Looking to notch your spring turkey tag with a crossbow? Add these notes to your playbook.
by Darron McDougal
A pack of jakes bombarded my decoys, but the tom held up in the pines bordering the field I was hunting. He gobbled constantly but would not poke his beak out. Eventually, the gobbling fizzled and so did my hopes.
I packed up and retreated to my truck. With permission to hunt across the road, I quickly scanned that field with my binoculars and spotted a strutter through the heat mirages. He was dancing for a hen in between two small timber islands surrounded by nothing but agriculture.
With my property knowledge — thanks to HuntStand Pro — I drove down the road and parked my truck behind one of the tree islands. I then hustled 350 yards and reached the densest part of the second tree island knowing the birds would soon seek shelter there. Temperatures were rising, and turkeys hate extreme heat. I stuck my decoys in the ground, sat against a tree trunk, and began calling.
The hen entered the timber first and walked within point-blank distance. The gobbler entered the timber but hung back. Once the hen lost interest and moved towards him, I scratched the leaves to reignite their interest. The hen came in a second time, and the gobbler finally broke the 40-yard barrier. However, two twigs I worried would deflect my crossbow bolt kept me from shooting. Eventually, the hen dragged him away.
One year later in spring 2024, I scored with my TenPoint TX 440. I was hunting from a ground blind on a field edge when a flock swarmed my decoy spread. The tom mounted my Avian-X Laydown Hen, and I centered the crosshairs beneath his waddles. My bolt ripped through him, and he crumpled on the spot and kicked a few times. The TenPoint TX 440 and Rage Hypodermic performed flawlessly. I brimmed with confidence while I squeezed the trigger.
Turkey hunting with a crossbow is not only fun but highly effective. And it’s a nice middle ground between bowhunting and shotgunning. Here are some pointers in case you decide to crossbow hunt a gobbler this spring.
Set The Decoys Close
I’ve heard people foolishly say of crossbows, “They’re just like guns.” The only two similarities are that you shoulder them and use a scope. Beyond that, a crossbow’s capability doesn’t nearly touch what firearms can do. However, a crossbow is also a fry cry from a compound bow or traditional bow. And, even though today’s best crossbows can shoot wildly accurate, they aren’t invincible. To that end, the closer the better.
I’d suggest putting your decoys at 10-15 yards; don’t set them at 20-30 yards. I don’t believe 30 yards is an unethical distance for most hunters, but it needlessly lengthens your shot. Plus, if you put the decoys at 15 yards and a gobbler hangs up 15 yards beyond them, you’ll still have a doable 30-yard shot.
Get Aggressive And Move In On Birds
While hunting from a ground blind — I did during last spring’s successful crossbow hunt —is advantageous, especially when hunting on a field, you can run and gun with a crossbow much like shotgunners do to stay in the action. The ability to locate a bird, quickly cut the distance, and then sit down and call can be deadly effective. A ground blind will only slow you down and isn’t necessary in run-and-gun scenarios.
Unlike a shotgun, which can pound birds through the brush, you’ll obviously need a clear, unobstructed shot for your crossbow. Aptly, you’ll need to plan your setups carefully. Shotgunners often ditch the decoys and make tight setups in which the gobbler has to enter within shotgun range in order to see where the calling is coming from. It will be tough to take a bird with a crossbow in a setup like this due to potential saplings and branches. Always find a path with few to no obstructions and set your decoys there.
Know The Kill Zone
Shotgunners can easily hammer a gobbler that exposes his head — even through the brush — at 40 yards and well beyond with today’s latest turkey guns and loads. But, a crossbow has only one projectile. And while you can certainly go for a headshot, it will be very difficult to hit unless the gobbler is strutting and standing still with his head broadside and your crossbow is on a rock-solid rest. Thus, the bird’s body is your primary target.
A turkey’s heart/lung kill zone is baseball-sized. Some folks aim for the tops of the drumsticks to immobilize the bird and cause a fast bleed-out, but this requires aiming fairly low. Someone once said, “Hit ‘em low, watch ‘em go. Hit ‘em high, watch ‘em die.” While taking out the drumsticks is incredibly lethal, accidentally hitting too low and in front of the drumsticks puts you in a non-vital zone, and hitting behind the drumsticks will get only feathers or maybe the butt and some intestines. I highly prefer aiming for the heart/lung kill zone because it’s easier to identify and yields clean, fast results.
As far as placement relative to angles, here’s the lowdown. On a facing bird, hit dead center between the base of the neck and the beard. On a broadside bird, aim for the upper third just behind the wing butt where the heart and lungs are situated. On a strutting bird facing straight away, aim where the tail feather quills converge. If the bird is upright (not strutting) and facing away, aim for the middle of the back. On a quartering-toward angle, aim between the wing butt and the waddles. Quartering away is a deadly angle, but it’s also an easy shot to botch, the common mistake being a hit that’s too far forward and only hits the breast. Be sure to aim far enough back that your arrow goes through the center of the bird.
Limit Your Shot Distance
Earlier I mentioned that it’s senseless to lengthen your shot distance. But, what about those times when a strutter hangs up 50, 60, or 70 yards away in a wide-open field? Decisions, decisions. In my experience with testing crossbows, most new high-end models are fully capable of placing a deadly hit at those ranges, especially in skilled hands. However, we can’t ignore the diminutive size of a turkey’s vitals. You can arrow a turkey in many places that won’t yield a one-shot kill.
I am not promoting long shots on turkeys. But, some folks are highly dialed in with their equipment. They practice a lot. They shoot from a ground blind. They use a rock-solid rest. They execute every shot precisely. Someone like that can probably hit a tennis ball every single time at the above-mentioned distances.
If someone like this were to take a 60-yard shot on a gobbler standing still in the wide-open, would I call it unethical? No. I believe it’s a matter of knowing your personal capabilities. If there’s even a freckle of doubt about whether you can make the shot, don’t shoot. You know your crossbow and your capabilities with it, and it’s your responsibility to set and stick with ethical limitations. The goal is no wounded turkeys.
Ditch the Decoys and Ambush Them
I’ve hunted many decoy-shy turkeys over the last 22 years. It’s incredibly frustrating, and success often hinges on your ability to outsmart rather than attract such toms. If you can nail down a tom’s pattern, forget the blind and decoys. Hide using natural cover within easy range of where the tom is likely to walk based on your observations.
This is a piece of cake with a shotgun, very doable with a crossbow, and quite challenging with a compound or recurve bow. With a crossbow, you don’t have the movement of drawing back as you do with a regular bow, but you’re still limited to one projectile rather than a shotgun’s dense pattern. Still, sitting silently in ambush is highly effective when gobblers aren’t responding to your calls and decoys. A hunter I shared camp with in South Dakota in 2023 took a gobbler with his crossbow using this strategy. It flew down and walked by, and he delivered a great hit. Take your crossbow and try it when decoys and calls aren’t working.
Parting Points
Crossbow hunting for turkeys is a happy medium between shotguns and draw-and-shoot vertical bows. I love to hunt with all weapons, but the stealth of taking out an animal with an arrow or crossbow bolt is something you have to experience to appreciate. It feels more intimate and more rewarding. And for new hunters, the lack of recoil and report is nice, too.
If you want to try your hand at crossbow hunting for turkeys, get a crossbow that you can trust such as the TenPoint TX 440 that I used last spring, and rig your bolts with huge mechanical broadheads. Then, heed the tips outlined herein, and you’ll be in for some fun hunting.
