Discouraged Lost two turkey

[Big D]

Last year first day of turkey I had a long beard down fast with my ibex. It took a few steps with lots of blood and expired. This past Saturday which is the first day of turkey in Pa. I was in the same spot and same blind. At 7 a.m I shot one at the same distance and what seemed like the same area on the turkey with my new 330. After I watched him walk off I found NO BLOOD ON THE ARROW and some drops 90 yards away. This morning at 8:30 I called in three long beards that had three jakes behind them again same distance maybe 12 yards and what seemed to be a good hit and
NO BLOOD ON THE ARROW the turkey went crazy for a second and I watched him walk up a pipeline with the other two Toms over a 100yards in sight.
I am now 2 for 6 with my x-bows on turkey and very discouraged. I used a rage 2 blade last year with success and this year no success and this morning I even put on a rage extreme with a bigger cut.
If I can't figure out how to use the bullheads or guillotine with my x-bow I think my x-bows days for turkey are over

BIG D

[Carnivorous]

I have been there buddy. I lost one myself with the bow & it still lingers in my mind...

You can't beat the shotgun for quick kills. But to harvest one with the x-bow is truly an amazing thing!!

Jeff

[UPSMAN]

I've had pretty good luck using a fixed 3 blade Muzzy with a grasshopper attachment. POI is certainly a critical issue for sure. I love crossbow hunting but I much prefer my custom turkey shotgun.

[Big D]

Thanks guys for the encouragement this particular property the land owner only allows bow hunting. If it was up to me I would be using a shotgun also. this is my prime deer archrey area and I don't want to lose it.

[Deaf jeff]

Last year first day of turkey I had a long beard down fast with my ibex. It took a few steps with lots of blood and expired. This past Saturday which is the first day of turkey in Pa. I was in the same spot and same blind. At 7 a.m I shot one at the same distance and what seemed like the same area on the turkey with my new 330. After I watched him walk off I found NO BLOOD ON THE ARROW and some drops 90 yards away. This morning at 8:30 I called in three long beards that had three jakes behind them again same distance maybe 12 yards and what seemed to be a good hit and
NO BLOOD ON THE ARROW the turkey went crazy for a second and I watched him walk up a pipeline with the other two Toms over a 100yards in sight.
I am now 2 for 6 with my x-bows on turkey and very discouraged. I used a rage 2 blade last year with success and this year no success and this morning I even put on a rage extreme with a bigger cut.
If I can't figure out how to use the bullheads or guillotine with my x-bow I think my x-bows days for turkey are over

BIG D

just a thought here,, maybe the high poundage of the 380 might be causing the rage to open prematurely and throwing it off target

[typical10]

The regular rage for bows does and will open prem. I already did that test. The rage for crossbow has a plastic collar to prevent it from prem. opening up. I have not drew blood with it yet. jeff~

[peter p]

Are you aiming for the vitals?
A turkey has a small kill zone.

It could be that you are hitting them to far forward in the breast.

There are some good turkey shot placement videos on the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9z7wb-iv5U

[Cossack]

The regular rage for bows does and will open prem. I already did that test. The rage for crossbow has a plastic collar to prevent it from prem. opening up. I have not drew blood with it yet. jeff~

The regular Rage, with the rubber band blade retainer, does open quite easily. I would not use it in a 380. My guess is you didn't hit the bird where you though if the one or more blades open prematurely.
That said, I made a stronger collar using shrink tubing. Had to experiment a bit to get the right length, then slipped it on and heated the back end of the tubing. The insert screws right up to it so it stays on and holds the blades closed much better than the rubber band.
Tinkering, it's what I do.

[evaughan]

My experience has been that arrows which pass through turkeys rarely have any blood on them. The feathers on the exit side of the bird wipe it clean on the way out, really clean. Turkeys I've seen shot with 2 blade rage were almost cut in half.

[Big D]

I have never had a rage open prematurely when using my equinox. Since I am using the 330 there is no reason they should open with less speed. The rage extreme I used on the second bird had the new shock collar and 2.3 inch cut. I think the vitals are small and I will avoid shooting them in the body ever again.
I have shot 6 birds with a x-bow and only recovered 2 which were hit well with lots of blood on the arrow and ground. Two out of six birds tells me I need to make a change. I spoke with a nice gentleman from magnus named Mike who recommended the bullhead. I will be trying the new bullhead 100 grain in the future on my 20 inch 2219 arrows that I have for my equinox. The 20 inch keeps the giant broad head in front of the stirrup. If I miss the turkey is not injured if I hit the head or neck it should be a short recovery.

Big D

[Tom]

I have said this many times before, when turkey hunting with archery equipment you should have an arrow arrestor of some kind. These stop the arrow from having a complete pass through and also transfer some of the KE from the arrow into the turkey. There are many different styles you can buy, you can also make your own with elastic bands on the shaft behind the heads, but this is what I use and love them.
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Zwickey+S ... eitem.html

I posted the link from that retail outlet as it does give a good idea of what it does and how it works better then I can . These Scropios do work better on aluminum as others have told me that they can scratch carbon shafts.

I have lost one turkey with this setup as I watched the turkey walk over a hill, I gathered my stuff to retrieve it only to find that a coyote got there first (under 200 yards and 40 minutes) but I did find my arrow, but not the head (hope the coyote chokes on it). But usually when I hit a turkey at under 15 yards (with a 150 lb model) the arrow stops, but the turkey is moved two to three yards sideways from the force of the KE. This helps in the recovery of the turkey.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Tom

[Big D]

Thanks Tom for all the info I may try those in the future. When I hit both birds they showed they were hit but walked away in sight without looking injured should I have chased after them? They didn't walk like they were fatally hit so I sat tight and waited. Did I do the right thing?
I ordered the smaller magnus bullhead to try if they fly well I will use them. Anyone on here no of someone that killed a turkey with this broadhead and Excalibur x-bow?

Thanks Big D

[Adrian J Hare]

This happens a 100 times more then anyone hears. Just the reason I do not promote bow hunting turkeys.

Head shots Only should be a law ...

[Tom]

This happens a 100 times more then anyone hears. Just the reason I do not promote bow hunting turkeys.

Head shots Only should be a law ...

Sorry Adrian I know you know more about turkey hunting then I do and most on here, but going for a head shot with archery equipment is a NO NO .

A turkeys head is constantly moving, bobbing around looking at everything. In a split second their head can move more then a foot. I have witnessed one bird which took a neck shot, had a two inch hole ripped out of the neck, just above the bottom of the neck. This bird was finally taken 3 days later with a shotgun. The landowner told me about the bird and my dad and I stalked it until we were able to get it with the guns. Not my style of hunt nor my way of wanting to apply a tag, but I did cause I hate to see a wounded animal.

The above story was not to say it will happen all the time, but only to show no matter what, it can happen. Archery hunting turkeys is not for everyone. You need to be much more confident in your setups and more precise in where you hit. The vitals are really tiny and more often then not, you are lucky to have a perfect hit.

Big D it is very difficult to say if you did the correct thing or not, at when you went after the bird. Sometimes giving it time to expire is best as you do not want to startle it into flying as then you are almost impossible to find it again. When I hit the bird with an arrow with the Zwickeys, the bird usually takes a hard hit and is not doing too much right after the hit. When that happens I quickly get up and make sure it is dead before it regains any sense to try and escape. Remember that a turkey will have difficulty running or flying with an arrow still in it.

As for the hunting head you use, I have always recommended using what you are most accurate with. Remember that with turkeys, 3 " off could mean a non lethal hit. Accuracy (shot placement) is more important then cut size.

Tom

[Big D]

Thanks guys for the info. Are you saying that I should avoid the magnus bullhead broadhead which is made for head/neck shots. Again has anybody used them successfully with a Excalibur?

Big D