Excited to join this forum, as I've been referring to a number of threads on here the past week.
I'm a young guy (under 30) from Southeast Tennessee; my wife's from NW Georgia. She and I met at Lee University (Cleveland, TN), and after we graduated we moved to Washington, DC to go to grad school. That's where we've been the past 5 years, and while we were planning on moving back down at the end of the semester (continuing dissertation writing, etc. from a distance), our moving date got bumped up once the coronavirus crisis led to our schools going online the rest of the semester. We have a beautiful 1-year old boy. I honestly had no idea I would be back in time for turkey season---I hadn't hunted these blessed birds in years, and I was only a novice then, too.
But opening day on public land in TN this year got me addicted like never before, and I didn't even kill a gobbler. We called a tom off a ridge; he must have come at least 100 yards. Right when he was about to come out of the tree line from private onto public, a hen swooped in between us and him---started cutting aggressively. We had no idea what to do---later found out we were supposed to talk back to her aggressively and tick her off. But the Tom hung up 60 yards away behind cover, barely on private land, and the lone hen stole our man.
But now I'm addicted. Have yet to punch a tag this season, and I'm practicing calling skills (picked up some incredible custom calls just yesterday after researching here and elsewhere; got some diaphragms the week before). I've been scouting 3 different WMAs on ArcGis maps online, then going there to hunt, picking spots and coordinating with my uncle and dad who I hunt with---all the while trying to maintain distance, of course. It's been an incredibly dynamic process where I'm just trying to keep up and get educated by getting out there as much as I can. My skills of calling, woodmanship, and understanding the bird and how different variables change are nowhere near where they're going to be. And while I might be much more prepared in future seasons, I think this one's probably always going to be special, because it's when I unreservedly fell in love with my favorite kind of hunting. Y'all pray for me when season is over! I have no clue how I'll console myself.
Anyhow, can't wait to hear from y'all, and please feel free to give any tips on how to enjoy this forum, make connections in real life (circumstances permitting), etc. And I appreciate your patience as I discover the nuances of the "culture" on here. I was a member of
HuntingNet.com forums for years, but haven't kept up with it as much lately, especially not for turkey topics.
