So where do you shoot a turkey with a Long Rifle?

[C. Cash]

The shot thread got me wondering.  Where did the  Pioneers of old put a shot on a Turkey with their Muzzleloading Rifles?  Did they go for the head?  Seems like an easy way to miss a sure dinner.  Does the body shot rip up a good bit of meat?   Just curious as to where the shot was/is best put on a Turkey with a single ball.  For many, I'm sure a rifle is all they had and it was used effectively.  Except for Turkey Shoots where the head was aimed at, I've not seen reference to this.

[C. Cash]

Thank you roundball....that is a great explaination and pics.  Funny how little turkey there is in all those feathers when they are struttin!  I'll bet a few fellas could call em in for a head shot as well.

[Daryl]

Yes- this was educational. Thanks for the thread, C.Cash, and for the pictures, RB.

[Mike R]

Those body shots will mess up a little meat, but not like a modern centerfire.  The old timers did indeed use head shots and had 'turkey shoots' at tethered birds where the head was the target.  I have used the base of the neck shot--a less erratic target. Remember in the early days turkeys were (1)very plentiful and (2) less gun-shy or 'wild'--I envision it much like hunting Spruce Grouse in the Rockies, which can [or could] be killed by walking up close and throwing a stick at them.  Many were shot off roosts where they sometimes weighed down branches enough to break them.  Before 1906 in Oklahoma observers wrote that some turkey flocks were so large that they blackened the prairies for miles--sorta like the old time huge buffalo herds. I guess messing up a few bites of meat was not worried over...

[Levy]

I've lost a couple of birds by shooting them too low in the chest (in profile) and just ended up with a lot of feathers and some small pieces of meat.  Shooting them across the base of the wings seems to work well.  I don't shoot well enough to shoot that moving head.

James Levy

[C. Cash]

You bet Daryl....something I've always wondered about and yes thanks again roundball.

Mike R.....based on old hunting photos I've seen from those areas, I think you are right on.  You'll see hunters with 10-20-30 turkeys on a string as late as the 1900's.  Funny, I dress up like a tree with the most advanced camo, use a modern call and I consider myself lucky if I see ONE!

This thread is making me hungry to be honest, and a good bit more interested in shooting a turkey with me old Longrifle.  Thanks fellas!

[Daryl]

If'n I do get out turkey hunting this spring, it will probably be with the .32.  Shooting such a magnificant bird just seems wrong, with a shotgun.

[C. Cash]

That would be quite a trophy to take one with the .32, and yes they are magnificent birds indeed.

[Ole Doc]

look for the SHINE of the eye n pull the trigger ...
do it for all small game.

[smylee grouch]

I have been most fortunate to get 4 with assorted round ball guns, but the last one was a bigun (23#) and was alot harder to cook than shoot. How do you people prepare one of the big ol tough ones?    Gary

[Mike R]

I have been most fortunate to get 4 with assorted round ball guns, but the last one was a bigun (23#) and was alot harder to cook than shoot. How do you people prepare one of the big ol tough ones?    Gary

Lately I have breasted them, sliced off the white meat in thin slices, and prepared it like my favorite veal dishes [or rather my wife does]: turkey piccata, turkey marsala, or turkey parmesan---yum-yum!

[B Staley]

In Georgia you can use any ML and I’M a thinking of using my 28 gauge with patch round ball also. I really like the way it’s been shooting........B Staley

[Daryl]

BC has peculiar rules - any shotgun 10 bore or smaller, and any rimfire.