Turkeys and Air Guns -- I take it all back

[CVShooter]

I took my .22 PCP rifle out turkey hunting over the weekend & had quite the disappointment. None of it, I would say, is the fault of the rifle, per se. I just no longer consider it an appropriate hunting tool for turkeys.

I've taken animals with the setup before. Everything performed better than I expected. Keeping the details out, I once had to put down a 75 lb animal that was sick & the rifle did so very cleanly with a shot to the brain. I also had a pellet sail cleanly through a chicken that I couldn't catch (another sick farm animal). So my confidence was high going into the hunt.

We had some turkeys out at about 40 yards. My friend took his first shot at the head & missed (his fault). He then took a follow up shot to the body (just above the beard while it was standing tall) & said that he heard the pellet hit & saw him flinch a little. The bird dropped down into a ditch and joined up with the rest of his flock. Whether he came out or not was a guess since he couldn't positively identify his bird from the rest of the flock. At this point, I had crawled up to where he was & he gave me the story. He thought it was a good shot so he handed me the rifle & we waited to let the bird die quietly in the ditch & see if we could get another to come in for me.

I waited until there was a tom far away from the rest of the flock out at about 45 yards & took aim using a tree as a rest. My first shot sailed just over his head (saw the dirt impact) -- clean miss. I was aiming just over his head since I thought that I had about a .75" drop at that distance. The next shot, I aimed just a tad lower (level at the top of the eye socket) & saw him drop. I thought I saw a spray off the back of his head as the pellet made impact.

Feeling confident that we now had 2 turkeys down, we put the rifle down & went over to get our birds. Our young sons ran up & yelled "Turkey down!" But when we got there, my turkey was still standing. It looked like it was just sleeping. Neck back, eyes closed, breathing, no blood & legs fully extended (not a roosting position). So I grabbed my knife, positioned myself over it and finished the job by hand. It was NOT dead. And I couldn't find a scratch on its head anywhere.

We then set out to find the other one but with no luck. Best we could figure, it never got a vital hit. We walked around a bit down the road & thought we saw it off following a hen. It could have been a different turkey but, he said, it looked about the same size as the one he shot. Best we could figure, if that was his bird, then the pellet never made it into the vitals. That bird didn't look the least bit injured & gobbled back at us a bunch of times.

As for mine, we're guessing that the spray was just the dirt behind him again & the pellet somehow just knocked him out. Maybe it wasn't the best shot & it just hit the top of his head rather than squarely broadside to it. Hard to know. But there was no visible wound anywhere on his head.

All this to say that I have lost confidence in taking turkeys with air rifles. Maybe its the feather shield & all that loose skin on the head that protects them so well. Maybe it was too far to shoot with that rifle & there just wasn't enough juice left in the pellet to do what it needed to do. Hard to know for certain. I know that I've also been surprised how little penetration I got with archery gear. But, going forward, I think the pellet gun is going to stay home for turkey hunts. I'll stick to shotguns and bows. That was my 5th turkey and the first time I've had anything but an immediate kill.

[OHOD]

I liked reading your story. Well written.
Lots to learn as well.

[k1dude]

Turkey and geese are damn tough birds. There's no way I'd consider using a .22 airgun to hunt a turkey. I don't think I'd try even with a 25.

I know some people hunt turkey with a .22 LR, but I'm not sure I'd even use that. Though I'd consider it the bare minimum.

A shotgun is the best bet for a firearm against turkey.

Interesting experience. Thanks for the info.

[Rob112o]

What PCP rifle are you using? Any upgrades/mods? What pellet are you using and you know what your rifle's fps with said pellet?

[CVShooter]

Originally Posted by Rob112o

What PCP rifle are you using? Any upgrades/mods? What pellet are you using and you know what your rifle's fps with said pellet?

Didn't want to make this into a gear-focused post. It's not the fault of the rifle. It's my fault for using it against such a tough animal. But, if you must know, it's a Hatsan AT-44 QE. The 14.5 gr pellets are launched at about 900-1k fps so at 45 yards, it's probably still doing 650-700 fps. The rifle is sighted in with a 20-yard zero and, ballistics chart aside, that pellet was back to dead on at about 45 yards where I shot the bird. My chart was for 900 fps so I'm thinking that I underestimated the velocity, resulting in those high shots. But I'd think that a shot with enough impact to knock it out was placed well enough. Had it been a .22 LR, it would have a nice hole in its head. And, as for the body shot, I think turkey feathers just rob too much energy off of these slower projectiles.

[Rob112o]

Give or take the FPS and distance you would have been putting 10-13FPE on target. Never hunted turkey, but that should be more than enough for a head shot. Body, the feathers definitely would have absorbed that.

[Paul_R]

I'd take my Edgun Matador R5 .30 turkey hunting any day.

[FiveSeven]

Plenty of people successfully hunt Turkey's with air rifles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5reAR8dXsRw

[OHOD]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Plenty of people successfully hunt Turkey's with air rifles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5reAR8dXsRw

Looks like air rifles are good for turkeys.

Don't give up OP.

[edgerly779]

Why would would you put the gun down when retrieving game? Were the downed birds in plain sight? Not a sound hunting strategy.

[CVShooter]

Originally Posted by edgerly779

Why would would you put the gun down when retrieving game? Were the downed birds in plain sight? Not a sound hunting strategy.

Funny you should ask. Certainly not my usual strategy. We shot the bird on my buddy's property. We had to cross a fence to retrieve the bird on his neighbor's property. He didn't know his neighbors very well so we figured it would be best to retrieve without carrying an 11 lb rifle in our hands. Now we just hope that they didn't watch us in a turkey wrestling match to the death.

[CVShooter]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Plenty of people successfully hunt Turkey's with air rifles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5reAR8dXsRw

Yep, plenty of folks do. I won't argue with that. Plenty of folks take deer with .22 LRs as well -- they just don't brag about it on YouTube because it's illegal. Then there's the guys who use .22 air rifles to hog hunt. Possible? Yes. Advisable? No.

It's like a good Dude Perfect video -- they don't show the outtakes. Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's a good idea. I want my shots to be clean, quick & highly lethal. Knocking a turkey out isn't what I would call clean, quick & highly lethal.

Now that .30 cal? I'd feel a heck of a lot better about that!

[Rob112o]

At least the "Youtubers" realized it was illegal and decide not to put it online for the world to see. You however don't follow the same rule.

You stated: ""I waited until there was a tom far away from the rest of the flock out at about 45 yards & took aim using a tree as a rest. My first shot sailed just over his head (saw the dirt impact) -- clean miss. I was aiming just over his head since I thought that I had about a .75" drop at that distance. The next shot, I aimed just a tad lower (level at the top of the eye socket) & saw him drop. I thought I saw a spray off the back of his head as the pellet made impact.

Feeling confident that we now had 2 turkeys down, we put the rifle down & went over to get our birds. Our young sons ran up & yelled "Turkey down!" But when we got there, my turkey was still standing. It looked like it was just sleeping. Neck back, eyes closed, breathing, no blood & legs fully extended (not a roosting position). So I grabbed my knife, positioned myself over it and finished the job by hand. It was NOT dead. And I couldn't find a scratch on its head anywhere.""

You do realize shooting outside of your private property is illegal? Especially, shooting into private property? Along with shooting toward any building, sidewalk, walkway, road, street, habitat, playground, etc. etc.

You also follow it up with a second comment "We had to cross a fence to retrieve the bird from his neighbors property" Soooo, the property line was clearly established and you still decided to do this? WOW! Really shooting yourself in the foot if someone wanted take this somewhere.

[CVShooter]

Rob - You got me. I'm a bad, bad man. Sometimes I even break the speed limit, drive barefoot, let my kids hold the steering wheel and a host of other heinous crimes. If you really wanted to push things, I'm sure I can be found in violation of several municipal codes.

I wasn't saying anything about the LEGALITY of using airguns. I'm posting my experience to demonstrate the ETHICS of using air guns. You do whatever the heck you want. My ethical choices need not apply to you. I assume you're a grown up so you can make your own choices.

[Rob112o]

Shooting a projectile weapon/hunting on someone else's property is not treated like a minor offense. Such as speeding(depending on speed), littering, J walking, being in a park after dusk, and so on. If the neighbor called the fuzz you most likely would have been greeted by law enforcement with guns drawn and ready. And, I guarantee you wouldn't have walked out with that AT44 saying "it's only a Airguns guys." Then followed by fines and possibly jail time. If you don't see the difference you really need to have someone shooting and hunting into your backyard where your family hangs out and plays. Just trying to make you smarter and safer. If neighbor saw you and decided to shoot y'all I'm sure he would have had a decent defense to fall on. Glad your not my neighbor.

[Crosman999]

Very interesting post, Airguns can be a great hunting tool for turkey. Like with any hunting sometimes things don't go as planned.

[jianxing]

word. non of my hunting trip go as planned ever

Originally Posted by Crosman999

Very interesting post, Airguns can be a great hunting tool for turkey. Like with any hunting sometimes things don't go as planned.

[deadshot]

You give up too easily. Turkey hunting with a air rifle is the ultimate hunt. Sounds like you had a great experience. With a air rifle a head shot is the only way to bring that tough bird down and many times it never stays in one place. If you just want the meat then take a shotgun but if you want the challenge of the hunt a air rifle is the only way to go.

[RR.44]

My feeling is that you should have used a much heavier pellet, 14.5 grs shed energy too fast, at that distance it’s almost all out of real steam. May I suggest you try using a 21.1gr JSB Heavy, I took down jack rabbits with a single round to the head at around 30 yards, when the pellet hit him it sounded like a firm punch, he rolled right over and kicked his last few kicks. Don’t give up just go heavier.

Rich

[tom burns]

I think most folks choose 3-3.5 12 gage loads for turkey so .22 air rifle seems a little under powered. I absolutely loved your story though and was dying laughing at how you describe the turkey "sleeping".

[Crosman999]

Years ago I was watching one of the videos above that Glenn Elliott made. I ended up making a bashing comment on his post he made, he was pissed and actually reached out to me. Over a discussion on the phone he invited my friend and I up to hunt Turkey with him. He's one of the most successful Airgun Turkey hunters in the country, he gets them in very close like 10 yards. It was quite a learning curve for me to site my gun in for 5 yards out to 30 yards, I don't usually ever hunt that close. We ended up seeing plenty of Turkeys but none closer than 60 yards. I was using a .30 PCP although he was using a .22 Marauder and has never had a problem taking them down, key I think is bringing them into closer ranges for head or neck shots. Was a great experience, pretty funny how we became friends.