I drew my bow as the gobbler passed behind a pine bough. When he reappeared next to my hen decoy, I flattened him with a big mechanical broadhead. He was one of more than 50 turkeys I’ve taken with a bow in 21 years. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that shot placement is everything, but perfect placement is hard to achieve.
Let’s face it. Turkeys pose a confusing bowhunting target. It’s easy to miss the mark — especially if you rush the shot, which many bowhunters do. Further, turkeys rarely stop moving, which further complicates matters. Because turkeys can fly, even perfect placement doesn’t guarantee a recovery 100 percent of the time.
Case in point. Once, I zipped a tom perfectly — I filmed the hunt and replayed the footage a hundred times in slow motion — from 10 yards with a tiny fixed-blade broadhead. My arrow blasted through, and the tom flew into a jungle-thick tamarack swamp. He was 120 yards away and still flying when I lost him. I looked for hours that day and more the next. A turkey hit like him absolutely can’t live. Nine years later, it still sickens me that I didn’t recover him.
Personally, I’ll never shoot another turkey with a fixed-blade broadhead. Obviously, some kids and women with ultra-light setups can’t push a big mechanical. I understand that. But, I pull 70-75 pounds, so shooting a small-diameter broadhead designed for maximum penetration is senseless. Actually, my wife has shot two toms with 40 pounds and a 24-inch draw length using 2-inch Rages with outstanding results.
During the last 21 years, my 50 bow birds have fallen to broadheads from something like seven different manufacturers. I’ve used mechanicals, head decapitators, and fixed-blades. That positions me to credibly tackle this topic. So, let’s continue this important conversation and also review what I believe are the best broadheads for turkey hunting.
Mechanicals
Aside from large cutting diameters, mechanical broadheads are great for turkeys because they inflict a massive energy transfer to the bird upon blade deployment, and with ideal arrow placement, that “shock” sometimes knocks the bird right off his feet plus rips his innards to shreds. I strongly suggest a rear-deploying design if you’re shooting around 40-50 pounds. If you’re shooting 50 or more, you should be just fine with most mechanicals.
NAP Gobbler Getter
NAP is no stranger to the turkey broadhead game. In fact, long before many of today’s mechanical broadheads hit the store shelves, there was the Gobbler Getter turkey broadhead. This broadhead comes in a 100 or 125 grain, 3-blade design with a “slim” 1 1/2 inch cutting diameter. These days, it’s easy to find mechanical broadheads with larger cutting diameters, but the Gobbler Getter is still a favorite for many with its rounded tip for smashing bone and slowing penetration just enough for greater shock.
Price $39.99
NAP Spitfire XXX
Rock solid, razor sharp, and pinpoint accurate, the Spitfire XXX is rugged enough for even the toughest big game animals. This mechanical broadhead cuts a massive 2″ diameter hole and penetrates deep with extremely sharp blades for maximum hemorrhaging and quicker recoveries.
This 3 blade design uses internal spring clips to hold the blades closed – no O-rings or rubber bands needed. The Trophy Tip point design offers bone-shattering toughness turkey hunters demand.
You’ll find the 100 grain head, delivering a 2″ cutting diameter and sold in a 3 pack.
Price -$39.99
Rage X-Treme Turkey Broadhead
The Rage X-treme Turkey Broadhead features a new cut-on-contact tip with a pair of massive Meat Hooks to inflict maximum lethal damage, all while slowing the arrow enough to anchor the bird. This X-tremeTurkey Broadhead combines a gigantic 2 1/8-inch-cutting-diameter with the Meat-Hook Tip to stop a turkey dead in its tracks.
This Rage X-treme Turkey broadhead features a pair of .035-inch-thick stainless steel blades that produce an initial slap-cut entry hole of nearly 3 inches, and while the Meat-Hook Tip has a 9/16-cutting diameter in its own right, a pair of blunt notches on each side of the tip were designed to slow the arrow as quickly as possible upon impact to potentially impair one or both wings for a faster, safer kill.
They come in 100 grains and are available in a 2-pack.
Price $39.99
Dead Ringer Super Freak Extreme
Dead Ringer’s 100-grain Super Freak Extreme broadhead delivers the widest cutting diameter of any of the mechnicals on our list. It’s a nasty cutting head that delivers a massive 2 3/4-inch cutting diameter. You’re not likely to get a complete pass-through, which is what you want. When you make a less than perfect shot, this head will have you covered. Though it would probably work fine with a 50-pound bow, I would suggest this broadhead for setups over 60 pounds, just to be safe.
Price $39.99
G5 Mega Meat
The Megameat broadhead is a 3-blade design that delivers a huge 2-inch cutting diameter with its ultra-sharp blades built to produce a circular wound channel. The result is a devastating wound that turkeys (or deer) simply can’t handle. The head features a snaplock collar to retain the blades in flight while ensuring deadly deployment on contact. The broadhead is available in 100 and 125 grain options, as well as a crossbow version.
Price $59.95
Grim Reaper Razortip
I’ve bow-killed turkeys (and deer) with Grim Reaper’s Razortip. 100 and 125-grain sub-models share a sizable 1 3/4-inch cutting diameter created by the three jackknife-style expanding blades. In my experience, wound channels are usually larger than 1 3/4 inches. A reliable aircraft-grade aluminum ferrule paired with a bladed chisel point and stainless-steel blades produces dependable flight and maximum performance. It’s an absolutely devastating broadhead for turkeys.
Price $49.99
Swhacker Levi Morgan Signature Series
I have full faith in Swhacker’s Levi Morgan Signature Series 125-grain broadhead for turkeys and big game alike. This thing flaunts Swhacker’s ultra-proven wing-blade design to start the cutting, then gives way to the giant 2.5-inch-diameter arced blades. Blade-Lock Technology lets hunters practice without dulling the blades, and a user-friendly Hunt-Ready Plug retains the blades in flight while hunting. An aircraft-grade ribbed aluminum ferrule brings the dependability. Put this big broadhead through Mr. Tom’s boiler room, and you’ll be eating turkey.
Price $44.95
Wasp Jak-Knife
Wasp has been building broadheads for more than 45 years. Its Jak-Knife makes an excellent turkey head with an over-the-top deployment design, creating a 2-inch cut. The Stainless Smart Tip is designed to smash through bone. While I haven’t personally shot game with Wasps, a family member has with great results. If you prefer a similar head, but with 3 blades, then pick the time-tested 1 3/4-inch Jak-Hammer. I’d confidently tip my turkey arrows with either head.
Price $41.99
Thorn Rift
The largest option in the Thorn Broadhead lineup is the 2.2-inch Rift. Turkeys beware! Featuring a unique titanium “rip tip,” this deadly broadhead features stout 0.40-inch-thick stainless blades featuring Hidden Blade technology for unbeatable flight. The piston-style tip pushes in on impact to deploy the blades. 100 and 125-grain options are available, and a black-anodized finish has “deadly” written all over it.
Price $59.99
Fixed Blade Broadheads
Don’t be fooled into thinking that fixed blade broadheads can’t hold their own when it comes to anchoring your turkey with a bow. There are plenty of great options out there, but here’s a couple that work particularly well for turkeys.
DirtNap Shred Head
If you seek fixed-blade simplicity but want to unload a shocking hit on a longbeard, give him the DirtNap Shred Head. Designed to limit penetration using a unique open-vented blade design, this head will pack a punishing blow and shred the vitals for a quick kill. 100 and 125-grain options are available.
You’ll find the Shred Head sold in a 3-pack.
Price $36
Ramcat Hydroshock
When my youngest brother was only 10 years old and pulling 31 pounds, he arrowed a gobbler with the original Ramcat broadhead, which is basically just like the Ramcat Hydroshock. The tom ran 20 yards and keeled over. The front and back edges of each Hydroshock blade are sharpened, meaning it cuts like crazy when lodged in the bird. These are available in 100 and 125 grains. Other hallmarks are 100-percent-stainless-steel construction for maximum dependability and Airfoil Aerodynamics for impeccable flight.
Price $29.99
Head Loppers
A fella once cornered me and said that head shots are the only way to bowhunt turkeys and that body shots are unethical. Period. End of story. I agree that a head shot is great, and I’ve shot a handful of turkeys with head shots. His premise, though, was that using a giant broadhead designed for head and neck shots will yield either a miss or a dead-on-impact — no wounded turkeys.
He’s wrong. These broadheads are absolutely deadly, but they don’t eliminate the user error part of the proposition. I’ve watched YouTube videos in which folks clipped the turkeys’ necks with the huge broadhead, but didn’t sever the spine. The birds took off. If I recall correctly, a follow-up shot or at least tracking was required, but the birds were fortunately recovered in those instances.
I’ve also seen one or two videos in which a body shot was unintentionally made. If I recall, the bowhunters were taking longer pokes than they should have. These broadheads are absolutely not designed for body shots because they won’t penetrate. So, even though these broadheads are huge with some margin for error, you still have to shoot accurately enough to hit the spine for a dead-on-contact result.
To shoot these, your arrows must be long enough that the blades don’t contact your hand or bow riser at full draw. And virtually the only way they fly accurately beyond 5 yards is if you doctor your arrows with huge flu-flu feathers. If you can set your arrows up like that and practice before hunting, these giant heads can be absolutely deadly with perfect or almost perfect placement.
Magnus Bullhead
Kiss gobblers goodnight with the Magnus Bullhead, which is one of the earliest head-shot-only broadheads launched. This 3-blade monarch has a unique offset blade design to improve flight characteristics with bows and crossbows. The 100-grain model has a 2 3/4-inch cutting diameter, while the 125-grain version is 3 3/4 inches. It’s built with razor-sharp, stainless steel construction in a .048 blade thickness.
Price $42.99
Xecutioner's Turkey Necker
Xecutioner’s Turkey Necker is a 4-bladed fixed-blade head designed strictly for head and neck shots on turkeys. The wide 4-inch cutting diameter gives some room for error. With perfect placement, the Turkey Necker can yield a decapitated turkey, which means no tracking or follow-up shot required.
Price $44.95
The Chopper by SWAT
SWAT’s The Chopper features a 3.5-inch helicopter blade design. Aptly named, SWAT designed this head for one purpose: to chop a turkey’s head off. It weighs 180 grains. Each pack includes three heads, and assembly is required. The Chopper has a blade thickness of .036″, cutting diameter of 3.5 inches and is sold in a 3-pack.
Price $41.95
Be sure to give these broadheads a look when shopping for a fresh broadhead option to chase turkeys with this spring.
Also, be sure to comment below, and let us know what broadhead you’ve tried in the past when bowhunting turkeys. What did you like, or dislike?
