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viper2788 · Member

so i plan to bag me a turkey or two this year with my .22 nitro piston rifle. however, some of my co workers have told me i need something more powerful than that, preferably a real rifle or a bow. is this true? i cant see any turkey surviving(or escaping) a head shot or a shot to the neck, which IS going to happen anywhere under 50 yds of range.

anybody have any experience with turkeys?

oddtodd · Silver Status Member

I wouldn't try it myself. You would have to have a perfect shot, and those are hard to do with a 12 ga. shotgun. I think you would really risk just hurting a bird and give it a long slow agonizing death. It's like the Gamo ad that shows them dropping a wild pig. That shot would have to be ridiculously accurate.

SMP · Silver Status Member

Here in Ontario it would be absolutely no

We have to take a special course, carry a special license and only hunt with a very limited choice of guns or bows to hunt turkey.

This is because the likelihood of wounding the animal is so high and clean kills are difficult

....and of course the money grab Rolling Eyes

Slavia · Moderator

Guys around here like 10 gauge. Double check your "method of take" regulations - it looks like airguns are legal for turkey, but only in the fall:
http://www.eregulations.com/maryland/hunting/wild-turkey-hunting/
http://www.eregulations.com/maryland/hunting/firearms-regulations/

In my firearm safety instructor class they said to get a big store or garbage bag in a really bright color. You carry the turkey in the bag so some idiot doesn't see it bouncing around on your shoulder and take your head off.

domer_pyle · Senior Member

I'd do it, but shot selection would be what it really came down to. If I could get it to put it's head up and stay still, then inside 40 yards a Polymag would definitely hit what it needed to. Except I'd leave the XL at home and fling one at somewhere around 930 ave with the Disco. But only because of the extreme need for accuracy which means a solid rest on something, and we know how that can go with springers

mod90 · Veteran Member

I have taken more than a few turkey with a .177. Best shot placement for smaller birds would be head/neck, or pretty much anywhere in the body. Larger birds like turkey need really specific shot placement to ensure a quick kill, & this isn't always head shots. Best placement IMO is on the back about one third of the length behind the neck. That's the heart/lung area. Also, there's minimal flesh at this area, so you get maximum penetration. As a bonus as well, the spine if the bird runs down the back, so if one were to place a shot there the game would not be able to run off & die elsewhere. I've seen a turkey take off running with a pellet in it's head fro a shot taken at about 15-18yds. So now when hunting larger birds, if I cant get that sweet spot, I don't take the shot.
Good luck with your hunt.

donwalk · Veteran Member

your .22 nitro piston has more than enough "power" to take turkey with.

here in kaliphornia, to hunt turkey with an air gun it must be at least .20 caliber.

as was said in another reply by mod90..."Shot placement is key"

study the anatomy of the turkey to determine where to place the pellet and construct a target of the same and practice.

while turkeys are NOT armor plated, the feathers do give it a certain amount of protection from missiles.

while turkeys are not 'dumb', with proper approach, you can draw them into a reasonable 'kill zone'.

oh...one other thing...turkeys have a 280 degree field of view vision and with a slight movement of their head, are able to see completely around themselves.

LDH® · Member

Yea, but when they congregate in your yard 30 at a time it makes for easy pickins Smile

Cali Quail are abundant too

And quite cute

viper2788 · Member

^ holy crap!! if i were you, i would literally be feeding the homeless... HAHA

mod90 · Veteran Member

Man LDH, I don't think 30 plus gobblers strutting your yard qualifies as "hunting". Still you're damn lucky to have it that good.

LDH® · Member

Luckily for them I am not much of a deer hunter Smile

My wife's Manx cat brought this baby in not too long ago and dropped it in the middle of the damn living room. I yanked the wires out of the Wii and damn near knocked over the surround sound speakers trying to catch his little a$$

Then she ate a full sized one a couple days later (look carefully and you'll notice the remains of a pocket gopher she had dismembered earlier in the day)

Sholo · Veteran Member

mod90 · Veteran Member

Man, that ain't right. All that delicious venison just leisurely strolling & nibbling away, without a care or fear in the world. Oh how I wish I could be where you are, if only for a while.

VENI VIDI VICI · Member

I have witnessed a turkey being taken with a pellet rifle, good buddy of mine took one down with a cheapo beeman dual caliber from Walmart. Neck shot right below the head, dropped like a stone!

I hope to take one with my Walther Talon Magnum during the spring season.

LDH® · Member

I'm totally not going to say it can't be done with an air rifle, I just worry about it not being a humane way to do it... Turkeys are damn tough.

Besides why risk a bad kill and chasing a turkey through the woods that you may or may not retrieve when you can just go tactical on it and insure the kill Smile