me.
IMHO there may not be a perfect design, but possibly a more optimized BH design in conjunction with an optimized arrow set-up.
I practice and plan to make a perfect shot and a possible pass thru, but reality demonstrates that I must focus on planning for the unexpected, which often is the case with turkeys.
JMHO