What if a gobbler came in at an un expected and inconvienent spot and for some reason or another you could only get a shot at him while he was in full strut? would that mess up anything? Ive been told by many to never shoot one in full strut and i never have....but could it really hurt anything??

I'm new to this but you could reaaly mess up the fan, if you wanted it for a trophy, also not have a clean shot at the head/neck

I was always told a turkey in strut is bulletproof. I've known quite a few guys to take a shot in full strut only to not affect the bird at all. I doubt I will ever take one.

Besides, all you have to do is make anytime of sound with your mouth and he should come out of strut, might only be a second, but you should be able to get a shot. Good Luck!

This is quite true, that is, unless your bullet is a Hammerhead tipped arrow @ 300 FPS!

Actually, there are a couple of negatives for doing this, although it can work. 1st, you have a MUCH smaller target. They hunker their head down amongst all those feathers making it quite hard to hit. 2nd, if you do, you will almost certainly put some shot in the breast. Watch out for those, they hurt the teeth pretty bad. 3rd, as mentioned, you can blast the heck outta their tail.

Many times a simple cluck will bring him outta strut and give ya a clean head shot.

I would agree a on the single cluck idea to get him to stick his head up. I believe the bad thing about shooting while in strut is that with his headand neck scrunched up you have a lot more flesh to be penetrated before hitting vitals.

If you dont care about messing up the feathers and possibly the fan, you can shoot one in strut, only if he is facing right at you. Otherwise his feathers are protecting his head because it is tucked back in so far.

I,m definitely not an expert, but I can tell you my experience. I went turkey hunting for the first time last spring and finally got my tom after several trips out. My hunting partner was with me helping me call and just generally helping me out. This nice tom came in just perfect to my decoy. The bad thing is he never once came out of his strut. My buddy clucked several times and made other noises but that bird was fired up. Finally at about 15 yards I fired with the tom still in strut. I was using 3 inch #4 Winchesters and he went right down. Had a few shot skid along his back and 3 small holes in his fan. I'm not saying you should always take a shot when the bird is in full strut but it worked for me. I did save the fan, I'm proud of it being my first, and I think the 3 holes don't take away but add to it's character.

[&:]I wouldn't, I think the most amazing thing about the Tom is the fan, and I like to dry them and save them, so I probably wont shoot one in strut unless it is witha bow! [8D]

Shooting a bird in strut is definitly not impossible but also not recomended. I personally have done it twice - once because of inexperience and the other because the dang bird would not come out of strut for anything. Cluck, whistle, anything. Normally all that is needed is a sharp cluck for them to lift the head but there are times that the bird will not come out of strut - in that case make sure that you have a clear shot at the head and you are comfortable with the distance. BOOM!! no problem