Post by jeffpahunter on Mar 28, 2008 23:47:17 GMT -4
Since Spring Gobbler is right around the corner and some may be deciding to try their luck with a bow so I thought I'd post this picture along with a few comments from quite a few years of experience and "hard knocks" hunting Turkeys with the bow.
For shot placement study the picture posted below.
When attempting to take a Turkey with an arrow one must understand and realize that the shot placement must accomplish something different than when shooting a Deer so shot placement and the thought behind it is entirely different.
Unlike shooting a Deer with an arrow if you shoot at a Turkey and think your going to follow a blood trail to recover the Turkey as done with a Deer your chances of success are about slim and none.
In order to successfully recover an arrow shot Turkey the shot must do 2 things. Stop his ability to run and fly.
Both means of fleeing must be disabled almost immediately or the Turkey's chance of getting out of sight before expiring are tremendously increased.
Your "kill zone" is approximately the size of a tennis ball and a well placed arrow needs to break at least one wing joint at the body and preferably both and hit or shock the spinal column enough to disable his ability to run off. Liken it to a neck or spine shot on a Deer. They may still move and even thrash about but they are mostly anchored on the spot with no ability to flee.
As you can see from the picture on a broadside shot you want to aim exactly where the wing butt (base) joins to the body. A hit here will take one or hopefully both wings out and will also shock the spinal column and central nervous system enough to disable his ability to run.
On a facing away shot you want to aim for the middle of the back exactly between the points where each wing attaches to the body. Again in this case it's a spine shot and will disable both flight and running escape abilities.
From personal success's and failure's I myself strongly strive for and prefer the shot from behind. The main reason is that you'll find that the most difficult thing in bow hunting a Turkey is being able to get the bow drawn on him without him spotting you before your ready for your shot.
To attempt to draw on a bird broadside, unless his vision is totally blocked by a tree or something he's likely to spot you before you even get to half draw and he'll be gone. If your sure he can't see you and won't bust you by all means go for this shot as if the arrow is placed properly it's a very lethal shot.
I prefer to get the Tom strutting and when he faces away from me his spread fan now blocks his vision from my movement of drawing the bow. I like to draw and aim as in the picture, just slightly above the base of the tail and what I do is give a sharp cluck or putt on the call which most every time will quickly bring him out of strut to stand at attention and then I make any slight aiming adjustment that might be needed to place my arrow between his wing bases and I'm set for the shot.
I would also recommend for those that shoot even moderate to high draw weights that they reduce their bows draw weight by say 5-10 lbs. at least and to do this for 2 reasons.
1) You may have to hold at full draw for a tremendously long time before the shot opportunity you need presents itself.
2) This is the big reason....REDUCE the arrows ability to penetrate. You may be saying... ..... ... but your not Deer hunting here where you want a pass thru to provide the best blood trail.
Remember that you want your arrows placement and impact to shut down the birds system and this is done by shock being transmitted in the same fashion a bullet transmits shock to it's target. If the arrow quickly passes clean thru the bird much of the shock is expanded and waisted on whatever stops the arrow. Ideally you'd like that arrow to slam into the bird like a sledge hammer and knock him right off his feet tumbling from the total amount of shock the arrow provides but a pass thru prevents this from happening.
Another aid in accomplishing this is to shoot slow heavy arrows. Heavy Aluminum arrows are great choices for this type of hunting and on the front end this is one time I will promote the use of expandable mechanical heads and don't worry about their sharpness, honestly the duller they are the better.
Anything you can do to increase the arrows ability to transmit it's kinetic energy and shock to the Turkey will help increase your chances of anchoring him on the spot...because if he gets air borne at all or can get his legs under him he's gone and you'll be extremely lucky to find him.
Bow hunting Turkeys is in my mind one of if not the ultimate challenge in hunting. It can also be very frustrating and test your patience but when it all finally comes together you may have a hard time finding anything more rewarding.
Best of luck and hope this helps.
Jeff
For shot placement study the picture posted below.
When attempting to take a Turkey with an arrow one must understand and realize that the shot placement must accomplish something different than when shooting a Deer so shot placement and the thought behind it is entirely different.
Unlike shooting a Deer with an arrow if you shoot at a Turkey and think your going to follow a blood trail to recover the Turkey as done with a Deer your chances of success are about slim and none.
In order to successfully recover an arrow shot Turkey the shot must do 2 things. Stop his ability to run and fly.
Both means of fleeing must be disabled almost immediately or the Turkey's chance of getting out of sight before expiring are tremendously increased.
Your "kill zone" is approximately the size of a tennis ball and a well placed arrow needs to break at least one wing joint at the body and preferably both and hit or shock the spinal column enough to disable his ability to run off. Liken it to a neck or spine shot on a Deer. They may still move and even thrash about but they are mostly anchored on the spot with no ability to flee.
As you can see from the picture on a broadside shot you want to aim exactly where the wing butt (base) joins to the body. A hit here will take one or hopefully both wings out and will also shock the spinal column and central nervous system enough to disable his ability to run.
On a facing away shot you want to aim for the middle of the back exactly between the points where each wing attaches to the body. Again in this case it's a spine shot and will disable both flight and running escape abilities.
From personal success's and failure's I myself strongly strive for and prefer the shot from behind. The main reason is that you'll find that the most difficult thing in bow hunting a Turkey is being able to get the bow drawn on him without him spotting you before your ready for your shot.
To attempt to draw on a bird broadside, unless his vision is totally blocked by a tree or something he's likely to spot you before you even get to half draw and he'll be gone. If your sure he can't see you and won't bust you by all means go for this shot as if the arrow is placed properly it's a very lethal shot.
I prefer to get the Tom strutting and when he faces away from me his spread fan now blocks his vision from my movement of drawing the bow. I like to draw and aim as in the picture, just slightly above the base of the tail and what I do is give a sharp cluck or putt on the call which most every time will quickly bring him out of strut to stand at attention and then I make any slight aiming adjustment that might be needed to place my arrow between his wing bases and I'm set for the shot.
I would also recommend for those that shoot even moderate to high draw weights that they reduce their bows draw weight by say 5-10 lbs. at least and to do this for 2 reasons.
1) You may have to hold at full draw for a tremendously long time before the shot opportunity you need presents itself.
2) This is the big reason....REDUCE the arrows ability to penetrate. You may be saying... ..... ... but your not Deer hunting here where you want a pass thru to provide the best blood trail.
Remember that you want your arrows placement and impact to shut down the birds system and this is done by shock being transmitted in the same fashion a bullet transmits shock to it's target. If the arrow quickly passes clean thru the bird much of the shock is expanded and waisted on whatever stops the arrow. Ideally you'd like that arrow to slam into the bird like a sledge hammer and knock him right off his feet tumbling from the total amount of shock the arrow provides but a pass thru prevents this from happening.
Another aid in accomplishing this is to shoot slow heavy arrows. Heavy Aluminum arrows are great choices for this type of hunting and on the front end this is one time I will promote the use of expandable mechanical heads and don't worry about their sharpness, honestly the duller they are the better.
Anything you can do to increase the arrows ability to transmit it's kinetic energy and shock to the Turkey will help increase your chances of anchoring him on the spot...because if he gets air borne at all or can get his legs under him he's gone and you'll be extremely lucky to find him.
Bow hunting Turkeys is in my mind one of if not the ultimate challenge in hunting. It can also be very frustrating and test your patience but when it all finally comes together you may have a hard time finding anything more rewarding.
Best of luck and hope this helps.
Jeff