When Iwas stationedin South Dakota I harvested a turkey with a 30-06. I had two friends with me, one using a 50 caliber muzzleloader and the other used a .223. The friend with a .223 got one the same morning I did.

Normally, I wouldn't use a 30-06 on a turkey, but I had just got the gun so I wanted to take it out. I was using Federal 150 grain soft point ammo. There was actually very little meat damage, I hit it broadside at about 45 yards right around the wing bone (there went my wingbone turkey call I was going to make ). My buddy with the .223 had a more direct "breast" hit and caused slightly more meat loss than what I had. There was very little bullet expansion on both our birds.

I'm originally from Georgia, so I was excited to get a chance to try something new as hunting turkey with a rifle is illegal there. Hunting public land merriams with a rifle isn't as easy as it sounds, and took us nearly the whole season before we got a good opportunity. It was my friend's first turkey ever, my first with a rifle, and the last hunting opportunity we had before we deployed to Iraq.