Broadheads for Turkey Hunting
When it comes to turkey hunting, there are an overwhelming amount of options for every single type of gear you will need or want. If you are like many other hunters, once you dial in your setup and start to have success you will try to find new ways to tackle the challenge of taking down a turkey.
Archery hunting for turkeys is not new, but it does continue to grow in popularity. Broadhead technology levels up year after year and we can see that in the large amount of broadhead options for turkeys. We had fixed blades, then we had mechanical heads, and now we have even bigger mechanical heads.
It can be difficult to sort through everything on the market so we went through all the options we have seen come through our inventory and put together a list of our favorites.
The Best Turkey Hunting Broadheads
We have seen a ton of broadheads for turkey hunting come through so we put together a shortlist of our favorites and our customer’s favorites. Take a look at some of the best turkey hunting broadheads we carry.
Magnus Bullhead Turkey Broadheads
The Magnus Bullhead Turkey Broadhead is offered in both 100 grain 2.75” and 125 grain 3.75” options. With an almost 4” cutting diameter on the heavier broadhead you can be confident that if you land it on a turkey’s head you will be doing all the damage necessary to fill out your tag. This broadhead has three .048” blades that are low profile to help reduce drag and create a smooth and consistent flight.
Rage Extreme Turkey Broadheads
The Rage Extreme Turkey Broadheads are some of the most popular mechanical broadheads for turkey hunting. They boast a cutting diameter of 2.25” but give you a flight like a field tip. Rage has also added the meat hook cut-on-contact tip to ensure you do as much damage as possible. They have a thinner blade at .035” but they are plenty durable and come from a manufacturer that has years of history producing high quality and top of the line mechanical broadheads.
DirtNap Shredhead Broadheads
DirtNap tackles a more traditional fixed blade configuration with their Shred Head Broadheads. These broadheads are designed to be used for both turkeys and small game. They have 2 blades and a smaller blade size at 1 3/16” , but their calling card is the combination of penetration and shock effect. This is not designed to target the turkey’s head, instead it is optimized to give you everything you need for a successful body shot. These broadheads also have ⅝” bleeder blades to help achieve a quick and efficient kill.
NAP Spitfire Gobble Getter
Another option from one of the powerhouses in the mechanical broadhead industry is the NAP Spitfire Gobble Getter. The broadheads fly consistent and on target and are made with NAP’s Micro Grooved Slimline© ferrule to help increase flight accuracy and penetration power.The tip is designed specifically to deliver as much shock as possible on contact to drop your turkey in its tracks. These broadheads have a 3 blade 1.75” cutting diameter which is plenty to achieve an ethical kill.
SWAT The Chopper Turkey Broadhead
The SWAT The Chopper Turkey Broadhead is one of the most aggressive looking options out there. The Chopper has a large 3.25” cutting diameter created by 4 devastating blades. Combined with the intimidating point and these broadheads really do look like a chopper coming in for a kill. The Chopper is specifically designed for turkey decapitation, which is quite obvious after one look. The broadheads also come in at 160 grains. Giant cutting diameter, 4 blades, and 160 grains. They are ready to seek and destroy.
How to Choose a Broadhead for Turkey Hunting
Mechanical Broadheads for Turkeys
Of course the most popular option for putting the smackdown on a big gobbler is going to be a mechanical broadhead. Ever since they were released to be used for big game, people have been trying to see how big of a broadhead cutting diameter they can create.
It comes as no surprise but the biggest advantages to using a mechanical broadhead are the flight and the cutting diameter. You do not need to tune your bow nearly as much in order to get a consistent flight because of the low profile of these broadheads before they expand. This is a big factor in broadhead choice when going after big game, but is often less a factor with turkey hunting due to the specific options available as a fixed blade.
Fixed Blades for Turkeys
A traditional fixed blade broadhead is significantly more limited in size because of how it will affect flight. When you shoot fixed blades you need to make sure your bow is tuned and set up to effectively shoot that specific broadhead. Due to the surface area and drag, any small variation in arrow flight will be exponentially increased and have a dramatic effect on your accuracy.
When you are looking at turkey broadheads you will notice that some of those limitations do not exist. That is because when you create a broadhead to take down big game they have to be incredibly durable to withstand cutting through thick hide and large bones. As you will see with the options we listed, manufacturers are able to make fixed blade turkey broadheads with massive cutting diameters because they are not required to be built to the same level of durability. This allows a thinner profile with longer blades that helps them fly like darts.
Many people prefer these broadheads because you can aim for the head and neck area without worrying about a mechanical opening up.
Cutting Diameter for Turkeys
As we mentioned above, the cutting diameter for turkey broadheads is huge compared to traditional broadheads. With the ability to make thinner and longer blades we have seen broadheads released with cutting diameters of 4” or more. You can take aim at a turkey’s head with confidence that you can hit it and do damage on contact. While expandables may also have large cutting diameters they typically limit you to targeting the body of the turkey.