Hey all just checking in here. A little background info... I'm 20/will be 21 at end of May, been fishing since I was 11, took up hunting at 17, and hooked on turkeys... All started for me on thanksgiving day of 2009. A flock of turkeys came through the backyard on t-day and I ran out and chased them into the trees. Then I started thinking about how I could kill one. This lead to a lot of Internet research and I started to learn TN hunting laws and also a little about turkeys. I made my first call that winter, a simple tube call, from instructions I had found on the Internet. Then in the spring of 2010, I got my licenses and hunter safety cert, and a friend took me hunting and we almost had a gobbler in range but the bird saw the strutting decoy and backed off. I also took an interest in deer hunting and went out twice with a buddy on public land in 2010 with no luck.
2011 was when I started to get the hang of it. I met a guy who owns a local call company at Walmart one day, and he told me of a spot on the WMA I hunt to look at. I scouted the area before season and there were birds roosted along the river. Well not too far into the 2011 season, I killed my first, a 14 lb jake. I also killed 3 birds during the fall season in october (private land) and my first deer in November (public land).
2012 was my lucky year. Tagged out on turkeys in the spring, 2 public land gobblers and 1 jake, and finished off with a private land gobbler. My first gobbler deserves its own story that I should post separately if any of y'all want... But forward to the 2012 deer season I bow hunted private land and rifle hunted public land and somehow came out with 10 deer... Last of which came from my suburban backyard with the bow (talk about a thrill). My first bow buck (the 4th deer of the season) was almost a loss if it weren't for a buddy who found it dead by the creek the next morning over 450 yd from where I shot it. It was an old 1-horn buck with a massive 3 pt left side and the right side broke off at the base (how could I care when he snort wheezed and stepped into my shooting lane at 7 yards?)
Anyway enough with the kill stories now I'm looking forward to knowing some of y'all here and can't wait for turkey season to open. I might not post here all the time but will check in frequently and post any of my stories as well as read some of y'all's stories and pics...
Sorry if the post rambles a bit. It happens when I tell any kind of story online....
Jonathan
