What Is The Best Turkey Hunt You've Ever Had?

[tnturkey]

that's tough... I have had many great days in the turkey woods. but so far my most memorable is when I got my little cousin on his first bird. he has had a tough life kind of. we have a great family but he has no dad. and I try to be his big brother. and we got him on his first bird last year and we had to work for it but finally the bird committed and he laid the smack down on a bird at 20 yards. he gobbled that morning all total 71 times. he was a great bird 10 3/4 inch beard 1 1/8 inch spurs. to say he was excited was an understatement but I believe I was more excited then him. love seeing people get hooked on the sport like I did many years ago. he has been counting down the days sense turkey season ended last year.

[trackerbucky]

Easy - My son's first turkey 14 years ago this spring and I'll never forget it.  Turkey's were fairly recently reintroduced to Maine and you had to draw a permit to hunt them then.  My son drew a permit on his second try at 11 years old. As you might expect at 11 years old, he reveled in the whole experience.  Patterning, scouting and all of the preparation. The very first time we went scouting we walked into up along the edge of a field before first light and I told him, "Sometimes when you hoot like and owl a turkey will gobble back at you".  So I hooted and a big gobbler sounded off less than 100 yards away.  His eyes got as big as saucers. 

We attempted to roost a bird for the first day, but the weather was very rainy that evening and we were unable to find one.  We hunted until noon that first day, but never struck a gobble.  His next chance to hunt was a week later on Saturday and we went out Friday evening to try to roost one. It was very overcast and threatening rain. We covered most of the ground that we had available to hunt, but we never struck a gobble or saw a bird.  Then, just as we were getting back to the truck we heard a gobbler start up.  He must have gobbled 20 times for us. We pinned down his location so we could come back in the morning. 

When we got up the next morning it was raining hard enough to drown a frog and I almost decided to stay home.  If we hadn't roosted one the night before I probably would have.  It rained hard the whole way back to our hunting spot (about a half hour drive) and I wondered if I was crazy for being out. Fortunately, just as we got there the rain stopped. We made our way in to within about 100 yards of where we had the gobbler roosted and set up in an opening we had picked out the night before. It was still very overcast and there were no gobbles as shooting time came and went.  Then probably 15 minutes into shooting time he started up gobbling.  I gave him a tree call twice and then shut up as we waited for him to fly down.  It seemed like he took forever to fly down, but finally we could hear him on the ground.  I started calling to him and he answered us each time, but he was going the other way.  Getting desperate I gave him what I thought was my best excited cutting and he went silent.  I thought for sure that I had messed up.  We waited for what seemed like forever, but was probably only fifteen minutes or so and I heard him drumming.  I whispered to my son to get ready and then we both saw his red head bobbing through the woods coming our way. He saw our jake decoy and came right in on a string. I told my son to shoot whenever he was ready. As the gobbler was rearing back to thrash the deke, my son let him have it. After my reminder to make sure his safety was on and to watch his muzzle direction we high fived and went to pick him up.  Great memories.

He still has the tail and beard on the wall in his room.

[TrackeySauresRex]

I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect.  It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad.  We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird.  My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey.  He doesn't get around like he once did.   He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him.   We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before.  I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years.  I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us.  I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up.  He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man.   It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good.  After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground.  I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing.   Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side. 

Right On! 

[TrackeySauresRex]

It's a toss up between these 3







Mannnn the years are flying by. The last Tom he shot was a great hunt. My boy got him going on the wing bone again. We called him up together. I sat in back of him about 40 or so yards away. We called together/seperate back and forth with no coaching at all this time. I never saw the bird come in. The young man was up and ready.
Booom!

[El Pavo Grande]

In the past, I would say it was difficult to name just one.  But, after this past spring hunting with my son (8 years old at the time), the choice is simple. 

As daylight neared we made our way down an old logging road on national forest land.  As it often goes, no turkey gobbled where I expected it to.  We waited, but soon decided to head deeper into the hollow towards a distant gobbler. We set up across a creek and after a short while I concluded it wasn't going to happen there, so we decided to make a move.  However, when we stood up I heard someone hooting on the other side of the gobbler so I decided to ease on back the way we came. 

We spent time wading in the creek and eating a snack....just hanging out enjoying the woods.  As we we crested the ridge to walk back to the truck, I heard a turkey gobble in another nearby hollow, so off we go.  After two set ups (one real tight), nearly two hours, I woke my son up from his nap and told him we were going to slip out quietly and go find some lunch.  It was 12:30.

As were about to drop off and cross the little draw back to the main ridge, I stopped to call one more time.  Boom!!  One gobbled not 100 yards away.  It was real open, so we hurriedly got closer to the break of the hill and sit down.  Before he could even get comfortable between my legs, I heard them in the leaves.  Quickly got his gun on his knee and shouldered just in time as a hen ran into about 15 steps.  She immediately picked us out and ran back the way she came, running past the jake that had just crested the hill.  As he walked left and I told my son to find him in the red dot scope, I heard "pffftdoooooom".  The big gobbler crested the break of the hill in full strut, immediately seen a booger, broke strut, and turned to walk away.  At that same moment my son had finally found the jake and boom!!!  I was elated to see the turkey flop.  In shock I think, he yelled " I got him!!!" 

We admired the turkey for several minutes in what is some of the most beautiful woods on earth and said a little prayer together just thanking God for providing the opportunity to experience such an amazing thing.  He shot at about 12:45, so I was able to have a teaching moment about patience.  I said most folks would already have given up and been at home taking a nap.  It's a day I'll never forget and looking forward to many more.

[tgs]

I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect.  It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad.  We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird.  My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey.  He doesn't get around like he once did.   He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him.   We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before.  I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years.  I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us.  I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up.  He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man.   It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good.  After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground.  I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing.   Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side. 

Won't even try to match this one, family at it's finest.

I've been a part of a couple very memorable hunts though.  One being a Wheelin' Sportsman Hunt in Texas a couple years back.  The girl that I was guiding had been in a wheelchair for 14 years.  We hunted hard for 3 days, heat, chiggers, thunderstorms...  Finally on the afternoon of day 3 it came together, what a great feeling. 



Second one, I was on a hunt in Connecticut pursuing my self set goal of a New England States slam.  I had three gobblers, all separate to the call, come in within 90 minutes of each other, all from the same spot, felt like a duck hunt.  Try carrying 60lbs of gobbler out to the truck, lol.