Bowhunting Turkeys

BOW EQUIPMENT

Turkeys have excellent color vision, and therefore all equipment should be camouflaged or of a dark color. Brightly-colored arrow fletchings can give you away unless you are inside a full-coverage ground blind. Most successful hunters use high-let-off compounds. Compound bows are a good choice because they shoot very flat and require less strength to hold at full draw. For those hunters who choose to hunt without the aid of a full-covered ground blind, a better choice may be a fast-shooting recurve or long bow A quick shot is possible with the instinctive style of shooting used by many traditional archery hunters. Bow draw weights from 45 to 70 pounds are adequate for hunting wild turkey and adjusting your draw weight down to around 45 lbs. will help you hold your draw longer and still give good penetration.

Broadhead selection for turkey hunting is a hotly debated issue. As you can see from the turkey vitals pic, the heart and lungs of a turkey are well protected by a lot of bone and feathers. Penetrating into the vital area is very important so you don't just wound the turkey and have it run or fly off. NAP Gobbler Getter and NAP Shockwave expandable broadheads work well from field reports. Make sure to check your state game regs on what is legal to shoot, some states only allow broadheads with a 7/8" cutting diameter.

Rubber washers (game stoppers), or other feather-gabbing devices behind the broadhead are necessary so the arrow stays in the bird, making recovery easier. Adder Point is one maker of the arrow stoppers for your arrows. The Neet Game Stoppers are another type of feather grabbing device to add to your arrow, (see pic on left).

"Snarows" are not recommended for shooting turkeys by many bowhunters. "Snarows" are basically blunts with four wire loops extending from the side of the blunt point, (see pic on right). This creates two figure 8's. The wire extends out from the side of the blunt about 4 - 6 inches, giving you a pattern of sorts, for wing shooting birds. Another theory about shooting turkeys with a bow is some only shoot at the head using snarows. Their thinking is if you hit them in the head you stone them and if you miss, nothing is lost. From my experience, those turkey heads are bobbing and weaving too much for my skill so I shoot at the heart lung section of the body.

Deeper reading on bowhunting turkeys can be found in the book "Bowhunting for Turkeys" by Jack Brobst.

Since a turkey is a small target, accessories that improve accuracy are recommended. These include bow and peep sights, shooting tabs, and releases. Use bright-colored or fluorescent sight pins or paint dull-colored pins white. This way, they will show up brightly against the dark colors of a turkey. A turkey's hearing is good, so eliminate any noisy bow accessories or moving parts. Lubricate wheels on compound bows, put moleskin around the arrow rest, quiet squeaky limbs and tighten up any screws, bolts or other noise-making components. You can find companies that sell bow supplies under the Links section.

BLINDS AND TREESTANDS

Bow hunters suffer a major obstacle to making good, clean shots at wary nervous turkeys. Turkeys have keen eyesight and will detect the movement required to draw and shoot a bow, especially at close bow ranges. A bow hunter who hunts without a blind has a poor chance for success. Using a blind is the only consistent way to get close shots at undisturbed turkeys. There are two major types of blinds - ground and elevated. Ground blinds are the best and are either portable or constructed with brush and vegetation. Sharp-eyed turkeys constantly scan trees for signs of danger from above This means that you will be seen in a tree stand even if you do not move. Tree stands have other disadvantages, such as the permanent-type stands used for deer which are often in poor locations for turkey hunting. Portable stands can be used, but the noise and general commotion involved in erecting one may spook turkeys. Blind location is critical. In the fall, this should be within 30 yards of the point where you scattered a flock In the spring, precise location is not as important, but good strutting areas, roost sites, or feeding areas are best. You can find companies that sell turkey blinds under the Links section.

DECOYS & DECOY TACTICS

Turkeys either love or hate decoys depending on their mood and the time of year Spring gobblers can often be enticed into close bow range with a decoy Members of fall flocks are not always as easily fooled. Most experienced bow hunters use a hen decoy. Positioning a decoy is important. If your decoy is too far away, say 25 yards, and a turkey comes in on the far side and sees it at 20 yards, the bird may hang up. Then it is out of range at 45 yards. For maximum effectiveness, place a decoy no more than 10 yards away Some hunters use more than one hen decoy, a jake decoy, or a small flock of decoys. The theory is that a turkey will be enticed to join up with the flock or a gobbler may be enraged at the presence of a jake. Place your jake decoy to face you because a tom will usually come in and face down the jake, giving you a chance to raise your bow or rifle. These tactics do not always work. Seasoned bow hunters occasionally report watching gobblers ignore jake decoys and fight hen decoys.

Several decoys provide added opportunity for a turkey to see something interesting, but it also increases safety problems. Most hunters use only one hen decoy, but sometimes extra decoys can give you an advantage. One trick you can use with 2 or more decoys is to "Short Stake" a hen decoy in the breeding position. A tom who comes to your calling may key in on the receptive hen and forget all about caution. Another trick with decoys is too add some motion to them to make them appear real. There are motion decoys available or you can add fishing line to remotely wiggle them. To keep the foam decoys from spinning like a top on the stake, you can put grass inside the decoy shell to slow down the spin in the wind. Shoving some sticks in the ground besides the decoy will also prevent the wild spinning in the wind. You can find companies that sell turkey decoys under the Links section.

I like the foam fold up decoys because they are easy to set up and tuck away real nice in a pack or turkey vest. The hard bodied decoys have to be carried by hand and clunk along hitting your shotgun or other gear. You must also consider the safety factor of carrying a decoy around in the woods with the hard body decoys. Another decoy that is hot for the spring 2000 hunt is the inflatable decoy by Hidden Valley, it even scrunches up into the palm of your hand. Too slick.

SHOT PLACEMENT

Bow hunters are often faced with the problem of trying to recover a bird that was hit in a nonvital area. A turkey that is not immobilized when hit is difficult to recover. Wounded turkeys will instantly fly or run away, even with an arrow in them. There is usually no blood trail, no trail of feathers and no tracks to follow. Responsible bow hunters should never shoot an arrow at a turkey without the aid of a recovery system. A bird hit in the spine will collapse immediately. An arrow that pierces the heart or lungs, without breaking a leg or wing, may require you to do a little searching. A similar hit that breaks a leg or wing will generally result in a quick recovery. A wounded bird that runs or flies away should be pursued immediately, keeping it in sight or within hearing. Listen for the sounds of the bird running in the leaves or the flapping of its heavy wings.

Regardless of the situation, you should try to mark the direction of flight or run. If you heard the turkey make a crash landing, pinpoint the location. Wounded turkeys will normally find a hiding spot within 200 yards. They will hide almost anywhere. You may find them in brush piles, under or by a log, in a creek bed, under leaves or bushes, in tall grass, under rock out-croppings or up against the base of a large tree or rock. Unless it is obviously dead, shoot another arrow into a wounded bird to anchor it. Remember that the bird will have an arrow with a sharp broadhead in it when you retrieve him with the keeper or string tracker in place. Fortunately, there are products that will help a bow hunter recover turkeys. String trackers, heat-sensing detectors, arrows with audible tones, and arrows that contain small radio transmitters are all examples of effective recovery systems. You can find companies that sell turkey recovery systems under the Links section.

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