Been awhile since I've posted but had to ask some other archers about this one. I decided I should try turkey hunting this year here in Oregon. Been hunting for the last few days and this morning I had two Toms come in to my setup. It turned into a 3 hour battle of them getting close and then walking away, then turning around and coming back. Finally a broadside shot at 21yds presented itself to the smaller of the two Toms. Being my first opportunity I wasn't going to pass. I pulled my Beaman arrow back equipped with a 100grain mechanical broadhead. Took aim and then I let her fly, and BOOM! Bird flopping on the ground and feathers flying! I was so excited. Suddenly it gets up and begins to walk off. I just kept thinking "It's gonna drop before the neighbors land for sure..." The neighbors land is some 250yds away and filled with chest high blackberry bushes and poison oak. After the two birds disappear over a ridge I get out of my blind to inspect the hit spot. First I find the arrow, all blades opened, and some blood on the fletchings. Second I find almost the entire bottom half of the left wing broken off at the bone joint (see picture) which I thought meant I hit right in the kill zone (so I thought). I think "Hell yeah, I got my first Turkey!" So I wander back to the house to grab my bino's, muck boots and something to eat real quick and within a half hour I'm back out and begin my search at the last tree I had seen him trotting by. He looked wobbly, like a bird that was going down. To sum it up, 5hrs of searching and nothing but that wing. I guess Im curious, could I have missed the vitals if I hit the wing at that spot? Could he have survived or did he some how get to the neighbors land and crawl into a thicket and die? New to turkeys and Im stumped. would appreciate some feed back. Thanks.
I should mention the shot was slightly down hill so the arrow broke that left wing and then would have passed downward through the cavity.
This isn't uncommon. Turkeys are really tough. Shot placement on a turkey is absolutly critical. In this scenerio I am at a dead run to tackle the turkey before he disappears forever. No doubt the bird probably crawled in some underbrush and died.
Thats a dead bird. As Heckler pointed out, he mostly likely crawled under some brush and expired. Not to mention he wouldn't be able to fly up to roost, leaving him exposed to predators at night.
Now you know for next time to go run and chase the turkey down right when you shoot it so it can't get away.
