aiming on turkey

geterdun3 · 05-01-2008, 05:56 PM

where is best place to shoot a turkey? I have heard right where their head meets the neck and i have heard where the neck meets the base of the body. thanks

BOWHUNTERCOP · 05-01-2008, 06:06 PM

head, neck area= dead bird

mauser06 · 05-01-2008, 06:58 PM

different folks aim different places...the idea is to put pellets in the head and neck taking the brain and spine out...

personally i aim right below the head. this puts pellets in the head and neck very well...yes...i send a small bit of pellets over his head and wouldnt if i aimed lower, but i see no need to aim lower and dont like blown up beards and hevi shot will break your teeth

i guess you could say i aim where the feathers start on the neck...

ive seen guys on TV shoot them where the neck meets the body...it folds em...but man...feathers everywhere...seen beards blown off...and im sure theres about 200 pellets in the breast...my shotgun shoots point of aim...half the pattern above my bead and half below it...i dont wanna aim any lower than i do.

Simp · 05-01-2008, 06:59 PM

Yep. I aim for the waddles (sp) on a bird. This way some of the shot gets his head and some gets his chest. Chest does not = breast though. Wouldn't want to tear that up!

Rory/MO · 05-01-2008, 08:43 PM

where their head meets their neck, that way you center theyre head in the pattern

kdsberman · 05-02-2008, 08:33 AM

I usually aim about where the neck meets the body, but just slightly higher. Theyre head is always moving and it kinda reduces the chance of your pattern missing one way or the other.

RDHunter · 05-02-2008, 08:43 AM

If your using a shotgun ... go for a head shot but if your using a bow , here are some photo's of good shot placement.

Arjuna · 05-02-2008, 01:57 PM

I'm with RDHunter. It depends on your weapon. RD's pics are a good place to start with arrow placement. Bowsite.com also has an interactive game for aiming at turkeys. As far shotgun patterns I am at the place where the feathers meet the neck.

Rory/MO · 05-02-2008, 02:29 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: kdsberman

I usually aim about where the neck meets the body, but just slightly higher. Theyre head is always moving and it kinda reduces the chance of your pattern missing one way or the other.

oh ya thats what i meant too

Strut&Rut · 05-02-2008, 02:47 PM

Personally, to me there's not a single answer to this question. For instance, my gun/shell combo will throw 200 pellets in a slug-like pattern out to 20 yards. There's no way I'm only aiming at the head if the bird is 20 yards or under. I'm placing the red dot right at the base of his neck, to allow for any shifting movement.

That same bird 40 yards away is a different story. Although I can count ~150 pellets, that shot density is within a 10" circle, not 2 inches. Hence, I'm aiming for the middle of the neck and up, so that the majority of my shot pattern is centered around his entire head/upper neck area.

Of course, each hunt and shot is also slightly different. If I'm in the woods, I'm much more likely to center my site at the base of the neck, regardless of the distance. This allows more room for error, such as mis-judged distances or small twigs (which you just can't see sometimes at 30 yards), and hence increases the odds for success. The majority of my hunts finds me in the woods, not on pasture edges...

However, give me a pasture shot, and I'll aim right for the base of the head every day, all day long. First, it's a clear line of sight to the bird, and personally I judged these distances better than wooded shots. Second, I know there's nothing between the birds head and my barrel...I may not know what lies slightly below the grassy surface (stumps, briars, saplings, buried farm equipment, etc.). Third, from my experience birds in a field are usually less jittery, and hence will actually keep their heads quite still. I'm sure this probably has to do with increased vision, compared to the woods where a bird will constantly move to pick up on sounds...