Rifles for turkeys

[duckmander]

30 odd years ago when it was legal to harvest turkeys here in okla. with a rifle many chose the 22mag. I have never hunted them with a rifle. though sometimes I'd like to have on handy for them 60/70 yard hangers. If I was to hunt them with a rifle. there would be no head shots. put them in the body/vitals.

If we are going to say it is unethical to kill them with a Oh say 10 second delay from shot to expired. then a body shot with a bow would be unetical. I would not hunt them with any other broad head then what I would use for deer. I would not like them 4" wide giliteen heads. seems to me they would limit your shooting range to about 20 yards max. So to draw a bow with a turkey inside 20 yards is all but impossible.

Now if all of this new fangled stuff is all cheating. maybe we should just throw rocks at them. of use a leaf for a call and when they get close enough. grab them and ring their necks.

Yes there is a line in there somewhere, when we cross it, we have gone too far with the new fangled gadgets.
But there is also a line there that leaves each their own. hunt them the way you want to and all the rest do the same.
I mean if it pleases you to kill one with a 50 cal bmg. then by all means use it. If it pleases you to kill them with a home made blowgun, use it. As long as the law is ok with it. use it. I will use my way aswell. I'm not going to name call just because I would not do it the way you did.

They call it progress for a reason. why do we want to make new and improved. but nobody wants or is allowed to use it.

I believe the question was If I hunted with a rifle what calibur would I prefer. I'd have to say the .223 already mentioned. or maybe a .22 mag. or any small cal rifle with say 150/200 yard range. Im not going to try a 200 yard head shot. but maybe a hundred yard body shot. that is if I hunted them with a rifle. it is leagal to hunt them here with a rifle in the fall. but I have never hunted them in the fall. with any weapon. and if I did I would probably still use my shotgun.

[ksfowler166]

A couple years ago a friend of mine and his dad went down to Texas to do some painting on a friends relatives game preserve. So when they where not painting they would go out and hunt. They did shoot some turkeys down there. They where using their ar-15's in 223/5.56. At first they tried fmj's and would wind up with chuncks of breast meat but no turkey. Finally switched to hunting rounds and began to kill some.

[BigAL64]

AR's huh? Very cool!!

Prob.be banned soon!!

[oklongbeard]

AR's huh? Very cool!!

Prob.be banned soon!!

Quite possibly turkey guns with a pistol grip could be as well. (In some states, not in gun loving OKLAHOMA!!) Reason I bring this up is because in New York state they outlawed some automatic with a "military style" features such as a pistol grip. I see no reason (i actually do have arguments against it, but they have proven they hate guns and people associated with guns) why they won't expand it in courts to include semi-auto shotguns. A.K.A turkey guns with pistol grips......

[duckmander]

I have to say If it is legal and you like it. Use which ever you choose. no rifles allowed in ok during spring season. they are legal in the fall season. which I don't hunt turkeys in the fall. so I have never hunted them with a rifle. If I did rifle hunt them in the fall I would use either a 22mag or a 223. If I planned to hunt them regularly in the fall I would most likely use an over and under with 12ga on bottom and either of the fore mentioned in the top barrel.

just my thoughts.

[DanBays29]

I do not buy the "if its legal its ethical" argument.. Feeders in Texas, roost shooting in Missouri, long range rifles out west are all legal, but I do not deem them ethical. I would never walk up to a friend and congratulate them on a well earned harvest with the above techniques.

Even the wave of new products and gadgets strutting decoys, blinds, trail cams have greatly reduced the ability and knowledge needed to be successful or consistently successful.. We have taken a sport in which their was a huge knowledge/ability gap between the folks who could consistently get it done and those that could not, and shrunk it with new gadgets and gizmos. It has gotten to the point I do not put emphasis on exactly how many turkeys a hunter kills, but instead the manner in which lead to their success..

Modern marketing in the form of the outdoor channels and internet has taken a once great sport and turned it the way society has gone in a "instant success at all costs" "get rich quick mentality" Either know the number of turkey licenses sold continues to climb, the number of "turkey hunters" continues to decline.

I agree 100 percent!

[DocHolladay]

30 odd years ago when it was legal to harvest turkeys here in okla. with a rifle many chose the 22mag. I have never hunted them with a rifle. though sometimes I'd like to have on handy for them 60/70 yard hangers. If I was to hunt them with a rifle. there would be no head shots. put them in the body/vitals.

If we are going to say it is unethical to kill them with a Oh say 10 second delay from shot to expired. then a body shot with a bow would be unetical. I would not hunt them with any other broad head then what I would use for deer. I would not like them 4" wide giliteen heads. seems to me they would limit your shooting range to about 20 yards max. So to draw a bow with a turkey inside 20 yards is all but impossible.

Now if all of this new fangled stuff is all cheating. maybe we should just throw rocks at them. of use a leaf for a call and when they get close enough. grab them and ring their necks.

Yes there is a line in there somewhere, when we cross it, we have gone too far with the new fangled gadgets.
But there is also a line there that leaves each their own. hunt them the way you want to and all the rest do the same.
I mean if it pleases you to kill one with a 50 cal bmg. then by all means use it. If it pleases you to kill them with a home made blowgun, use it. As long as the law is ok with it. use it. I will use my way aswell. I'm not going to name call just because I would not do it the way you did.

They call it progress for a reason. why do we want to make new and improved. but nobody wants or is allowed to use it.

I believe the question was If I hunted with a rifle what calibur would I prefer. I'd have to say the .223 already mentioned. or maybe a .22 mag. or any small cal rifle with say 150/200 yard range. Im not going to try a 200 yard head shot. but maybe a hundred yard body shot. that is if I hunted them with a rifle. it is leagal to hunt them here with a rifle in the fall. but I have never hunted them in the fall. with any weapon. and if I did I would probably still use my shotgun.

[DocHolladay]

I will say to use what is legal and what you choose. If you only want to kill them with a bow, have at it. If you only want to use a shotgun, have at it. Not all states or regions have a huge turkey population like Middle Tennessee does. I know East Tennesse doesnt have the same numbers that my area does. They are literally like fleas in the fields around here. I have two flocks on one property that I try to keep around 40 birds or so each. There are probably more than that, but that is all that I can count before they are out of sight. The property is about 300 acres. I have another farm that I am trying to get back on that I sat and counted over 200 birds in the flock before I had to leave and they were still coming out of the woods.... swear. I know my boss, who lives about a 1/2 mile or so from where I hunt, has 37 mature toms and then the hens and young birds to match. They are in his yard every morning for him to count. He hates them and wishes he could shoot them all and he used to like turkey hunting.... until all of them showed up.

[BigAL64]

I will say to use what is legal and what you choose. If you only want to kill them with a bow, have at it. If you only want to use a shotgun, have at it. Not all states or regions have a huge turkey population like Middle Tennessee does. I know East Tennesse doesnt have the same numbers that my area does. They are literally like fleas in the fields around here. I have two flocks on one property that I try to keep around 40 birds or so each. There are probably more than that, but that is all that I can count before they are out of sight. The property is about 300 acres. I have another farm that I am trying to get back on that I sat and counted over 200 birds in the flock before I had to leave and they were still coming out of the woods.... swear. I know my boss, who lives about a 1/2 mile or so from where I hunt, has 37 mature toms and then the hens and young birds to match. They are in his yard every morning for him to count. He hates them and wishes he could shoot them all and he used to like turkey hunting.... until all of them showed up.

Sounds like he needs to let you in there!!

[DocHolladay]

Don't think I haven't tried. He has 4 kids and lets tons of other kids hunt. His blind has central heat and air and a toilet as blind chair. Of course, his blind cost a WHOLE LOT more than most do and it's two stories.