During my 40 years of pursuing wild turkeys, I’ve killed them with shotguns and bows. I’ve focused on the latter during the last decade, and if I’ve learned anything along the way, it’s this: With a bow, aiming for a turkey’s head or neck is far better than the heart/lung area, or the legs/thighs. Here are my top three reasons why.

1: Easy aiming point.

You can spend hour after hour watching YouTube videos from so-called “experts” on where to aim for body shots on wild turkeys. Let me save you some time; they don’t agree on where to aim, especially if a bird is broadside.

Some claim if you take out a turkey’s legs, it can’t fly. In my experience, this is true — provided you take out BOTH legs with a shot through both thighs. A tom or jake can take off with the use of only one leg; I’ve seen it. It also depends on the terrain. If you take out a turkey’s legs and he attempts to take flight on flat ground, he’ll no doubt have trouble. However, if you’re hunting near the top of a hill (think, the high ground overlooking a river-bottom), and a turkey can simply jump (or even stumble) off the hillside, they can get airborne and be gone; I’ve seen it. Try blood-trailing a flying turkey, with feathers that soak up blood. Not good.

If you shoot a Magnus Bullhead or similar broadhead, you aim for their head or neck. Simple! Yes, you need to wait for the head or neck to stop moving for a second, but be patient and you’ll get your chance. I’ve learned that toms will almost always pause for a second or two before they attack a jake decoy; draw your bow early, track the tom’s head or neck as he slips in, and when he pauses, hammer him.

2: Fewer lost birds.

This reason is tied closely to No. 1. I finally switched to a head/neck broadhead because I was saddened and frustrated by losing birds to body shots that initially appeared ideal.

I’m sure the “shoot ‘em in the legs” crowd have already stopped reading this article, but if one of them is still reading, I’ll anger him or her further by saying I don’t condone aiming for a body spot (i.e. the legs) that isn’t quickly lethal. Analogy: Even if I were a good enough archery shot to hit a deer in the spine on purpose, I wouldn’t think this is an acceptable way to stop an animal in its tracks, and then follow up with a shot to the heart/lungs. I understand there’s a chance that a broadhead through a turkey’s two legs could cause it to bleed to death in a short period of time. This chance increases with a large mechanical broadhead. But such a shot might not be quickly fatal. I’m not okay with this scenario.

3: Perfect breast and leg/thigh meat.

My turkey bowhunting buddies and I went three-for-three on a recent Saturday morning (top photo). I was sitting with a buddy who filled his tag a week earlier, and two other friends were hunting together in a pop-up blind a mile away. Two birds were killed with head/neck broadheads, and one was shot with a large mechanical through both thighs of a bird. The broadhead that went through the legs also impacted the breast.

When we butchered the birds, the two of us who used head/neck shots were rewarded with unblemished breast and leg/thigh meat — perfect meat! Our buddy who used the body shot? It was ugly. His large mechanical pushed feathers through one thigh, and left a massive three-blade cut in it, then the head continued through the breast, leaving more destruction, then finally passed through the far thigh, cutting more and pushing bloody feathers until finally exiting. This buddy spent a lot of time at the sink cutting away blood-stained meat, picking out feathers, etc. Two of our birds looked like they died of fright; the third looked like it had been run over by a pickup.

Gear for Head/Neck Shots

I know there are a couple of choices when it comes to broadheads designed for head/neck shots. That said, I’ve used only the 125-grain Magnus Bullhead. If you’re thinking of making the change to head/neck shots, I’ll make this easy: purchase the Bullhead Bow Kit 125 Grain. The $53.99 kit comes with two full-length Victory arrows (.300 spine; four 4-inch feathers) and two 125-grain Bullhead broadheads (three-blade fixed, with a 3.75-inch cutting diameter; lifetime guarantee!). 

The long arrow is needed to keep the large fixed-blade head from hitting your bowsight at full draw. The four 4-inch feathers help stabilize the broadhead.

I don’t change anything about my bow setup. Zero. And I’ve used these specialized arrows and broadheads on at least seven different compounds through the decades. You’ll want to practice shooting into an inexpensive pillow; place it in a cardboard box, leaving the pillow exposed on one side. I stick a 5-inch strip of duct tape vertically on the pillow as a target; it simulates a gobbler’s neck. Step back to 7 yards, draw and then aim (middle of the tape strip) with your top pin and release. Check out arrow impact. On my bows, I use my second pin (30 yards) instead of my top pin (20 yards) at very close range (5-8 yards). Some of my buddies use their 20-yard pin. Shoot a few times to see which pin works best for you. At a distance of 10-13 yards, I use my 20-yard pin.

One final aiming tip: A gobbler’s neck is often difficult to see — and hit — when the bird is strutting broadside. No worries because his head is as big as a baseball. Aim for his cheek and you’ll drop him in his tracks.