first turkey, called up yourself stories

[jblackburn]

I called in an killed my first bird, a two year old long beard, in the spring of 1998 when I was 14 years old. I taught myself to use a mouth call and I watched my copy of Knight & Hale Gobbling Fan Tales until my parents couldn't take it anymore!  I found myself on the edge of a patch of timber on a buddy's farm on the first weekend of the MO season.  As daylight broke he began to gobble, I called and he gobbled!  I also had a couple of cheap, foam walmart decoys out, well the cattle in the pasture were interested in all the racket coming from the trees so they came over.  I watched in horror as the long beard turned and walked back down the hill!

Now, the cattle were all over my decoys, smelling them, licking them, spinning them!  I got up and ran them off . . . Twice!  finally they lost interest and walked back out into the pasture.  I was about to pack up when I decided to call again and he hammered back!  I plopped back down just in time to see him running back over the hill! 

I was all sorts of worked up, panting, sweating, shaking . . . He probably would have walked into my lap, but I knew where 40 yards was and as soon as he broke that like I let him have it!  He rolled and flopped and I was running at him trying to get another shell in the chamber.  I remember standing there, shaking and excited as he flopped around thinking now what!  Shoot him again? Wait? Well, the natural instinct of a turkey hunter came through and I introduced him to the sole of my boot! 

I'll never forget that moment walking across the pasture with an almost 20 pound long beard over my shoulder!

[Gooserbat]

I killed Super Jake in Pushmataha WMA.  I worked that bird for over 1 1/2 hours with him inside of 100 yards until he finally snuck into range.  I rolled him with 3" #4 at 37 yards and he weighted 17# and had a 3" beard and normal jake "bumps" for spurs.  He acted like an old mature gobbler instead of a jake.  Glad I killed him or he would have likely turned into one of those old birds that's the terror of turkey hunters.

[drum817]

I learned how to kill turkeys by reading books and watching DVD's.  I called in and killed my first turkey all by myself on the second day of the first season I ever hunted turkeys.  It was a big Jake 5.5" beard but it was one of the MOST exciting and rewarding experiences of my life!!!!  Since then (2004) I have been CRAZY about the sport and have had the pleasure of teaching others and calling up a lot of birds for other guys.

[I-55Bandit]

First bird was a jake. Sitting on the edge of a field and killed him around 8 a.m. Had a bunch gobbling on the roost and then they went quiet. All the sudden I had him enter the field about five yards to my left and approach my hen decoy. Game over

[Buck]

My first one came in 1975.I was hunting on our farm.I had practiced on my Lynch World Champion box call for a couple months When the birds started flying down that morning I got so nervous that my yelps sounded more like purrs. My hands were shaking so bad.That bird came in from behind me and gobbled about 10 steps from me.I really thought I was gonna have a heart attack.He finally walked in front of my old Browning and he was history.He had a 9 3/4 inch beard and weighed 19 pounds. After 39 years I still get the shakes when one is on the way.

[CT Spur Collector]

 Never forget it. 5-23-93. A good friend of mine, kinda got me interested in this craziness, he and I had been in hunting this bird in the mornings before work. He always had to go put his girls on the bus at 7am. He always said, "I don't care if that gobbler is 20 yards from you at 6:30, I'm getting up and leaving." 

This bird roosted in the same spot from Monday through Friday, we tried working him from roost everyday. He would always fly to the creek bottom, probably got with hens and shut-up. You guys know the drill.

On Saturday I was now so tired, I absolutely was not getting out of bed, by this time I kinda thought this was all stupid....getting up way before work, trying to work a bird, work all day, scout at night...gets you good and tired. The alarm is off, I rolled over and said, "no way'. This next part is absolutely true!.....my wife kicks me with her foot and says, "get going, you're killing that bird today."

I get up and take off. Get in the woods late, get out of the truck and NOTHING going on.  Now I'm really mad, roosted and gobbling in the same tree for 5 days and today...NOTHING!  I get back in my truck headed to a different spot, drive down the lease road about a half mile to the east, stop, roll down the window and crow call.  POW!!  He moved.  I start the truck back up, pull to the side of the road, jump out and take off. 

I get set-up in the corner of the woods, off of this gas line, pulled out my DD Adams slate, (retired now), made a series of about 4 yelps, put it down and the old boy was in my lap at 20 yards in about 2 minutes. The rest is history.

Moral: Always listen to your wife!!  Hahahahaha!

[tomstopper]

First Gobbler/Turkey was when I was 14. I watched hunters on t.v. and was like how hard could it be. I went & bought some slate calls & a box call. I praticed making the sounds that the pros did all winter long. Opening day I was positioned about 30 yards in from a public field with my back against a huge oak. I had seen turkeys there plenty of times and felt good about my chances. Come approx. 8am I was starting to pack up my things b/c I hadn't seen or heard a bird at all. As I was picking up a gobbler gobbled right behind that oak & about made me crap my pants b/c it was unexpected and scared the heck out of me. I quickly grabbed my Win 1300 and waited until he walked from behind my tree. He gobbled again when he was at about 8yards away and it was the coolest thing ever. I waited until he got about 20 yards away from me (always was told that you needed a little room for the shot to open up some) & then laid him to rest. 23 lbs, 1in spurs, 9 1/4 beard. The coolest experience turkey hunting and the start of my addiction. Taught me that patience truly does pay off when hunting birds & that it didn't always go as planned. I have had many birds come in silently since but none like that. Still wonder if I called very well or if he was coming in out of curiosity to see what kind of sick bird was making those crazy sounds (I know that I didn't kill another bird until 2 yrs later though) 

[FullChoke]

On the way to the area that I wanted to hunt that morning, it started raining, but I had read that turkeys would still gobble in the rain, so I just kept walking preparing myself to get soaked. Just as I was about to crest a ridge, a gobbler hammered on the roost out in the middle of a clearcut on the other side of the ridge. I eased up to the top and slipped in behind a treetop on the edge of a log loading area and started calling occasionally. After the rain had stopped, I watched him sail off the roost over to my left. He made his way to the same road that I was sitting on but was down the way and stood right there demanding that this hen come to him. I just kept clucking and yelping 5 times like it said in the instructions that came with the box call. After about 45 minutes, the big gobbler and a jake walk into the log loading area where I was. I had to carefully set the call down, get my hands on the gun and wait for the right moment to get the gun up. He walked over in front of me at a distance of about 30 yards and faced straight away stretching his neck to try and find that pesky tease that he knew was right here. I moved right then, got the bead on him and pulled the trigger. I jumped up and went scrambling and sliding over slick, wet logs and limbs and stood over him with the gun pointed at him. The realization swept over me like a hot blast of wind, and I heard a voice in my head say "He's not getting up."  I stood out there on that ridgetop, all by myself, on that crisp Mississippi morning with the sun breaking through the departing clouds and lost my damned mind hollering for 5 straight minutes at the top of my lungs! I still have not gotten over that feeling 40 years later.

He weighed in at 16 pounds 4 ounces, had 1" spurs and a 9.25" beard. I used the only turkey call that I had, a Lynch's Fool Proof one sided box call.

The next most fantastic moment that morning came when I got back to my grandfather's house and caught up with him on his way out to pick strawberries in his garden. I acted dejected as I slumped up to him. He looked at me and wanted me to come tell him all about how badly I had messed up that morning. I walked right up close to him, lifted my eyes and quietly said, "16 pounds, 4 ounces". There was a flash of confusion on his face, then a blast of surprise. He threw the bucket he was carrying straight up in the air and took off on a dead run around the house to the front porch, beating me easily. We danced around like two happy idiots. My grandfather was my hunting mentor, taking me under his wing and teaching me good ethics, woodsmanship and how to love the outdoor world. I still miss him terribly to this day.

FullChoke

[yelpaholic]

    The first bird I ever killed was in 1987 ,I was a junior in high school it was my second season none of my hunting friends really turkey hunted much and it wasn't as popular to take kids back then unless they had some good land with a lot of birds ( ) so  all of my hunting was done on a crowded  wma in central ms  Needless to say I learned a lot that year.  the second year my dad joined a deer lease that had some turkeys Opening morning I got on one at daylight lighting the woods up he gobbled and answered everything  after a couple hours of him not coming any closer than he had started out I decided it was time to go to him.  as it turned out he was strutting on a tall hill on a pipeline right of way I didn't see him when I stepped out on the r o w so I just started easing up the hil where I had heard him as I crested the hill there he was in full strut looking dead at me at about 30 yards he turned inside out and was getting out of dodge when I did a quick draw with the shotgun on a strap over my shoulder and dust rolled him at about 40 yards with a 2 3/4 870 wingmaster.   That's wasn't exactly how It was supposed to work but for my first one I was a happy kid.  wound up killing 2 more that year  That  came just like they were supposed to  strutting and gobbling all the way  I have been hooked ever since.........   

[kybucknspurs]

First turkey I ever called up myself was back in 08 I had called to a group of gobblers that were henned up about 150 yards out in a field.

After playing around with them for the better part of an hour I finally decided to back out and try my luck elsewhere I hadn't walked 50 yards back the way I came when I heard a gobble no more than 30 yards away over a small hill. He was coming in silent and I had walked right up on every step I took trying to find a spot to sit he would gobble at the sound of the leaves crunching.

I sat up behind a log and hit my mouth call one time he instantly hammered back as his fan came over the hill.

I dropped him at 14 yards using an old 870 wing master that was handed down by my papaw. He had a 9 1/2 inch beard and just under 1 inch spurs.


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