Almost as soon as the tom landed in the clearing, he gobbled and puffed up. After four days of getting beat by the birds, it was a surreal sight. It was even more surreal when he dropped out of strut and bee-lined it for the logging road I was positioned next two with my 20-gauge laid across my knee.
That suicidal two-year-old took me from a turkey hunter to a turkey killer. In the nearly three decades since that moment, there have been plenty of toms and jakes, but that one was special because he was my first.
If you are still looking to clear that first-tom hurdle, don’t lose hope. There are many ways to set yourself up for success this spring, but the first and most important is to scout.
Killing a turkey, whether for food or because it’s injured, is not an easy task But when done properly, it can be quick and painless for the bird In this detailed guide, I’ll walk through the most humane methods for dispatching a turkey, from preparation to stunning and bleeding. My goal is to provide clear guidance to make the process as calm and ethical as possible.
Choosing a Dispatch Method
There are three main options for humanely killing turkeys
Firearm: Using a shotgun or appropriate rifle. This is the quickest method when done correctly.
Manual Stunning: Delivering a forceful blow to the head to render the bird unconscious before bleeding. Requires skill to be humane.
Cervical Dislocation Manually separating the turkey’s spinal cord from its brain to cause unconsciousness and death. Takes physical strength.
Of these, properly using a firearm is generally considered the fastest and most humane technique. The key is correct shot placement to immediately stun the turkey. However, laws prohibit discharging firearms in many areas, so stunning may be the only lawful option.
I’ll explain proper procedures for both firearm and manual stunning below. Cervical dislocation should only be used for small turkeys as a last resort.
Safety Precautions
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Dispatch only in areas where firearm discharge is legal if choosing that method.
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Handle live turkeys carefully to avoid injury from their wings and claws. Control head and feet.
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Use proper shooting backdrop and skills if using a gun. Risks come with firearms.
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Keep other people and animals clear of the area during the entire process.
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Have a plan to quickly bleed out and process the carcass after killing.
Ensuring safety for yourself, others, and the turkey is paramount before proceeding.
Preparing for Firearm Dispatch
If using a shotgun or rifle, choose the appropriate gauge and ammunition. Recommendations:
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12 or 20 gauge shotgun with tight choke and #4, #5 or #6 birdshot or lead turkey loads. Patterns a large kill zone.
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Rifle: .22 LR, .22 Magnum or similar small calibers work well. Use quality hollowpoint or fragmenting ammunition for maximum energy transfer into the brain.
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Aim for the head angled slightly upward to hit brain for quickest dispatch. Behind the eye is ideal.
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Pattern your firearm and ammunition choice on target at turkey head height to ensure proper placement.
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Clean barrel and check sights/scope for accuracy. Practice proper shooting form if needed.
Confirm legal status and use maximum safety with any firearm. Quickly stun and kill depends on your skill.
Preparing for Manual Stunning
For manual stunning, you’ll need:
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A solid stunning instrument: A hardwood bat or pipe works well. Must be heavy enough to deliver a fatal blow.
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A stump or block to set the turkey’s head on for proper position.
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A sharp knife to quickly bleed out after stunning. Have it ready.
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Secure the legs with zip ties, rope or an assistant holding them to avoid injury during the process.
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Aim for the center rear of the head angled slightly up to hit the brain.
Practice your swing on a target at turkey head height. Proper force and aim are critical for quickly rendering the bird unconscious.
Dispatching the Turkey
Once your preparation and safety steps are complete, here is the proper process to efficiently stun and kill the turkey.
1. Approach Calmly
Move smoothly and quietly to position yourself behind the turkey’s head without alarming it. Have your assistant or materials ready.
2. Secure the Bird
For manual stunning, secure legs with a rope or have a partner hold them safely. Don’t bind the legs if using a firearm.
3. Stun the Turkey
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Firearm: Aim for the brain and discharge from close range. Immediately bleed.
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Stunning: Position head on block, deliver firm downward blow behind eyes with bat or pipe. The bird should go limp immediately.
4. Bleed Out
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Cut the jugular vein on one side of the neck with a knife.
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Allow blood to fully drain into a container, about 3-5 minutes.
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Death is confirmed when bleeding stops and wings/legs are limp and eyes glazed over.
5. Process Quickly
Begin scalding, plucking and evisceration promptly after bleeding stops. Chilling the carcass as soon as possible preserves meat quality.
Proper shot placement or stunning combined with quickly bleeding out ensures the most humane and ethical kill. It minimizes any potential pain and distress for the turkey.
What to Avoid
Some traditional or convenience killing methods are now considered inhumane due to unnecessary suffering they potentially inflict. Avoid these techniques:
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Severing the head with an axe or knife while conscious. This causes extreme stress.
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Suffocation by holding nostrils and mouth closed. Death takes several minutes.
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Strangulation by hanging upside down. Also prolongs death.
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Stunning by hitting the body instead of the vital brain area in the head. Does not render unconscious.
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Letting the carcass sit without prompt bleeding out and processing. Allows nerves to continue firing.
Using outdated techniques like these subjects the turkey to more pain and panic than necessary during its final moments.
Confirming Death Before Butchering
It’s crucial to ensure the turkey is fully deceased before proceeding with processing steps like scalding and plucking. Here’s how to confirm:
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The body and wings are completely limp and relaxed. Any muscle movements or twitches have ceased.
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The eyes are rolled back, glazed over and dilated. They do not respond to touch.
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Bleeding from neck has completely stopped and blood is thick and clotting.
Seeing these indications means the turkey’s basic body functions have irreversibly shut down. It is insensible and unable to feel pain, allowing you to begin processing with a clear conscience.
Disposing of Remains Respectfully
Once the meat is harvested from the carcass, the remains still deserve respectful disposal:
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Compost inedible parts if possible. Bones, organs, and feathers enrich compost with nutrients.
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Bury leftovers at least 2-3 feet deep if composting is not an option. This prevents spread of pathogens.
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Never dispose of carcass parts in rivers, ponds or areas where they can transmit disease.
Ethically handling the bird from beginning to end demonstrates care and responsibility.
Ensuring Humane Culling Takes Diligence
Turkeys Now, Turkeys Soon
Flocks of hens are predictable, and where the ladies go, so do the boys. Hens have distinct feeding, traveling, and roosting patterns that don’t change much until they either get messed with or the weather warms up enough to offer them fresh food sources.
Until then, what they do today, they often do tomorrow. This means that if you want to know where turkeys should be when you hunt them in April, start watching them now. Just remember, it’s not enough to see some strutters in a field that are trying desperately to get a jump on breeding season.
Pay attention to exactly where they are in the field. Pay attention to how they walk into the field, and how they exit it. Pay attention to exactly when they feed in certain spots. If you glass turkeys enough or run trail cameras (do both), you’ll realize how tight of a schedule birds usually keep. It’s incredible, and prying into that regimented world is the first step to success.
The second is to get to know your weapon, really well.
Whether you want to take your first bird with a shotgun or archery tackle, understand what your effective range is on a turkey-sized target. Pattern your shotgun until you find a load that delivers enough BBs to ensure that if your bird crosses the magic distance line, he’s dead.
If you bowhunt, practice on a 3D turkey target, a lot. Get to know whether you’re more of a seven-yard shot kind of hunter, or maybe you can stretch it out farther. When a turkey does commit, you want the utmost confidence that it’s over when he gets into range. You do not want to be thinking about whether or not you can close the deal.
Make The First Hunt Count
Just like in the whitetail realm, first turkey hunts are your best bet. The more they get hunted on a specific property, or in a specific location on a property, the harder they are to kill as the spring progresses.
If you gather enough pre-season intel, you’ll see they are vulnerable in different locations at different times. Maybe the picked cornfield is the ticket because they fly down from the roost at sunrise and scratch away. But what if they tend to land in the middle of the field and aren’t really concentrated until they re-group and leave at mid-morning?
This means that sweet field-edge setup might allow you to see, and call to, plenty of birds. You just might not be able to get them to commit, which is likely in the early season when they are still flocked up. Maybe there is a logging road or two-track, they usually take to leave the field that concentrates their activity? While the field-edge spot might be more fun to hunt, the logging road offers far higher odds of killing. This is an important distinction because just like with whitetails, a lot of new hunters set up to see—not kill. Don’t be like them.
To fine-tune the art of picking high-odds ambush sites, take note when you start dialing in their patterns. Pay close attention to the things that might affect, and alter, their daily routine. Bright sunlight, versus cloudy or rainy weather will do it. Wind will shake things up. Where I live, ground fog around the swamps and wetlands will do it, too. Birds won’t walk through the haze but instead will fly over it to higher spots on the landscape where they can see. Use your observations to dial in multiple spots for your first hunt, so you have backup plans. Then choose wisely.
Whether you’re shotgun hunting or bowhunting, trusting your setup is huge. Second-guessing decoy spreads and calling techniques has saved a pile of longbeards over the years. If you’re on the fence with either, think of it this way. The more scouting you do, the more likely you are to be in a spot where real birds expect to see some action.
Use a quarter-strut Jake decoy, a laydown hen, and maybe another hen or two. Call to your comfort level, whether that’s hitting the mouth calls pretty aggressively, or maybe staying a little more subdued with a slate call.
When you expect to be bombarded with strutters at first light, but they don’t show, it’s tough. Stick it out. Trust your setup, and let it work for you. If you’ve done your homework, and aren’t giving away your position, the birds will show up. When they do, you’ll suddenly go from turkey hunter to turkey killer, which is a pretty sweet feeling.
YOU’RE AIMING WRONG! Turkey Shot Placement | Shotgun Turkey Hunting
FAQ
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