xOEDragonx

Mr. Longbeard, you probably shouldn't ask the question if you aren't going to like the answers.

I've never body shot a bird, except for one that I head shot too close (less than 5 yards) when I was new to turkey hunting and the wad struck him causing him to flop around but he still got up in flew so I made a rushed body shot mid-air because I didn't think anything of it.

Aside from that, I don't intentionally shoot bodies. There doesn't seem to be a need or reason to. I like the tail to be intact when I bring the bird home because I enjoy mounting them. All of them. I like the wing bones to be intact so I can turn them into calls. I like the spurs to not be broken (that flying body shot I took, busted his spur with the shot and ruined it). I like the beard hairs to still be attached to the bird. I don't want to have to pick pellets out of the breast. And, maybe it's just my personal opinion, I don't think I could call a shot in the ass, fatal or not, a respectable shot and kill. I just don't like any of it, and they're all things that can and probably will happen if you take body shots.

But in all honesty, I don't feel I've ever had a reason to take a body shot. If the bird is facing you or sideways, there's nothing stopping you from the headshot. If the bird is facing away, you can still head shoot unless his fan is up. If his fan is up, he's likely not spooked and will eventually turn around for you. Maybe in your case where you really wanted a double and you have to body shoot, I'd be alright with that. But had I personally been in that situation, I probably still would have waited.

And you mention ethically. Really, a well placed head shot or a body shot is going to be equally as fatal on a turkey. It only takes one properly placed pellet to kill, and a turkey is a small target that you're (usually) throwing a wide enough shot pattern with a lot of pellets at. Which is more ethical? Probably either or and you're going to find opinions for both. I think a head shot kills quicker, better chance of hitting the spine, brain, and trachea all in one go and any of those will shut an animal down quick. A body shot might just take longer since vital organs aren't usually insta-death (exception a turkey's tiny heart) and would require the animal to bleed out or suffocate. That said, this is the most appropriate shot for large game, so it probably isn't any less ethical to shoot a turkey in the body then it is say a deer. But then, the deer's lungs and heart aren't exactly surrounded by the majority and best meat on the animal.

I guess if your goal at the end of the day is to kill a turkey, by all means shoot it in whatever way you think will be a clean kill. I don't mind how someone does it, as long as they don't intentionally cause the animal unnecessary pain and stress by crippling it. But I personally will probably never body shoot a bird again, even if that means letting a big one walk. I, for one, don't hunt to kill a turkey. I hunt to get out of the house, enjoy the outdoors, and "play" with the turkeys. If I always hunted just to kill a turkey, I'd be done on the first day of the season every year. There's been more than one year I've called in a bird just to decide to shoot him with a camera instead of my gun. Maybe that sounds goofy but in all honesty, once I've got a turkey in to 20 yards, I consider myself as already having "won the game" of hunting. Killing the bird is just an added bonus at the end of the day. But if I only have one tag left, that means killing the bird will be the end of my season and I won't be going out again. Maybe I just enjoy being in the woods in camo too much, but sometimes I try to avoid finishing the season early.

swampbuster

I body shot a turkey once, didn't want to do it but the circumstances dictated it

Mr. Longbeard

Look dude I ain't tryin to start a argument but the world I live in and the one you private property hunters live in is two totally different worlds!!!

If I'm haveing a rough season and a gobbler sneaks in on me at 10 yards or less and bust me... And I gotta take a fleeing body shot... It's goin down jack!!!

I guess I should of posted this on the public land forum...

Mr. Longbeard

xOEDragon...


I gotta ask ya... How many turkeys have you killed on public land up there in garret co.?

Because I've killed about 30 of em off green ridge and I know for a fact green ridge get pounded way more than savage... So if your talking about your couple of green field private land gobblers save girl friend

Topgun 3006

***You really should have just kept your mouth shut and not posted it at all anywhere when you ask a question like that and then get all bent out of shape when you get a lot of comments that don't agree with you! If you're "not trying to start an argument", then why do you keep posting what you are that darn sure looks like it?! FYI the majority of hunting I do is also on public land in MI and out in the Black Hills of SD, so a clairvoyant you're not! It also doesn't matter to me what kind of a season I'm having as to what shot I take. In fact, this is just one of a few years where I got skunked and I have no problem with that, as the birds won this year. Big deal! If killing something is the only reason you're out there and what makes you a happy camper, I feel very sorry for you because that's not what hunting is all about and I can tell you that's from 60 years of doing about every kind of hunting you can come up with! You win some and you lose some. That's why it's called hunting and the sooner you figure that out the happier you might be in going about it.

JW

Here we go again pubilc vs private land hunting.

Body shots - only if I use a bow or xbow. The hunt is important to me while the kill is not.

JW

olsaltydog

I always aim for the head/neck, have hit one in the body before. As I was squeezing the trigger the dang booger leaped at the decoy. Hit him lower neck and upper body, I use the whole bird not just the breast so picking bb's out of meat to salvage as much as possible is never fun. Brother actually chipped a tooth on a squirrel he missed a bb on.

A FYI I hunt strictly public land and even though it gets cramped at times I personally will still not intentionally take a body shot, unless with bow.

Mr. Longbeard

See ya next spring... Hope the forum is still active... Some how I doubt it

Topgun 3006

***LOL! Don't go away mad, just go away!!! You think one person like yourself leaving because he didn't get a lot of "Attaboys" with his azz shooting comments will be the downfall of this Forum? What a joke

Phil from Maine

Ok guys, this is my go to turkey gun.. It is an old Ithica M66 Super Single first of all. It is a 12 gauge single shot long tom that has a 36 inch barrel and packs a wallop!
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/memb...per-single.jpg

Up close I have to try and remember to aim quite low in order to connect as it is designed for longer ranges and shoots quite high. So up close I hope for the side shots. If I can remember to I have to aim around beard level in order to take a head shot. Whether anyone can agree or not it does not matter as it is what it is. It was designed for geese at longer ranges and it knocks the turkeys down better in the 50 to 60 yard ranges.. I am at the head in those longer ranges and it clearly is working great then. That does not mean to say everyone with a turkey gun should be doing this. You have to know your gun and which range is best for it. That also does not mean that everyone's gun shoots the same way either. Up close if no other shot is available I can comfortably know a body shot will actual be a head shot for me. Only then would I take if I can remember to as well. I have missed my share of turkeys up close while taking the head shot out of it. The second bird this year I had missed on a head shot up close.. I did the very same thing on this same bird last year. I have been hunting this bird now for 3 years and after the miss I leave him alone and hope for another shot at him next year. I hunt private land that is open to the public. So I guess it is the same thing as public land? As it is forestry land that logging/paper companies use for timber. This has both a pipeline and power line running along it for roughly 83 miles and a dirt road running almost the entire way.. Anyways back to the question is in my opinion based on how your gun shoots on whether it can actually be a head shot when shooting at the body..

Again know you gun and decide from there..