Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting 22 rifle for turkeys

My uncle hunted Turkeys with a 22 rifle and was good at it he shot them in the head . anyone else use a rim fire for turkeys?

Is it legal?

in pa. fall only

Rifles are legal in the hunting area I hunt in for the fall turkey season,

No rifles for turkey in NH at all. None in NY as well. Only two states I have any experience with. I'd love to be able to use either a 25-20 or a 32-20.

Most of my gobblers have been killed with a rifle.. No a .22 LR, but the Hornet, .222, .223, .22-250, .22-250AI, the Swift, .243, .25-35 & the .270.. That is the sporting method of killing a gobbler.. With the influence $ propaganda of the Wild Turkey Fed. Shotguns were pushed as the "sporting weapon"!!! Real sporting, shooting a bird on the ground with a shotgun..
I switched to a shotgun for several years when I was seriously hunting turkey.. The few gobblers I will hunt in the future will be killed with a rifle..
The old time turkey hunters said all that needs to be said on the matter. Henry Davis author of the great book THE AMERICAN WILD TURKEY, said since I hunt for sport rather than meat, I use a small bore rifle..(He preferred a Hornet or K-Hornet.
The great shotgunner, Major Charles Askins explained, killing a turkey with a shotgun, is nothing short of murder.. He preferred a small bore rifle.. I would suspect Longbeardking,s choice the .25-20 or 32-20.. Both out standing small game and turkey rifles..

No rifles might be a safety consideration in the heavily timbered and brushy eastern forest? There isn't anything wrong with calling an old gobbler close, making a good identification and then making a clean headshot with a shotgun. I could kill more birds with a rifle than with a shotgun in the early season before the vegetation greens up. After that it probably wouldn't matter. The hunt happens before the shooting starts.

If a rifle was legal I might use one. I hunt in the woods by calling so distance would likely be the same.

Not legal here. Would love to use my 10/22s.

That said, I did hit one in the head once with a 204 Ruger via 40gr V-max at 275ish yds.....

In Texas you can use both except on state owned land were you must use a shotgun.. I like using a shotgun. I like calling them.. I could kill a lot more with a rifle we see them out to 100 -200 yards all the time..

Im with WyoCoyo Hunter on this.The eastern turkey fanatics have rammed shotguns down our throats, and had it legislated in many places, including here for the spring season.
I can see no earthly reason for using a shotgun on a turkey. They have a head the size of a tennis ball-easy enough to hit with a rifle- can be called in close and ground sluiced. Not something you need a shotgun for.Judging by what I see the Bubbas doing on hunting shows, the wily wild turkey aint so wily that you need to hedge your bets with a spray gun.
That said a .22LR wouldn't be my first choice, but Id think a 17HMR would work well. Ive shot mine thus far with a .223

22wmr works like a charm.
Head or wing butts, right where the wing connects with the body.
No meat damage if shot there and they are drt.
Hornet would be good also.

AS already stated, not legal here in MI; if it was, I would have another use for my Marlin 883 in .22 magnum (if I could find ammo for it! :()

The reason shotguns are required for turkeys in many jurisdictions has nothing to do with it being required to kill a turkey and everything to do with safety. Turkey hunting is done while wearing full camo which makes other hunters hard to see. Shotguns limit the range of the shot thereby reducing the risk.

I understand that, but its like hunter safety orange laws....I don't have to like it....

Kinda worries me that some people would mistake even a camoed up person for a turkey, but I know it happens. The incidence with which it happens I don't think warrants the legislation.JMHO

When I was a kid in Montana, I shot a couple of wild turkeys with my .22. That was the easy part, the tough part was eating eating them after mom cooked them.

That is why I joined the Navy, to get a good meal.

W. Billo

Dude! Your own mom's cooking! I like them as much as any game but found they are dry and need to be cooked submerged in something, a mushroom/sherry sauce is my fave.

Or diesel fuel!

Wild turkey is one of our favorites.. With your tastes, navy food is your spot..

That is another thing, the older hunters didn't have camo, headnets, and a million other things to make them successful.. they were good hunters.. Both of the guys I mentioned killed turkey with shotguns.. Now people feel they need total camo. to be successful..

I watched a show on Bubbavision a couple weeks ago where an Amish dude, in white straw hat and powder blue shirt crept across an open field with a turkey fan in front of him( it didn't cover much...) and ground sluiced a gobbler with a shotgun from 3 yards.
Wily birds ,those.

Where is your proof for that statement? Full camo is not a prerequisite or requirement for turkey hunting.

I've shot a few with a 22 WMR but you do need to hit them right, just like any other game. Now the 22 hornet? That was made for turkey with the rifle. But yes we're talking rimfires. Personally I would not use the 22LR and I'm not a fan of the 17s but I'm sure they would work.

I love hunting turkeys in the fall with a rifle (in PA), have used 218 bee, 221 fireball, 256 Winchester, 7.62X39 and 222. Always use expanding bullets as fmj (what the old timers always recommended when I first started in the 70's) always produced less than satisfactory results unless the central nervous system was hit OR velocities were higher. Any of the rimfires would be problematic unless you hit the CNS....have seen more than a few turkeys that were not hit properly with rimfires get "lost".

PennDog

It's not that someone would mistake another hunter for a turkey, it's that they wouldn't see a camoed hunter in the background.

I never said that camo was required to be sucessful; it just improves the odds.

Regardless there is a very good chance that there will be hunters wearing full camo in the woods during turkey season, hence the safety regs.

Used a 22mag on turkeys, which is legal in WY.

Frankly, I would enjoy hunting turkeys with a Hornet (it'd give me a reason to get one !) or 22 mag but I wouldn't want anyone else doing it at the same time in the limited timber patches of Iowa. There are too many careless folk with quick trigger fingers out there-- even with shotguns there are several folks shot it seems every year.

But in SD or NE or other states where turkeys are often in the wide open spaces with few people I think it'd be a great rifle sport though I've not done it.

Natman,

My comment addressed the camo, because full camo is not required by law to wear it to hunt turkey. Therefore, it is not a reason to consider. What I should have said is I disagree with the assumption that shotguns somehow make it safer to engage in the activity. I am not trying to denigrate your position, but I feel strongly that there is no merit in your argument. I know what I say is not going to change your mind, and what you say won't change my mind, but I must continue. I have always had the choice to choose a rifle or shotgun for turkey and I don't want that to change.

So, I disagree with the statement that shotguns are safer than a rifle to hunt turkey. For example, shotguns are required in some counties in Virginia for deer hunting where the terrain is very flat. The concern is the bullet may travel too great a distance. Some of those counties allow use of a rifle for deer hunting if you are in a tree stand of a certain height. I will agree the effective killing range of a rifle is greater than that of a shotgun, but it does not make it safer to use when hunting. A rifleman needs to be concerned with his backstop since many bullets pass through a prey animal i.e. squirrel, rabbit, deer even if a lethal hit is made. My questions to you is, "Can you account for every pellet which leaves the muzzle of your shotgun on their way to their intended target?" Misuse of either can injure or kill someone.

I work for the Commonwealth of Virginia and I have a job where I do enforce regulations although not for VGIF. The one thing I have learned is such a law is usually in place for some other reason. Like another poster said previously the National Wild Turkey Federation has a foothold in some of these decisions in other locales and I agree that special interest groups like the NWTF sway politicians. I doubt it's really for safety although that may be what they publicly say. My guess is there is a monetary benefit to it in regards to equipment, access, memberships, limiting certain groups, etc.

I hope you don't feel like I am personally attacking you because I am not intending to do so. This argument comes up locally from those of us who hunt turkey. There are many people who hold your position and many who hold the position like mine. I guess I am throwing this out there for those who may not have formed an opinion yet or made up their mind and would like to see both sides. I guess the most important thing is we are both allowed to hunt turkey and enjoy doing so. Fall turkey starts here soon, so I wish you luck on your hunting adventures this fall.

The NWTF is what screwed it up around here in the spring season..

They are not doing any good for us as sportsman.

I'm not a member of the NTWF but they have put money into turkey habitat restoration in my neck of the Ozark's. I have personally seen the positive effects of that.

My state didn't need them:

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/turkey/history.asp

You can keep 'em.

Not sure I understand the context of the posted link, your comment and how it relates to my observation of the NWTF doing turkey habitat improvement work in the Ozarks?

Hubert: I have legally killed Wild Turkey's with not only the 22 L.R. but also with the 22 Magnum and the 17 HMR!
I use a base of the neck shot and have had nothing but one shot kills - with NO ruined/blood shot breast meat.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Even though camo isn't required by law, many hunters will be wearing it while turkey hunting, which makes them hard to see.



The deadly range of a shotgun is measured in yards. The deadly range of a high powered rifle is measured in miles. You need to account for your backstop in either case, but it's a LOT easier with a shotgun.



You're going to have to explain just how shotgun only hunting benefits someone enough to have them influence the regulations. The big shotgun manufacturers who might conceivably benefit (Winchester, Remington, Mossberg) also make rifles, so there's no benefit for them.



No personal attacks perceived on my end. Just a good old fashioned friendly disagreement as far as I'm concerned.

i thought you wore camo just to tell everyone you are a hunter. You know the person who wears camo as a fashion statement.

Such people may exist. I suspect that they are outnumbered by people who bad mouth camo because they are uncomfortable wearing anything other than their normal clothes.

Not that either of us fit in either group of course.

At any rate, for the purposes of this discussion the relevant point is that a significant number of hunters may well be wearing camo during turkey season and the regulations are written accordingly.

I wear camo for turkeys, usually. But i was in school when camo became a fad and have always just noticed how many people wear camo as everyday attire. I am a tight ass and wont pay the price of most hunting clothes to walk around town looking sloppy.

I wear camo - when I'm actually hunting. I don't own a camo garment that's worn otherwise.

As natman stated it's not so much an issue of someone shooting a person he thought was a turkey but rather a case of hitting someone you didn't know was there. On public land here in Alabama a turkey gobbling on the limb at daylight can and often does draw multiple hunters into close proximity to one another in the early morning twilight. And since hunters orange is not a turkey season requirement they probably won't see one another. The lethal range on a human for even high powered number 4's (the largest legal shot for turkey's here) is probably less than 40 yards. Hopefully within that range they would see one another. The lethal range of a rifle is half a damn mile. And even if you hit the turkey they aren't going to stop most rifle bullets.

Another scenario I always think about in these debates is somebody with a realistic gobbler decoy set out in the edge of a field while he is tucked away in the edge of the woods. Somebody carrying a shotgun is going to have to get close enough to see that it's just a decoy before they would be in range to fire. But what if somebody carrying a high powered rifle spots this set up from 200 yards away on the other side of the field. Seems like a good way for the guy in the woods to get a bullet bounced into him.

If it's legal where you hunt then more power to you. I'm not knocking you for using a rifle or hunting in any way that's legal in your neck of the woods. But I'm glad it's not legal here. And the NWTF has nothing to do with it being illegal here. It's been illegal here since before there was a NWTF.

in the late eighties early ninetys we had several scary years with people getting shot in the spring, shotguns, never understood how so many got shot when you have to see a beard. the state started making us wear orange when moving and put a band on nearby tree. it seems to be better but most people dont do it

Having hunted PA and hunted around PA hunters in other states, I can understand how that level of dumbphuckitude happens up there. No amount of orange can fix the stupid that afflicts many of those hunters.

Most people don't do it because they repealed that law about 7 years ago


People get shot because they shoot at sounds, or stalk a Gobbler they see and don't realize there is a hunter between him and that bird they see and shoot the other hunter.

I really need to pay more attention to the law changes. It used to be the rules never changed. Now it seems the PGC change the rules to catch you breaking them

The game laws are reprinted every year. It is your obligation to read them.

dont dispute that but you would have to read how complicated the regs have become in pa in the last ten years

I have. I've hunted there within the last ten years. As well as many other states.

You're going a long way toward reinforcing my experience and opinion of PA hunters.

I'm having a real hard time understanding this thread. I can't figure out what is supposed to be sporting about propping up on a rest (or a pickup truck window) and shooting a turkey at 250 yards with a scoped rifle.
Also, the wild turkey is a delicacy that is held in such high regard in my part of the country that it is considered the most desirable of any wild game for table fare.
I'm scratching my head after reading this thread.

I don't put much time in turkey hunting,but when I do hunt them I use a 222,because I have a big open flat that the turkey can come out in at too many random locations to cover with a shotgun..I eat wild turkey ,and don't agree with the practice of just skinning out the breast.I skin it all,but I can't consider it a delicacy.I actually think store turkey taste better

And many of us scratch our heads wondering what is sporting about calling in a bird, often over bait,during their mating season and ground sluicing it with a shotgun.

Its a cultural thing...


But I will agree, they taste GREAT!

ingwe, your so right about shooting turkeys with a shotgun... 3.5 in. magnums no less.. If they used rifles, there would be few turkeys taken home... Major Askins was correct shooting a turkey with a shotgun is little short of murder.

Ingwe,

I agree. They do taste great!!!

I just think it's weird how if you use a rifle for anything anymore it's not considered "sporting". I feel more confident with a rifle so that's what I'll continue to use.

Anyhow I just picked up a Ruger 77 in .22 hornet. Anxiously waiting for next Saturday's fall opener here in PA.

I know what you mean. Our opener was today. I plan to go out tomorrow for my first day out. It will be my first Sunday hunt, since Virginia made it legal to do so. I'm taking my triple deuce. Good luck next Saturday.

Good luck to you as well. Sunday hunting must be nice.

I've killed a few with my .222. The .222 just seemed like a bit much for me. I usually take'em just outside of shotgun range.

Wish we could still use a rifle. Would use my great grandads 73Win .32/20. It's what he turkey hunted with.

The "ground sluicing" comment implies that the turkey should be taken on the wing like a pheasant. Wingshooting turkeys would result in a lot of wounded birds.

The safety aspects of using a shotgun during turkey season have been well covered. The entire idea of ethical hunting is a clean kill. I don't see how it would be more sporting if a less effective method of dispatch were used. At least with a shotgun you have to call the bird into close range.

As mentioned...its a cultural difference....

Dead nuts on ingwe, we all get too caught up in what we do or like and forget that others have different pasts. I dont like treestand hunting, but if you do it it is legal and not my business

Exactamundo!
I have killed scores of whitetails, but none from a stand or a blind. Terrain, vegetation, etc all play a role in how we play our roles, as it were.
And cultural attitudes are vastly different. In many parts of the east turkeys are viewed with iconic adulation as one of the greatest game animals ever.For many like myself turkeys are viewed as nothing more than white meat on the hoof, a welcome change of diet.

I live in West Virginia,and that's the way I feel about them too.I don't fool with them in the fall,but in the spring when there's nothing else to hunt ,I occasionally walk up on the flats,and see If I can see a gobbler out in the fields somewhere,and if not I usually just come back.I don't waist much time on them.I personally just don't consider them to be worth much more effort than that. I really don't even consider that tannish looking breast meat great quality white meat.I just get the urge to hunt between the cold seasons,and so I kill an occasional turkey in the spring,or ground hog in summer.I give most to an old man up the road,but I eat one occasionally.My wife,and daughter think it's disgusting,but I know what a groundhog eats,and I feel they are a pretty clean animal.An old man that used to come up here to hunt with my Uncle from North Carolina when I was a kid used to talk about eating possum when he was a kid.He said they would catch them,and feed them corn for a while to clean them out.I personally think I would rather eat a carp than a possum..I sure hope I never have to find out though..LOL

I'll pass on the possum too but I REALLY like turkey. It of course has no fat like tame birds so I bone it out and bake it covered with some kind of sauce...a mushroom sherry is my fave. Makes it good vittles!

I always skin them,and the wife cuts them up,and cooks them in the slow cooker.I was told that you can poke holes in the breast,and stick bacon in the holes and bake them without getting too dry,but I aint tried it.You would probably have to pluck it though,and I don't think I'd have the patience to pluck one.

I like to hunt spring turkeys more than eating them. The breast gets cross sliced and fried, quite good. Everything else is soup. About eating carp.i have tried... really. Sucked but when you look at all that meat you have to try. Possum, well i know Im a puss but I know what they eat and they seam like a disease receptacle. I know about shrimp and crabs but possum seems different.

I suppose armadillo ( aka " Possum on the half-shell" ) is out of the question...

Dillers won't cook up. I try to shoot them with something that will "lift the shell". Bad stink.

no dillers i dont like the idea of leprosy. used to drive truck down south a lot. Never seen one alive, but they are everywhere as road pizza.

Do states that allow rifles for turkeys have a higher incidence of safety problems?

I actually think that shotguns get more people hurt than allowing guys to hunt with rifles.

I dont know about shooting numbers. A shotgun is much less lethal at any distance. We have had people take direct hits with shotguns by"mistake" and not be too badly hurt. On second thought i cant remember anyone being rifle shot in the fall turkey season, but it could also be a visibility thing.

I think terrain and vegetation would influence safety percentages considerably.

Road Pizza, too funny.

This comment is nothing short of ignorant. There are unethical and immoral "slob" hunters all over the country. To say that "many" PA hunters are too stupid to follow the rules and comply with safety concerns merely shows your own foolish ignorance. Have you hunted in every state in country? How a person could make such a classless statement about a group of fellow hunters, I suppose I'll never understand. As for me, a "stupid" Pennsylvanian sportsman, I've never hunted turkey with a rifle. I've only ever used shotguns. However, I feel that the option of using a rifle is interesting enough to possibly give it a try this year. I have a nice lightweight BRNO single shot in 22 Hornet that just may do the trick.

As to 4ager, if you do not like Pennsylvania and her outdoorsman, well, there's 49 other states for you to choose from. Adios!

I didnt want to get in the mud with him. We have a lot of less than perfect hunters around here, been guilty myself once or twice. But like i say about kids and parents "people that say my kids are good and wouldnt do that, probably are the ones that are wrong.

I reckon you could use the old pine board carp recipe on possum,or armadillo too...Salt,and pepper them,and bake them on a pine board in a hot oven for an hour.Remove from the oven,and let cool..Throw the carp,or possum away,and eat the board.

You're right, and I hunt other states. I have hunted successfully in quite a few states for three decades and without a doubt the greatest number of slob hunters and unethical, unlawful, and down-right dangerous idiots in hunting seasons have come out of or been resident hunters in PA. It's not "classless" if it's a personal observation and stated as such, and frankly, I'm not alone. I know more than a few wardens in states surrounding PA (and at least one Western state) that to a person (including a couple females in there) will tell you flat out that they can just about bank on finding a violation, or an intoxicated hunter, or getting reports of dangerous/unlawful activity wherever they find a PA truck. That might be "profiling", but it's accurate and it works.

I haven't hunted all 50 states, but I have hunted 14 states other than PA. In all 14, and more than a few of those Eastern states, none match the stupidity I've seen in PA unless the hunters involved are from PA. I have no idea why it is that way, and I really wish it would change, but it is what it is.

You can be insulted, if you choose to be insulted. I don't know you, nor how you hunt. You might be one of those idiots; or you might be one of the most ethical, responsible people to ever set foot in the field pursuing game. Those things, I don't know. What I do know is what I've seen and experienced, and that's what I stated.