Turkey hunting with a rifle?

I once head-shot a big ole tom with a .22LR at about 40 yards. Easy shot and immediately effective. He folded up like a cheap pocketknife.
 
223 is a great round for turkey...I've taken several with my old 223/12. My father has a 218 bee that's a perfect turkey rifle.
 
here too

NOt legal to hunt turkeys with a rifle here either. I have seen some areas where fall turkey can be hunted w/ a rifle.

But...to snipe a strutting gobbler at 100 yds plus, even if legal, seems hollow. Toms are prone to get out in the open and display, picking one off w/o calling or the challenge of getting close, (shotgun range) is cheating to me.
 
But...to snipe a strutting gobbler at 100 yds plus, even if legal, seems hollow. Toms are prone to get out in the open and display, picking one off w/o calling or the challenge of getting close, (shotgun range) is cheating to me.
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Me, too .... and a whole lot of other folks..... thus the fall season for rifle.... toms don't strut in the open then. .... IME, they use the hordes of jakes and jennies as Polish Mine Detectors, always bringing up the rear of any group.....

I have found the jakes to be the best eating, anyhow...... and ridiculously easy to call ..... a mock fight will bring them running from 1/4 mile away!

Fall flocks remind me of nothing so much as a middle school recess .... a few Boss Hens trying to keep their charges under control, out of trouble, and from doing serious damage to each other..... with the Toms at the back of the lot across the street hobnobbing, drinking brandy and smoking cigars, muttering "Boys will be boys, I guess....."
 
NOt legal to hunt turkeys with a rifle here either. I have seen some areas where fall turkey can be hunted w/ a rifle.

But...to snipe a strutting gobbler at 100 yds plus, even if legal, seems hollow. Toms are prone to get out in the open and display, picking one off w/o calling or the challenge of getting close, (shotgun range) is cheating to me.
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I guess this means you prefer the frozen isle at your grocery store when it comes to food.:cool:
 
nah

Hey, I'd rather hunt than eat..........but rifle hunting spring turkeys is not for me.

But......if legal and somebody wants to, who am I to say no. Old Elmer Keith once wrote that he's for any sport that burns powder, and that seems sage wisdom.

But me, I'd whole lot more rather close down on one, call, and try and take him at 30 yds or so with a shotgun. I will not start on my feeble efforts at bowhunting turkeys.

When I was in fall turkey hunt areas, the .22 Hornet and .218 Bee were popular, the .22 mag was marginal, and the .22 lr was a no-no. The .222 was considered a bit hot, and the .223 was not rage item it is now. There were also some lever 25-20's, and the the Marilin .256 was another. That was a long time ago.

The .17 HMR no doubt will kill a turkey, hold at the butt of the wings. Easy to shoot to far forward only pierce the large breast on a tom.
 
Must be a regional thing. I cant imagine anything less sporting than ambushing a turkey with a rifle. Im counting the days till I can call a gobbler up close then shoot him in the lips with my shotgun. With a rifle, my hunt would be over seconds after flydown.
 
Must be a regional thing. I cant imagine anything less sporting than ambushing a turkey with a rifle. Im counting the days till I can call a gobbler up close then shoot him in the lips with my shotgun. With a rifle, my hunt would be over seconds after flydown.
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Hmmmmmmm....what's more sporting? Shooting a turkey at 10 yds with a shotgun or shooting a turkey at 100yds with a .17HMR?
Somebody isn't thinking straight and it's not me.
 
I would love to use a 17 hmr and of course it would be completely humane since I can easily make a head shot with mine. However Nebraska treats the bird like a big game animal in a ridiculous attempt to make a lot of money. The result is we are getting a LOT of turkeys and a whole bunch of kids running around in town that will never enjoy hunting one. Also shotgun only. If I were King, the hunting license would be the ticket and only a daily limit and possession limit would apply.
 
HiBC said:
I had a Pro-Engineer class instructor show me a big belt buckle he was wearing turkey hunting in Texas.It had a deep round dent in the middle of it from a .22 Magnum.
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:eek: I bet he's glad they weren't shooting a centerfire.
 
I had an idea...

to make up a handload for my .243 tailored for turkey.

Used a 90 gr FMJ bullet. I figure no wasted meat with a body shot.

Used Trail Boss powder, resulting in 1,550 fps MV.

Very accurate @ 75 yards - 3 shot groups can be covered with a quarter.

Just haven't been able to get a turkey in my sights since coming up with this load, last fall.

Only legal in the Texas counties with Rio Grande's.

Not legal in East Tx, where the Eastern's are found.
 
I've used .22rf through a .308Win.
I greatly prefer a rimfire rifle to shotgunning them.
Headshots are best,but require a good rest or close range and a steady hand. Body shots will work, particularly frontal shots through the length of the body cavity that simply eviscerate the bird. The easiest bird I ever cleaned was a fall hen, shot with a .308 through the neck from the front. I only had to pluck her. She tasted just fine-no real damage to the meat/carcass besides the breast being split already.
 
POSTING

FELLOW ASKS FOR GUIDANCE WHY POST IF YOU HAVE NONE JUST 4 NUMBERS:confused:

AS STATED TX IT IS LEGAL HAVE MARLIN 93 IN SS IT GOBBLES UP TURKEYS
200 + IT SWALLOWS V MAX BY THE DOZENS:D
 
Turkey season just opened up here in Fl. I always felt rifles were cheatin. Of course...I hunt swamps, pine forrests, and river bottoms. Not many shots over 40 yards lol, but my dad has killed one with a .30-30.

But there are other things on the list to get my kills with. A muzzleloader and bow maybe?
 
With a rifle at 100 yds there is no hunt, its an ambush. I could kill a dozen or two a day this time of year by riding the rural roads and shooting strutters out in a field with a rifle. The skill is locating a bird then convincing him to come close enough to you for a DRT kill with a short range weapon. It has nothing to do with shooting skill or simply putting meat in the freezer. FWIW Ive shot one in FL in the fall with a rifle. That was enough. If I couldnt enjoy a spring morning and hearing an old boss gobbler fire off in the distance, then try to talk him into coming my way, I wouldnt hunt them. Bushwhacking one with a rifle is akin to shooting ducks on the water or doves off a power line.
 
My coworker says he uses a .22 LR rifle,,,

Scoped Savage of some model I can't remember now.

His father-in-law is a wheat farmer,,,
There are a few spots where turkeys always pass through.

Anyways he says with his rifle he has no problem taking neck shots anywhere under 75 yards.


He doesn't call them in for a close-up shot,,,
It's like playing sniper and he always has frozen turkey.

I've never hunted the toms myself,,,
But he's asked me if I would like to go with him.

Aarond

.
 
That's a more difficult shot with a .22 than most deer hunters ever have to make around here with a centerfire.

I personally think it's funny when a shotgun hunter says using a rifle isn't fair to the turkey. Using a 3.5" shotgun is fair? The turkey isn't armed.

John
 
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