[GulfcoastHNTR]

I recently shot a turkey with a 22-250 at 70yrds. I'm fairly certain I hot him because he was the only one that flew out of four. To my surprise there was no blood and only two feathers. I figured the 22-250 would have dropped him on the spot. Am I wrong, or should I chalk it up to a bad shot. I looked and looked but couldn't find him. Any insight would be apreciated, frustrated in Texas!

 

[the lone gunman]

Many a hunter has had that same problem,, Them turkeys if not hit in the neck or head can be tough critters. I hit one once with a 22 mag at 30yds or so, right dead center behind the wing, he folded and went down. As I walked towards him, he jumped up and took off running. That 22-250 bullet might have blown up on impact also.

 

[hailstone]

Don't know if its still valid but several bullet makers marketed FMJ bullets for just turkey usage. Least that was the explaination given when I inquired at the time. Question I have is "isn't 22-250 too much gun?" Know the rifle cartridge of choice in many parts of the country is 22 Hornet.

 

[PAShooter]

I remember a story a friend told me how he shot some pheasants in his back yard and "they just kept walking". He used his 300 Savage deer load and it just punched holes through. A 22-250 with a varmint bullet should give enough expansion and result in a short death provided you hit it in a vital area. It might not be DRT but dead pretty close even with some flopping around. My guess is that if you were using a good expanding bullet, you probably didn't hit a vital area.

 

[PAShooter]

Also this expansion might result in excessive damage. It could destroy more meat than you want.

 

[MikeG]

A .22-250 should have left a big circle of feathers with what's left of a dead turkey in the middle. I think you just clipped off a feather or two and he's fine.

 

[Rocky Raab]

A puffed up turkey is like a winter fox: more feather or fur than meat. It's pretty easy to put a bullet where there's nothing but air.

 

[Wrench Man]

The one and only turkey I've shot was with my 22-250, it rolled like a bowling ball!
It was with a Winchester WB 45grn hollow point, meat damage was quite minimal actually.

 

[GulfcoastHNTR]

Thanks for the insight. I must have pulled the shot and hit feather because I only found two feathers. I was using win. 45 grin gp2 for varmint. I would have figured he would have been a puff of feathers and dead bird but he flew up forty feet in the air over an oak tree and was gone. I guess next time aim for the throaght at the top of the breast

 

[Sinbad12-2007]

Where the wings abut the body is the best spot. I've taken a couple with my .22 Mag and that is exactly what I aimed for. CCI Maxi-Mag 40gr JHP.

 

[Heslop]

I was out a few weeks ago, and shot four nice turkeys, with my 22k hornet. you may have been unlucky and got him in the crop. But they are stupid birds, at least the nz ones are.

 

[BKeith]

Turkey hunting with rifle in GA is ilegal in now but back in the 60's when it was I used to call for people. I never cared a whole lot about shooting them, but have always enjoyed calling. I almost always took a camera instead of a gun. I had some bosses I called for one season and my only job during turkey season was to meet them at their hunting club, every morning and afternoon to call for them. At the start of the season, I told them the best weapon was a 12 guage Magnum super full choke barrel with #6 shot. Both of these guys were big time riflemen and thought to heck with that, they showed up the first moning with 222's. By the end of the season, one of them was turkey hunting with a 30-06. They had shot 26 gobblers between the first day and the last day of season and never carried one out of the woods. They left enough feathers scattered through those woods to stuff a bed mattress. The last day, I called one that came straight to the guy with the 30-06. It got so close before he shot, I was starting the think he had gone to sleep or something. He said he just waited until there was nothing but turkey in the scope before he fired. The last I say of that turkey, what was left of it was running about 30mph through the woods.

Turkeys are mostly breast and have a very small kill area. As mentioned, if you follow that line down the side of their neck to where it meets the base of the wings, that's where the heart sits. Much outside that area and you hit nothing but breast and the turkey just runs off and dies. Sometimes if gut shot, you might get one.

 

[Heslop]

Not about turkeys, but where I live in New Zealand, we have a big problem with peacocks they are everywhere, and the breast of peacock is a beautifull sweet tasting meat, they are all feathers so choice of shot is critical. Finished work today, and off on a road trip, taking the gun, and hope to get a deer or a goat, to cook on the campfire. Hope everyone has a good xmass and New year.

 

[lvtex]

Should have used a 30-30 like my brother did. He shot 2 turkeys and didn't have to gut them. LOL

 

[MikeG]

I have killed a few with rifles, mostly my .35 Rem. There's an art to it, for sure. One of my friends managed to get an entire turkey to eat using a .338 - he just had to start out by shooting TWO turkeys with the .338 and saving what was left...

Did one with a .270 but hit it right and it had little damage.

 

[Helix]

22-250? thems a varmint gun. 70 yards? thems a bulls eye'n distance. Why not shootem tween his wee-beedy-eyes? I think better a clean miss cause you missed his head than a wounded bird that takes off and dies where you can't find em or losing all the good meat to a body shot. just saying.

 

[BKeith]

Well, when I first started hunting them, I used a 22 magnum and that's mostly what I did but so many times it was hard to get a good, clean shot so I got me an 870 3" magnum pump gun with a turkey choke. After shooting about a 1/2 dozen and coming to the conclusion GA spring turkey were not fit to eat because they were so thin and the meat was so strong tasting with the wild onions they had been eating, I quit shooting them. We only have a spring gobler season.