Turkey Anatomy and Shot Placement

[centaur]

This is good stuff; it should be added to the animal anatomy thread for future reference. Thanks for posting.

[Shedrock]

Originally posted by centaur:
This is good stuff; it should be added to the animal anatomy thread for future reference. Thanks for posting.

I was thinking the same thing centaur. Good stuff!

[Bowwild]

Great pictures Curt!  A friend of mine took some pictures like this a few years ago to share with me (and others).  I immediately stopped thinking about shooting for the butt of the wing -- lethal but a tiny spot compared to the other kill spots. I've killed one through the back and another through the top of the thigh.

I haven't lost a bird to date (got only back feathers once but killed the same bird 3 days later). But, I'm going with head shots in the future before my luck runs out. While a fringe hit is still possible, as are misses, I want to reduce as much as I can the risk of losing a turkey.

[EL Mejor]

Good info,ton of knowledge shared,GRACIAS>>>

[Guru]

Thanx fellas, and I will move this into the shot placement thread.

Here's another bird from a couple years ago...

This gobbler came in right off the roost. Strutted right into the decoy and did a lap around "Floyd". As he came around the back side and quartered toward me at 8-9yds. I put the arrow right, tight behind the near wingbutt and it exited just in front of the opposite thigh(just the oppsite of the first bird I described earlier).

He only made it about 20yds., and when I got out of the blind this is what I found...

Immediate blood, it blew out the exit and hit "Floyd"...
•    
•    

How I found him, note the arrow just hanging out the off side exit hole...
•    

You can see, he didn't go far. He actually ran right at me in the blind after he was hit. I thought he was coming right in with me, but turned about 1 yd. from the blind. He actually left a couple spots of blood on the blind as he passed...
•    

Entrance...
•    


Exit...
•    


No skinned pix of this one, but just imagine the same holes as the last gobbler pix. Just the arrow going through in the opposite direction.

Up next...A shot a lot of bowhunter prefer...The "through the thighs" shot...

[coaster500]

Thanks Curt great thread  


 

[Southern Sam]

Great thread Curt!! Nothing like pics to confirm the shot placement.

[DBinAlamo]

Thanks Curt, awesome details I'm really looking foward to spring!  

[Coonbait]

Great thread Curt!  That was very helpful.
GLENN

[JimB]

Great thread Curt and an important one.

Do you use Snuffers? What do you think of the Big Jim 3 blade for turkeys?

[K2]

Thanks Curt.  It looks to me like you know how to get it done.  I was looking forward to a thread like this.  This will be my first year turkey hunting.  Ken

[Wiley Coyote]

Thanks for the info Guru. I hope to bag one with my bow this year. I bought a Double Bull blind and I hope this gets me closer to the birds.  

[Green]

That last pic ought to answer the questions posted recently about blinds too.  Great thread Curt...it's all in the details and you've done a great job with the anatomy and lethality lessons for sure.    

[Huntschool]

Is that "string tracker" thread I see in those last pics?

Great thread Curt.  Hard to get folks to think about back and high....

[Kenneth]

Great thread Curt!!!  This thread ought to be a prerequisite to anyone wanting to chase birds with a bow.  If I would have gotten a shot opportunity last year I know I would have lost the bird after looking at the pics.  Thanks to this thread I know which spot to pick in the future.

[ti-guy]

Great info. thanks

[doubleo]

Nice info Curt! Your threads always get me fired up for turkey hunting. My problem is i never get em close enough for a shot.

[WESTBROOK]

Great stuff Curt! VERY helpfull!!

Eric

[Bowwild]

Good eye Huntschool!  I went back and looked at that photo again. Sure looks like a great example of string tracker use!

I tried the string tracker on bears in the mid-1980's.  My best friend had a habit of snagging his line around his tree moving to and from. The tree stand was nick-named the "Birdnest" because of the tangle he created.

I've never used the device on turkey. I haven't even seen them for sale in years.

[elkken]

Very informative ... great presentation, turkeys can be tough. Shot placement is key !