This question comes up often so I thought I would write a little bit about exactly where to shoot a turkey when you are using your archery equipment. The green dots on the pictures are the proper shot locations to put the turkey down quick. With turkeys I highly recommend that you shoot a large diameter mechanical broadhead and I also very highly recommend the 1 3/4 inch Grim Reaper RazorTip. It is pure death on the gobblers.
This is the typical sideways strutting gobbler shot. If you will pay close attention to this picture you will notice that the feathers make a football shaped patch high up on the gobblers back. This football shaped patch is exactly where you will want to place your arrow. The lungs on a gobbler sit right up against the backbone and are only about 1/2 inch wide x 2.5 inches long. A very small target. If you put your broadhead right through this football you will take the gobbler down very very fast. You can NOT hit the gobbler here and hit the gobbler too high to be deadly.
This is a gobbler that is quartering towards you. If you look closely at a gobbler in this position you will notice that the feathers come together and make a Y shaped crease at the leading edge of the football shaped patch that we highlighted in the previous picture. The place where the Y makes this crease of feathers is your target for this type of shot.
This is a picture of a gobbler that is facing you. Your target here will be right on top of the place where the beard is attached to the gobbler. You can hit the gobbler from the beard up to the neck and still have a very deadly shot. You do NOT want to hit the gobbler lower than the beard.
Here is a quartering towards you shot with a slight angle. This one is nearly frontal but with the slight quarter you will adjust your shot to hit right between the Y crease for the quartering and the beard. If you will also look closely I have dotted the hens in the picture too for the walking away shot placement. If you will pay attention to the turkey as it is walking away from you then you will notice that the feathers on the turkey will change colors about mid back. This is your target zone. You will want to center your arrow directly on the color change of the feathers.
This is the rear strutter gobbler and the shot here is made right where the tail feathers come together at the base. A shot placed here will anchor the turkey on the spot. DRT.
Imagine that you have an orange suspended within a basketball and you can't see the orange. This is what you are trying to hit when you are bowhunting turkeys. You have to be able to visualize this orange even though you can't see it. Then you have to pass your arrow right through the orange every time. If you guys have any questions about bowhunting turkeys or just bowhunting in general then ask away. I have been bowhunting for about 30 years so have gained a little knowledge that I can share. I also have a Grand Slam of Archery turkeys to my name which was tons of funs getting.
Greg
This is the typical sideways strutting gobbler shot. If you will pay close attention to this picture you will notice that the feathers make a football shaped patch high up on the gobblers back. This football shaped patch is exactly where you will want to place your arrow. The lungs on a gobbler sit right up against the backbone and are only about 1/2 inch wide x 2.5 inches long. A very small target. If you put your broadhead right through this football you will take the gobbler down very very fast. You can NOT hit the gobbler here and hit the gobbler too high to be deadly.
This is a gobbler that is quartering towards you. If you look closely at a gobbler in this position you will notice that the feathers come together and make a Y shaped crease at the leading edge of the football shaped patch that we highlighted in the previous picture. The place where the Y makes this crease of feathers is your target for this type of shot.
This is a picture of a gobbler that is facing you. Your target here will be right on top of the place where the beard is attached to the gobbler. You can hit the gobbler from the beard up to the neck and still have a very deadly shot. You do NOT want to hit the gobbler lower than the beard.
Here is a quartering towards you shot with a slight angle. This one is nearly frontal but with the slight quarter you will adjust your shot to hit right between the Y crease for the quartering and the beard. If you will also look closely I have dotted the hens in the picture too for the walking away shot placement. If you will pay attention to the turkey as it is walking away from you then you will notice that the feathers on the turkey will change colors about mid back. This is your target zone. You will want to center your arrow directly on the color change of the feathers.
This is the rear strutter gobbler and the shot here is made right where the tail feathers come together at the base. A shot placed here will anchor the turkey on the spot. DRT.
Imagine that you have an orange suspended within a basketball and you can't see the orange. This is what you are trying to hit when you are bowhunting turkeys. You have to be able to visualize this orange even though you can't see it. Then you have to pass your arrow right through the orange every time. If you guys have any questions about bowhunting turkeys or just bowhunting in general then ask away. I have been bowhunting for about 30 years so have gained a little knowledge that I can share. I also have a Grand Slam of Archery turkeys to my name which was tons of funs getting.
Greg
