A little turkey help!! ANyone hunt rifle turkeys?

R

Remingtonvadeer

Moderator
I checked with a good buddy of mine of is a conservation officer( Game Warden) An HE has told me that It is perfectly legal to hunt turkeys with a rifle in my state, I own a .243 an I wanna hunt turkeys with that until I can get my shotgun!.. Now there is a regulation where I cant use over a number 2 type bullet, But what grain would be great for turkey! I use anywhere from 85 to 100 for deer an would that be good also for turkey? All Info would be great thank you all, An God Bless!
John G
 
We occasionally use a rifle here in FL to hunt turkeys. You need to use the slowest bullet that you can that will also hold together. Anything else will ruin a lot of meat. A .243 is a little on the hot side for turkeys. Ideal calibers are .22 Hornet with a SP bullet, 32-20, downloaded .223 or .222, etc.

If you want to use the .243, see if you can get someone to handload you some reduced charge ammo.
 
I shot one with my muzzleloader.
I have a Savage, and shoot the Hornady 250 SST, at 3,100 foot pounds.
I made a neck shot at 25 yards. On a body shot with this load, there would be nothing left, but a puff of feathers in the air.
 
yea thats what I was thinking. Well Ill just have to use a small load.. Try a small 55 or 65 then see what happens. Ill mount it if it is bad
 
Not yet but if a bird gets in my sights at mid day during gen gun... He is gonna be fed a 170 grain sleeping pill from a Marlin 336 .30-30.
Brent
 
Unless you handload using a 100 grain bullet and Trail Boss or some such equivalent powder, you better be pretty careful about shot placement.

Head/neck shots will be best, or worst case clip the turkey's back.

I've shot a .243 for better than 30 years, and I'd not want to try to eat a turkey that was body shot with any full powered load.

Good luck on your hunt!

Daryl
 
Brent, I did exactly what you were thinking except it was with a 160 grn Hornady LeverEvolution bullet. All I got left that was usable was one breast that I was able to slice off the bone.
 
Just use a none expanding bullet. A F.M.J if legal will go in and out with just a little pucker in the meat, or a none expanding. Can you use a .22mag solid? No meat lost there.
 
I've probably shot 10 or 15 turkey's and only 1 was taken with a shotgun. Most of them were taken with a 270 while I was deer hunting. Shooting them in the neck hasn't damaged any of the meat. Anywhere else, don't even bother going to take a look. I shot one with a 223 with 55 gr FMJ's and it blew it up worse than the 270 did. I figured it would just punch right through, but that wasn't the case. Hold out for a neck shot or don't even bother.
 
I know of somebody (wink) that has used a .22LR in FL with great success. I haven't hunted turkeys in over 40 yrs. Back in the day officials were sparse and money was tight. Everybody knew everybody else and they'd even let you slide with an out of season deer when they knew that your family was on hard times.
 
I have always thought that the .22lr would make a great turkey round.
Seems to me like a .22lr on a chest shot with a turkey would be like a .30-30 on a chest shot with a deer.

At my house, I could use a Ruger Single Six from the living room window!

9HighlanderWH004.jpg
 
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rifles for turkeys

I was raised as a boy in a state that allowed rifles for fall turkeys. Every year, seemed like somebody got killed 'cause some fool shot somebody who was calling. Its still done (I think) but now they have mandatory orange laws and orange banners and other such foolishness.

I think if you clobber a turkey w/ any deer type ctg and expanding bullet, you will be lucky to get the drumsticks, and my experience says wild turkey drumsticks are not that great a meal.

I killed a good gobbler one spring who had the largest frame of any turkey I have seen before or since. He was MUCH larger in stature than the other toms I had seen him w/ before season. Spooky and super wary. Finally got lucky and killed him . When cleaning him I found a .22 bullet wound, healed, through the lower end of the breast bone. Perfect .22 dia hole, with a smooth funnel shaped depression around it.

I've also listend to outlaws talk at the diner and such, who tell of turkeys absorbing .22 rounds as they shoot at birds on the roadside.

The .22 Hornet and the Bee were popular rifle rounds for turkeys back in the day. Know a guy who has two Win 42 in .218 Bee, he won't sell either.
 
A body shot on a turkey with a 22lr is not always a good idea
Click to expand...

You are absolutely correct. A .22lr usually just wounds the bird an forces him to run off and die a painful death later. You'd be surprised at how fast and far a wounded turkey can run.
 
Man, I hunt turkey for the meat. I would hate to see what a CF rifle would do to a bird. I guess a neck or head shot would be ok, but I will stick to a shotgun for my bird hunting. Good luck with the hunt! I love turkey hunting. :D:D
 
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