Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting So, will a regular old broadhead do the trick for turkey?

Never tried for turkeys with a bow before. Itching to try it this year. I shoot Magnus Stingers for deer, and figured why switch since my bow is ready to go as is.

Will they over penetrate? <GRIN>

Whatcha think?

IME (2 birds, both lost) if they are in a tree they will get off the roost and glide out of sight, The 2nd shot from a treestand was tracked (blood trail) for over 400 yards to the edge of a ravine.
He got airborn set his wings and was gone.

That was years ago w/100 gr muzzys, if you google "turkey broadheads" there are now purpose built heads for Turkeys.

Just hope that 12 pointer doesn't walk by.......

If they are in a tree, it's really not sporting or legal (in some states) to shoot them out of the roost. Regular broadheads work just fine if arrow is properly placed. Your odds of recovery are somewhat increased if the arrow stays in the bird VS a pass thru. Pinning the wings prevents them from flying. If you are a decent shot and know your equipment and limitations, not really a big deal either way. Tom

Puzzy's who can't hunt shoot roosted birds... Must be real safe firing an arrow up at a roosted bird, considering the source I'm not surprised

I've only taken one with a bow and used cheapo broadhead called X-Force Terminators. I think they ran about $2 each on sale. I get about one per package that shoots consistent with my others and just save them for stuff like grouse and such. This time it was a turkey.

Granted, I couldn't have hit it much better because it turned away from me and I got it in the back at about 20 yds. Still a lot of wings flapping, but that was about it.

Wow shooting roosted birds.. holy crap.. will it never end...

Well douchbag, when you are in a tree stand that is 20' higher than they are roosted, it's hardly a safety issue.

I realize being in Montana you have never hunted Eastern Wild Turkey and are probably used to the dumber than dirt Merriam's
that we hunt in WY without even using a blind.

Let me make it simple: If Whitetails were as smart as Eastern Wild Turkey, there would be 95% empty freezers back East.

As usual an honest attempt to help out an OP with a question brings out the trolls like roaches out of your oatmeal box.

Join NWTF, you might learn something.

Yes, a magnus stinger will do just fine sir!

ElkNut1

Lmao hunting turkey from a treestand

Let's see, you were 20' higher than some roosted birds in a tree stand. That would make you what 30',40' or 50' off the ground Larry. Did you sneak by those roosted birds while climbing to your stand? Lucky for you them big gobblers got gallons of blood to be able to track one 400 yards and still fly away. Should have used 130 grain 4 bladed muzzy.

She couldn't get a turkey in the frozen food department at a supermarket let alone a wild bird

Interthem, for real? How do you get the decoys up on the tree limbs?

ElkNut1, I am a big fan of the Stingers. Thanks.

um... well.. lemme see.

20 ft higher than a roosting Turkey..holy crap...

Turkeys generally roost on the top 20% of the tree to avoid predators. That puts you like 50 ft high... really Root.. common..

raised in SE Pa... family has cabins in Mifflin Co. and Wyoming Co. Pa. Grew up trapping, Hunting and Fishin from WV to NY...nope never did see a Turkey.

What is a whitetail?


laffin... and I'm a douchbag...

Shot 2 turkeys. One with snuffer other with a Magnus.

Both great heads. Can get an arrow stopping device to place behind broadhead.

Turkey hunting with a bow is a blast.

Thanks, finally a real anwer to the OPs question.

He got at least four real answers to his question and then you stuck your diseased head in here, spouting BS and got called on it.
No surprise!
I'd really like to try the Gobbler Guillotine with it's four inch cutting diameter!
Excellent suggestion on the arrow stopper too Ribka. Seems that any good broadhead would work fine if the arrow stayed in the bird.

I've only shot 2 tons with my bow both with standard broadheads.

First was about gacing straight away with a 100 gr G5 head. Hit the tom square at the base of the fan. Tom jumped up, ran about 25-30yds and fell over.

Shot one broadside at about 25yds with 100gr Slick Trick, and took it square in the Wong butts. Again ran about 25 yds and fell over.

Neither was a hard recovery. May try a dedicated turkey broadleaf this year just to see how they do but I know regular broad heads work just fine assuming they are well placed shots.

As for Larry busting rousted birds that's no surprised as he probably shoots mallards resting on the pond too. A more chitty excuse for a slob you won't find

In a word, YES. I have shot 3 toms with my bow and all 3 with 100grain muzzy 3 blade broadheads.

Certainly two bladed broadheads will work. Same as anything else, shot placement. Granted there isn't near the target area on a turkey as there is on a whitetail, but they will work.

Now I'm probably goiong to ruffle some feathers, no pun intended, but I seriously question the intelligence of turkeys. Not a lot different from giving a trout a lot of intelligence. I will qualify that by saying they are probably the most wary of game we hunt. A whitetail seems to need confirmation from two senses before bolting. All a turkey needs is a suspiscion, real or imagined, and theyr'e gone! Supremely wary, yes, intelligent,no.

A guy I know uses practice broadheads. He swears by them. No pass throughs, bleeds the bird. I've never hunted with him, but I think it's interesting.

Any good, sharp fixed blade broadhead will work fine.

I use expandables(Grim Reaper,NAP Spitfire, and the last one I used a Rage 3-blade)

About any broadhead will work if it's in the vitals. Two things I've taken away from successful turkey hunters:

1. The range of the shot is going to be much closer than a deer, so the bigger the broadhead blades, the better to cut/break anything critical on the way through on a body shot. Size matters, but the placement of the arrow on a smaller kill zone is more a factor than what the brand name is.

2. Always try to break the thighs/hips or back to keep the bird from running away. Even if the bird can't fly, it can still run like h#ll for a long ways. The lack of legs will keep the bird on the ground until you can finish him off.

A couple hunters in my area add the small game collars on their arrows behind the broadhaed for extra shock and damage on the pass through, it seems to work for them. I use a Rage or NAP two-blade head, but haven't hit a bird yet...maybe this is the year. Good Luck.

Bingo! Also helps keep the arrow inthe bird

Yes your magnus stingers will work fine. I use the Zwicky scorpio behind the head when not hunting out of a double bull, (you cant shoot through the screen with these on it). They slide up the shaft and allow the arrow to penetrate to the feathers.


Put one through the vitals near the butt of the wing and dont go running after it like a crazy man.
My best experience is with good shot placement if the turkey doesnt drop, to wait a few minutes and let him walk off. Last one I shot made it 40 yards and fell over dead.
I used to use a string tracker also which works well but can be a PITA..

I may have to tape that to one of my limbs.

Found this to be very informative:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9z7wb-iv5U&feature=player_detailpage

I don't how many turkeys myself, son and friends have killed with bows. Easily dozens, both Merriams and Easterns.

1. A sharp broadhead in the right spot will work. So your Stingers will work just fine. But what is the right spot?

2. As far as shot placement, I like the facing away, break the back and into the vitals. Typically alot of flapping, but no flying.

I have also found that a broadside shot through vitals will typically end in a big semi-circle death run.

If their legs and wings still work you do run the risk of them getting to a cliff edge and take off flying.

Last spring I had a turky get to the edge of the cliff and fly into the top of a Ponderosa Pine tree and die. Got hung up in the limbs, and fell out a couple days later in a big wind. Punched my tag, but no turkey for the freezer.

A few years ago, a friend shot one that did the same thing. Ended up bloodtrailing it as it bled out from the air. We actually found it from finding the crash site. Pine needles all tore up with lots of turkey feathers.

If given a choice, I will take a broken leg/hip any day. They just cannot get around with a broken leg/hip.

I have broken wings going into the vitals and by exiting the vitals. They can cover some ground, but at leasst they can't fly.

I also shot a turkey out of a treestand once, came walking by and pinned it to the ground.

Last fall my son misplaced his shot and hit one through the neck. I have never seen a turkey flop so much, literally like a chicken with it's head chopped off. That tom bounced all over the place. The snow turned red and feathers falling out of the air. Wish I had a video camera.

3. Penetration- I have shot them with two blades, three blades, and two blades with bleeders. I have come to the conclusion that an arrow sticking in any animal causes it to panic more and cover more ground after the shot. I have zipped an arrow through turkeys and had them just walk off 20 yards and die. That happens more often than not. If an arrow sticks in them, they flop and take off like a bat out of he!!.

One of my friends uses the biggest snuffer available. He wants to cut them in half. We do not share the same philosophy. We both kill birds, so who is right?.

Just shoot it in the head with a field point.

Like someone else said, add the cheap 20 grain wire catch after your choice of broadhead.

Same old head you use for deer is just fine. No need for extra this or that I've killed probably 2-3 dozen only with my bow, but its always shot location. Locate it right you'll never loose a bird. Make a sloppy shot and they'll fly/run off and you'll never find them. Probably not dead either 50% of the time due to flesh wound only.

It really isn't much different than with a gun, locate the shot right and all is good.

Have shot a few in the head too, no big deal.

You want more room for error shoot a larger head. If not get them close enough and use the right shot placement and all is fine.

a tree stand higher than turkeys roost,...good one..HA HA!!Funny chit right there.

I've shot a bunch of turkeys with my bow, and several friends have as well. Used everything from the 4" guillotine to the Magnus bullhead, to regualr broadheads to large cut mech. heads. If you decide to use the 3" bullhead or the 4" cut guillotine, besure to practice with them because they have some different flight charastics, but when you hit a neck or head, it's game over.
These days, I most of the guys I hunt with and I have decided that mech. broadheads are a great choice for turkeys. I like jackhammers or spitfires and I actually slightly round the tips on them and I lower the poundage on my bow. Makes it easier to draw and hold if need be, and I've not seen any negative if the arrow remains in the turkey. Seen'em try to run off with and without arrows still in them.
We use doublebull blinds and put the decoys about 10 yards out. Short shots help in making perfectly placed shots, and having the action up close and personnal is fun too.

Again, a treestand higher than turkeys roost.. thanks for the laugh..;)

jackhammers from wasp right? Those are what made me give up on mechs for deer, I had 2 of them not open.. one doe ducked and was spined so hitting like a field point still worked.. the other buck was double lunged, BH closed on end of arrow laying on ground... took me from that mornings hunt until almost totlly dark that day to track that buck far enough to find it.....

Blinds are super and allow for short shots which I like.

yip, Wasp makes the jackhammer. I've only used them on turkey and they've worked well. I'm just not a mech. fan for deer, or elk.. Just me, 'cause I know a lot of guys use mech. for larger game.

It amazes me how you can pop up a blind right in the middle of nothing, and the turkeys don't seem to recognize it as "being out of place, approach with caution, or not at all", like deer do.

Yep, my 125 gr thunderheads did wonderful as well as the 125 gr two blade magnus' from my recurve. Both shot because the bastids were agitating me during archery deer season, scratchin around making noise and stuff. Yes, I did have a tag for turkeys. For that very reason in fact.

I have shot 8-10 turkeys with various fixed four blade heads and they worked fine. If you don't hit them right, these heads or large expandables won't work.

LOL - had the same experience in Virginia, the small flock was worse than a dozen squirrels running through the hardwoods...but no open season at the time, so no birds. Maybe next year...

All the birds we've taken have been with 3 or 4 blade Muzzys - and I agree with the post above that
recommends that you leave the tom alone after the hit. He'll usually die within sight if not pushed.

We just use our elk/deer rigs and they work perfectly.
Like anything else, you have to hit them properly - that done, it's cake.

We like to set up on a known travel corridor and shots are generally 20 yards or less.

I always buy cheap expandables at the end of deer season. Took three this year using NAP Scorpions. Two only went a few yards with the furthest going 60-70 yards. Shot was a bit low and back. Bigger cut is always better on a turkey IMO.

That about sums it up. WTF???? No wonder there are all these restrictive gun laws and game laws. Too many a-hole's out there calling themselves hunters.

20 Ft higher than the turkey? Must have been in a ultralight plane. Tree stand hunting for turkeys??? Never heard such foolishness.

I've heard others mention (with real fondness - LOL) a Larry Root guy. I'm getting the feeling this is him, and I can now see what they mean.

As with anything it is all shot placement. You hit a turkey with any regular broadhead and penetrate the body cavity you have a dead bird rather quickly. That said they can cover some ground rather quickly. So plan your shot. You need to take out wings leg or spine to anchor the bird. Best shot I think is to aim just below where the wing meets the body. Do plenty of damage to keep them from flying and hit lungs they expire rather quickly. Centerpunching them as they face away from you works very well also. Through the thighs anchors them but penetration can be limited if you hit the pelvis. Angling forward shot is best opposed to a broadside shot. Take out one leg and the arrow should travel into the vitals.

I find that mechanicals generally don't get messed up as much when the arrow hits the ground after missing the turkey.

I think CRS's post covered it pretty well.

I have shot and killed 12-15 turkeys with a bow. Most were with Muzzy MX4s and some were with heads that you would use on deer.

Any good cut on contact broadhead will work fine. I have killed 15 or more birds using them