I had a decent hunt yesterday afternoon. Birds came in silent and came in fast.
Arrow hit exactly where I was looking.
475grain arrow at 54lbs traveling 184fps.
Half the Wensel woodsman 150gr broadhead was still sticking out. Took all 3000+ft of the string tracker, made it 3/4 of a mile before the tracker came off the arrow.
I'm just at a loss for words and still nauseous.
At least he put on a good show. I think if he can shed that arrow, he may have a chance.
Enjoy the footage.
https://youtu.be/rrYQHw76mEk
Apparently the old adage of "hit em low, watch them go....
Hit em high, watch them die," is not accurate. Great video. No explanation here except maybe a bit too high. Why no pass through?? Another mystery. Great video and great hunt. Turkey looked pretty stout.
I'm seeing too high also! I really think turkeys are about as tough as any critters we hunt, except maybe big shielded boars!!!!
Better luck next time out!
Bisch
I'm surprised at the lack of penetration?
Am I missing something? Are you not able to find the string? I was under the impression that the string tracker was a great tool for finding a game animal that has been shot. I guess I was mistaken...
-Jeremy :coffee:
QuoteOriginally posted by Roy from Pa:
I'm surprised at the lack of penetration?
Yeah so am I, it was a bit high - hit bone perhaps? Still would have though it would have penetrated a little better.
A little high. Wing butt. Actually decent location had the arrow gone through. You must have squared up the bone. Sorry, that's a bit of bad luck for sure.
The string untied.
Broadhead never fully penetrated. In the screen grabs you can see half the Broadhead sticking out. I've blown through several deer out to 20yds with this setup.
Turkey at 18feet...go figure.
Hit one two falls ago as it walked by while I was sitting in the cornfield. Distance was 12 yards. Three blade head, 50 pound Centaur longbow. Perfect wing butt hit.
Rolled the bird completely over. He got up and ran like the dickens. Only had 3/4 inch of blood on the tip of the broadhead.
Will only use two blade from now on.
FANTASTIC VIDEO QUALITY! Man they are tough birds Jose from Flatline Bows sent me a video I will get posted up he shot his twice and first shot didn't get crazy penetration and tom acted like he wasn't even hit.
I hit the breast bone like that but got lucky because the broached penetrated the bone and the point of the broached punctured the heart. Went about ten yards and down. The penetration I got was just like that in the same spot. Had to unscrew the broached to get the arrow back and the broached was buried in that breast bone and I had to be real careful getting that breast meat out. Most of the time I shoot right thru them or get two holes.
Here is the bird. I could not pull that arrow out until I deboned the meat. The tip of the head was thru the bone and into the heart otherwise he would have been long gone.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/Spring2013_zps592dcbe3.jpg) (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/Arrowworks/media/Spring2013_zps592dcbe3.jpg.html)
Amazing footage. I don't think that arrow penetrated the body cavity at all. I think it broke the wing for sure. I'd still track that string likely it will get tangled up on something be fore long. Even if you find it and the meat is wasted. It leaves a great learning lesson in an autopsy, which will show what exactly you hit. That could help us all.
Excellent video!! This brought back a lot of tough memories for me. I hit a Big bearded Tom just like this one last year in the exact same body location. I was using a #46lb Toelke Whip, 475 grain arrow. I got less than 1/2" broadhead penetration. The turkey ran off with my arrow flagging like that, I searched for a few days after. He was still walking around alive like nothing. Their wing bones and joints are second to none in strength. I raise turkeys turkeys on my farm for meat, and have done quite a bit of "broadhead" testing.. i'm convinced they are tougher to kill with a bow than most big game animals.
I failed in adequately tying the tracker to the arrow. It eventually untied from the arrow with just a little bit of blood on the string.
It also jumps the string too. I have similar footage of a turkey dropping all the way to the ground and taking the feathers off the back only.
Excellent video footage btw.
And yeah penetration is a bugger. I was using a bhead designed for turkeys and I was surprised how little penetration I was getting. I have just switched back to my big game heads. I have all the evidence of one turkey, but I got my first pass thru so YMMV
It always hurts to loose a hit game animal .
Tie you tracking string with a pipe hitch and leave about an inch on the tag end .
QuoteOriginally posted by Chad Orde:
FANTASTIC VIDEO QUALITY! Man they are tough birds Jose from Flatline Bows sent me a video I will get posted up he shot his twice and first shot didn't get crazy penetration and tom acted like he wasn't even hit.
Thanks Chad.
The string tracker I got from you a few weeks ago worked flawlessly. It allowed me to track hundreds of yards beyond what I would have been able to had I had no tracker. There's a good chance that had I tied on a proper knot rather than just looping it a few times, that I'd still be chasing that turkey down.
I won't make that mistake next time. I'm also glad I decided to order the 2-pack of spools. Speaking of, gonna need to get an order in for a couple of more.
Sorry bud, been there!
I've said it before....turkeys are tough to penetrate because they don't have the body weight to take the impact....they "give".....add that to the fact you squared up the wing bone and possibly the "shoulder ball"....turkey bone are extremely hard!
I killed a bird yesterday that went 100 into thick brush and didn't leave a speck of blood....the string lead me right to him....priceless!
QuoteOriginally posted by BAK:
Hit one two falls ago as it walked by while I was sitting in the cornfield. Distance was 12 yards. Three blade head, 50 pound Centaur longbow. Perfect wing butt hit.
Rolled the bird completely over. He got up and ran like the dickens. Only had 3/4 inch of blood on the tip of the broadhead.
Will only use two blade from now on.
Me too!
Nice footage. I hate you lost him.
I used to try to shoot them just like that. But I've come to believe the old wing butt thing is wrong. Since I've moved my shots back to be just up the legs on a broadside bird my recovery rate has skyrocketed. Next time you take a bird apart pay attention to how far back the body cavity goes and how much breast meat and bone is forward of that.
Bummer. Damn bird wouldn't stand still. I took some feathers off one a few days ago that was doing the same thing. He turned just as I shot. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Looks like a direct hit on the heavy wing bone. Turkeys are fairly light so they actually move with the arrow at impact, which goes a long way toward reducing penetration. Combine that with tough feathers (takes a tin snip to cut them off the wing) and a direct hit on the bone, and the arrow just didn't make it into the body cavity.
A game of inches. An inch lower, and I think you would have had a dead bird. Sometimes, stuff happens.
The arrow will break off, and I wouldn't be surprised if the broad head eventually falls out. Going to be vulnerable to predators for a few days, but if he makes it that long, he'll probably be OK.
Just bad luck.
QuoteOriginally posted by Whip:
I used to try to shoot them just like that. But I've come to believe the old wing butt thing is wrong. Since I've moved my shots back to be just up the legs on a broadside bird my recovery rate has skyrocketed. Next time you take a bird apart pay attention to how far back the body cavity goes and how much breast meat and bone is forward of that.
x2 - More forgiving I believe. I empathize with your situation. Definitely a game of inches on these animals & him dropping at the shot, saved his life... Great video and thank you for sharing your pain. I believe it's helpful & informative... :campfire:
Turkeys are super tuff! I shot a big rooster at 8yrds and had a Zwickey eskimo destroyed and an Easton 2018 broken in half. I've shot thru the shields of 150lb boars with the same set up and had to look for my arrows. Turkeys tuffness is impressive
Looks like you got the two upper wing bones and they acted as a shield.
And yeah, looks like the bird dropped. Otherwise he would have been DRT. Dead right there.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/20170504_121604.jpg) (http://s45.photobucket.com/user/Equismith/media/20170504_121604.jpg.html)
Maybe even in the hinge when watching again.
Tough break for sure.
It happens! Incredible footage!
Hey and if you would not mind a suggestion...I never put my dekes out that far. I put them out about 8 yards tops. I would put them closer if I could still see them. The blind is magic on birds. So having the dekes close is not a problem.
Too much distance just gives the bird more time to move and they move a lot either ducking the string or just moving... turkeys...
I loved the video as well. That string sure looked cool piling up on that bird!
QuoteOriginally posted by lt-m-grow:
Hey and if you would not mind a suggestion...I never put my dekes out that far. I put them out about 8 yards tops. I would put them closer if I could still see them. The blind is magic on birds. So having the dekes close is not a problem.
Too much distance just gives the bird more time to move and they move a lot either ducking the string or just moving... turkeys...
Dekes were at 5yds.