Here are five angles (body positions) and precise aiming points to ensure the flop when the bowstring drops.
by Jace Bauserman
Bowhunting wild turkeys is hard. Whether you’re decked out in ninja gear hunkered in the back corner of a pop-up blind over decoys, or running and gunning with a bow-mounted fake, duping a tom is challenging.
Perhaps the most daunting aspect of bowhunting turkeys is making an efficient kill shot. Once you get a bird bowhunting close, you have a kill zone a little less than the size of a softball if you go for a body shot and slightly less than a baseball if you go for the headshot.
I’d venture to bet more wild turkeys are hit and lost yearly due to bowhunters being an inch high, left, right, and low than most of us realize.
Don’t tar and feather me! I’m not hating on the art of bowhunting turkeys. Instead, I’m promoting it while providing full transparency. If you’re going to be a stick-and-string spring butterball killer, you must know precisely where to put your carbon arrow.
Here are the five body positions I prefer a longbeard to be in when I let an arrow loose and exactly where to hold. We will start with my favorite and work down the list in order.
Let’s dive in!
Head/Neck
Three years ago, I started shooting turkeys in the head and neck. Head and neck shots eliminate guesswork. The bird is either 100 percent dead or 100 percent alive within seconds of the arrow/broadhead combination being released.
Another reason I like head and neck shots is the defined and highly colorful aiming point. A glowing pin shows ultra-well on the front or side of the head/neck area. Plus, head-shooting turkeys builds confidence. If you can consistently let your pin float on the head/neck area, pull through your release, and put the arrow on the mark, you’ll become even more deadly in the big-game woods.
It’s also important to realize that to execute a head/neck shot, a guillotine-style broadhead like a Magnus Bullhead is not a must-have. Sure, I’ve lopped a few heads off with a Bullhead, and they work wonderfully and give you a little more room for error. However, I prefer using a standard mechanical broadhead for head and neck shooting.
Why?
First, I want to hunt turkeys with the same broadhead I plan to use to hunt pronghorn and other light— to medium-boned big game with.
Second, I’m not a massive fan of decapitating birds. I like to shoot photographs; photos don’t look the same when the head is missing.
Third, I don’t always head-shoot turkeys. If the bird is beyond 20 yards, I go for a body shot and want an ultra-accurate broadhead on my arrow.
My favorite head/neck angle is when the bird is in full strut facing me. This is due to the bright aiming point and blocked-out background (by dark feathers). I settle my pin directly above the caruncles (fleshy bumps on the base of the neck) and send it. I don’t typically take a frontal head/neck shot if the bird isn’t in strut.
If the turkey is in strut and broadside, I prefer to hold my pin directly behind the corner of the beak. This way, if you’re a little high, you get all head; if you’re a little low, you crush the neck. Both shots are instantly fatal.
Facing Straight On
If I’m not going to shoot a turkey in the face with an arrow/broadhead combo, my second favorite shot is when the bird is in full strut and facing me. Again, I love the wall of ebony feathers behind my pin, but like the headshot, I know the margin of error is small, and I need to pick a spot and execute. That “spot” is directly between the base of the beard and the base of the neck. Hit the base of the beard and anywhere above it, and the bird is dead.
Broadside
This is the body position most bowhunters wait for, and while it’s a fantastic angle, it can cause aiming complications.
A bird in strut is full of air, making the vitals look much lower. If the bird isn’t in strut, big breast meat and many feathers tend to cause bowhunters to hold low and aim forward.
When shooting a broadside bird with a bow, you want to divide the bird into thirds and be in the middle to the upper half of the second third. What I look for is a dark triangle. This is where the dark line of feathers on the side, neck, and chest meets the point formed by the upper and lower wing. This triangle is recognizable even when a longbeard isn’t in the strut. If you can hit this triangle, or just in front or behind it, the bird won’t go far.
Quartering To
This winning angle offers you an excellent opportunity to make a killing bow shot. The margin of error is small, but if you focus, this is another shot that often drops a bird in its tracks.
Find the forward leg, which should be the leg furthest from you. Next, come up the leg until you are a touch above the beard. This will put your pin at the forward-most edge of the dark triangle, and you’ll catch all the goodies. If you’re a little high and forward, you smash the neck.
Facing Away
Facing away and quartering away are my two least favorite shot angles. In fact, I rarely take them due to the lack of an ultra-defined aiming point, especially if the bird is in strut.
If strutting, you want to settle your pin at the base of the tail fan. In the deer world, we call this the infamous “Texas heart shot.” It is practical; however, most often, the shot is rushed. When a bird faces away from the hunter, especially if it starts walking away, the hunter tends to rush. I know I do. Rushed shots on turkeys lead to bad things.
Bowhunting turkeys is fun. Stay patient, wait for the right angle, let that pin float, pull through the release, and you’ll stack up more toms this season.
2025 Arrow/Broadhead Turkey Combo
I’m an arrow/broadhead geek. I play around a lot and change often. For 2025, I’ve set my bow to 65 pounds (I turn it down for turkeys) and am shooting Easton’s all-new 5.0s. These arrows have proven ultra-effective on the range, and I like being able to customize front-end weight via insert (HIT and Half-Out) and HIT Collar options. The new 5mm Microlite Nock disconnects from the string perfectly, and I like the speed I’m getting with my 381.1 arrow build.
My quiver will harbor two broadheads—both SEVRs. My turkey go-to is the large-cut Ti 2.0. While, I’m sure I will bust a few domes and punch a few lungs with that head this spring. However, I’m also ultra-excited about the new Ti 1.5 4-Blade Hybrid. I used this broadhead all fall and had incredible results. Adding the fixed .7-inch bleeder blade takes the cutting diameter to 2.2 inches.
