guilotine broadheads

[Swamp Scooter]

I have heard about these a while ago but saw them last night and the video of them in action. Wow what an effective way to bring down a big bird. In looking at the regs in prep for my first outing on Sunday (gun this time)I noticed they state that the bird must be presented with feathers, feet, head attached for registration.

Does the action of these broadheads make the bird illegal? Just a question. What would the CO do if they stopped you in the field? I guess you would have to pick up the head and bring that with when you register it, right?

Anyone ever use one of these? They were $40 for just one.

Also why does the hunting day stop at 5:00pm daily? I can understand not after sunset or so but the daylight is going very strong until about 8pm.

Thanks for the input.

[fishinaddict]

Never used em. Id imagine that it would be ok if the head was gone. I think that rule is more for if you shoot a gobbler without a beard. There are three in a box. I though there was one also. As far as the 5:00 thing it is probably so you dont get to shoot them while they are going to there roost. Just like pheasant hunting, you will see 'em before and after shooting time but not when your hunting

[mille lacs muskie bum]

one word, sweet!

[mnmuzzleloader]

The reasons in the past for the early closure had to do with people worried of kicking hens off the nest. It is more a political thing than anything. Missouri kills a ton more birds than we do here and they close at 1, I think SD is open til sunset. There has been quite a few reports on that, but I thought there was some legislation this year that was aimed to change that.

[Ben1022]

The head doesnt always get cut off w/these broadheads. However, if it did just tote it along. Also, if you shoot a tom/jake w/o a beard, I beleive it would be illegal whether the head was on it or not. I think to be legal the bird has to be bearded, not necessarily a tom or jake.

I think the guillotine has kind of revolutionized bowhunting turkeys in that a head shot is the goal and this broadhead fly's well enough to give the bowhunter the opportunity to do so and at pretty good distances. My only reservation is that I'd rather have the head on the bird. It's just my preference but as mentioned, it doesn't always take it off.

Good luck in the bowhunting "season". I drew a tag for the D season and got rain 4 out of 5 days and as a result, considerably slower action. Birds were still around but didn't hardly gobble and activity was minimal. I now wish I had an archery tag for the last two weeks. Next year, I'll be passing on the draw tag and going the last two weeks. I need 14 days to get set up on the bird even though they can be tougher to call/decoy during that time frame. Best of luck to the guys from here on out!

[Hotspotter]

I'd like to echo all the other positive comments about the guillotine. This broadhead is the real-deal for turkeys; and it's what I'll be shooting if I decide to head to a state with an OTC tag this late spring. Though I've never killed a bird with one, I've shot them, seen them kill turkeys, and have seen birds killed with them.

My take on them is a bit different, in that I think they provide a better chance at a bigger target. With the two inch margin for error on each side of the turkeys head (the broadhead is 4"X4"), plus the width of the turkey's head, you've got a 6"+ wide target if the bird is profile. With about a 6"+ skin kill-zone vertically, we're looking at an almost 10" up and down target. That's quite a bit of play to put the center of your arrow in compared to even the largest mechanicals shooting at the roughly fist-sized vitals on a body shot (depending on angle). Granted, the bird's head is typically moving more than does the center of its body. However, the moving head can be taken somewhat out of play by drawing attention to yourself just before the shot (cutting, loud cluck or two). I just think it offers a bigger target to a bird that's notoriously tough to kill with a stick 'n string. I've witnessed too many bow-wounded birds.

As for the 5PM close-time, I wish they'd either lengthen it to sunset (like many western states) to hunt birds heading to roost, or shut it down at noon/1pm. The extra 5 hours from my experience are low-percentage hours, though I have taken a bird or two later. For me, I just hate myself when I'm not out there with an unfilled tag, but after 6 hours of hard hunting, sometimes an afternoon nap against a tree calls

Joel

[Ray Esboldt]

I hear you Joel. For the hunters sanity, they should stop at 1:00PM. We've all done those marathons in the woods. You're pretty worthless the last 3 hours of the hunt anyway, but you'd feel guilty back at camp. I hate that dilema.

[Swamp Scooter]

Thanks a lot guys. If I do bow hunt for them I think I will try this type of set-up. Either you get 'em or not. No gray area there. I too will be getting about 4 out of the 5 days of rain. Hope for a big dumb one on Sunday so I can hang it up while the weather is still nice!