What was your first production turkey vest...
My first vest was the old lynch style strap vest, I used it for years and sold it later for 20 dollars ... Those were the days .... LOL
Yes the seat cushion was paper thin and I carried a plastic garbage bag with me to lay on the ground if the ground was wet... LOL
Yes Greg. Mine was a Trebark 10X strap vest. I can't remember what happened to it. Paper-thin seat, but I do remember enjoying it....
Not sure if it was my first to have or not but the one I remember using for a long time was a MOSSY Oak NWTF super elite. It had about 8000 pockets. I eventually went to something lighter.
Mine was a HS Strut Strap Vest in Realtree Advantage camo. It didn't have a cushion at that time they were selling the bun saver cushion separate. I purchased it back in 1996 from the old bass pro shop in Duluth GA. I still have it although it's pretty tattered due to years of wear and tear. Although it's been retired several seasons now, I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
Mossy Oak Super Elite II. Still the only one I've owned and still using it to this day. Since 2003 maybe. Or earlier. I'm not sure. I'm getting old. Before a vest. I packed a backpack.
A cabelas vest in advantage timber. I believe it was modeled after the super elite 2 vest. I gave it away to a guy. It did it's job.
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Mossy Oak strap vest, full foliage, wish I still had it as I would sell it! Think I gave it to a kid?
HS strut
Lynch Turkey vest. Actual "vest."
I still use it at times, and might go back to it more this coming season... No seat, but I usually remove mine anyways...
My first, and only, turkey vest was not a production model. In 1993 I went to the local fabric store and found a McCall's sewing pattern for a vest that looked like a good starting point. I ordered some Mossy Oak Full Foliage fabric and sewed it myself, adding a bunch of pockets, and a large pouch on the back. All of the buttons were made from deer antlers. It has served me faithfully for 32 years now with the fabric and stitching remaining sound. The early MO fabrics were dyed differently than they seem to be made now and there has been very little fading of the pattern.
Selling it is simply out of the question. They can bury me in it.
Cheers ;D
FullChoke
I really don't remember. It was the late 80's and I don't remember many options. I just know that it was basically a coat with the sleeves cut off and pockets sewn everywhere
Somewhere around mid 90's. I can't remember who made it, but it was a strap vest in a Realtree pattern. It had a paper thin seat and a couple pockets.
I'm pretty sure I still have it in the attic somewhere.
Knight and hale run and gun 200. Really like that vest. This year I ordered an ol tom gunslinger. The osfm is if you're about 180-200 lbs. Love the pocket layout so much on it i had it altered by a tailor now it fits high and tight like my rng does.
A realtree 10x couple pockets thin seat cushion still have it found one like it at a yard sale brand new got it for 3.00 have it put away
My 1st was a cheap something or other from Walmart back in about 2000/2001. It lasted the year and that was it. The next year I bought a Buck-Lick Creek vest from Bass Pro. The seat was paper thin, but had straps on the side of the seat. You could use it like a stadium chair and didn't need to actually lean up against a tree for back rest. I still have and think about using every year until I see how rough of shape it is in. I put it back in the storage tote thinking I will get it out sometime and do some repairs to it. That never happens...the next time I see it is the next year when I'm going through my stuff to get ready for the season. :toothy12: :toothy12:
I still have my first vest that I bought in mid 90s - tarantula don't remember where I got it and have hardly seen another one like it- served me for 20 years before I upgraded
My first vest was a Bucklick Creek. Wore it out.
First vest was the Grand Slam vest by Duxbak, designed by Dick Kirby in the mid 80's. WWII pattern. Still have it.
Mossy oak Super elite 2
I had a HS Strut strap vest in Advantage camo. It had 2 zipper call pockets, 2 flap pockets, rear pouch and a super thin uncomfortable seat....although thicker than the new KUIU seat. Ha.
My first vest was Mossy Oak Break up vest from Walmart. I think fieldline was the brand if I remember right.
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Mossy Oak Super Elite 2.
Loaded that baby up and boy was it hot. I ended up outgrowing it and gave it to a girl in college.
My first turkey vest was a field line vest from Walmart my dad bought me when I was 6 or 7. I still have it. It was adult size and took a while for me to grow in to it, I hunted with it until I was 19, decided I had to have bigger and better, bought a Drake vest and thus the quest for the "perfect" vest began with me. Still haven't found one that I like every thing about, and it seems my idea of the perfect vest changes every few years as my maturity as a turkey hunter changes. I started out filling every pocket on the vest with calls, inside and out. Now, I typically carry 4 calls and 2 of them are a trumpet and a mouth call. I still wear a vest though, for some reason my switch doesn't flip from a walk in the woods to serious turkey hunting without having one on. So now it's mainly just for carrying a turkey out and some TP.
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Lynch Long beard vest in tree bark camo. Still have it and use it at times.
Quote from: CALLM2U on March 01, 2025, 08:56:36 PMSomewhere around mid 90's. I can't remember who made it, but it was a strap vest in a Realtree pattern. It had a paper thin seat and a couple pockets.
I'm pretty sure I still have it in the attic somewhere.
Sounds about exactly like my first, probably bought at walmart, all a poor high school kid could afford. Only used it that year, then I bought a Mossy Oak vest not sure what model, in shadow leaf I think, with the NWTF patch on it still have that vest I think but don't really use it much since I'm a little bigger around the middle than I was back then.
My first vest was a advantage realtree pad with a hook my dad put on the handle. used for a while then dad got me a break up nwtf jakes vest.
dont know where that jakes vest is now... but that realtree pad has been in the game bag of every vest ive ever worn. i have yet to see a turkey die without it. 26-27 springs ive packed that thing. every single hunt
HS Strut strap vest that my dad had to tie up so it would halfway fit.
This is the label from the first store-bought turkey hunting vest I ever purchased. Never used it much, and don't remember where it came from or exactly how long ago.
Does anyone recognize this brand name, "Foxzy Outdoor Gear"?
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20250304/40cdef832c482707072954e4d44f4ff9.jpg)
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One of the first Cabela's Tatr'