Moment you were hooked

[turkeyfool]

Was just reading a similar post about turkey hunting tradition. It got me thinking about any cool stories when you guys got hooked. Maybe it was a particular moment in time? Like in my case, it may not have even been while you were turkey hunting. I'm 29, started turkey hunting when I was 24. I'm from NJ, primarily fish in the salt and duck hunt. Not much turkeys to speak of. After college, I lived Henderson county Illinois working for a grain company on the Mississippi. I was still-hunting with my bow during deer season and one morning, I heard something come in behind me. Almost sounded a squirrel, didn't think much of it. All of sudden this gobbler that was maybe 5 yards from me just absolutely hammered. It was like lightning going through my bones. This was in December 2016 and at that point, I was hooked. I don't think I've deer hunted a day in my life since and I spend probably 40 spring mornings per in the woods from April to June. Any interesting stories about the first time you knew this was going to be an addiction?

[Happy]

The first time I heard one gobble. I don't even remember how old I was. I was always infatuated with turkeys. No one in my family targeted turkeys. They were always just a target of opportunity when they were brought home. And that wasn't often.

[ChesterCopperpot]

Similar to Happy, don't remember when or how old I was but still full dark in the woods and one hammering into that silence. I was done for. I've been useless ever since. And when I'm dying if I happen to be in a bed someplace I hope to god somebody comes and plays a recording of the early morning spring woods.


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[guesswho]

Spring of 1966.  Sitting on a blown over cypress tree with my Dad on a South Central Florida WMA.  Heard one gobble.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I whispered to my Dad what was that, his reply is something I think about almost every time I hear one to this day.  He simply said "that's the reason we're here".  The bird continued to gobble and each time he did he just set the hook a little deeper.   I've not had a good nights sleep since. 

[paboxcall]

As a young kid attending a local outdoor show, I heard Dick Kirby running a call from his booth. My family didn't hunt them, so I didn't know what it was.

Listening to Mr. Kirby run that slate call, him taking time to talk about turkey hunting with me, that lit the fire.

[Bowguy]

First time I decided to try turkeys, I was only a kid. Went into some woods with my brother. Took an old lynch box out. Made a few yelps and was blown away a turkey started answering me. Great day. One thing pretty amazing in itself. We wore these baseball caps with mesh type stuff hanging down. So that day after the bird stopped gobbling I got up to talk to my brother and formulate a plan. There was this rotten smell. I looked around and right behind my brother was this dead rotten stinking  deer. Phew it stunk. I mentioned it to him and once he saw it he said he felt better. He did smell it but thought it was morning breath bouncing off the mesh. Whooof!!!! Very memorable day

[Tail Feathers]

My first ever turkey hunt I called a hen up to with a few yards.  I was pretty tickled with that.  The next morning I called up two jakes and had my first turkey.  It was a blast.
The next season opener I killed my first longbeard.  Two came in and gobbled together about 15 yards from me.  I couldn't take a shot as they were so close together.  Finally took the top of one's head off at 10 feet.  Whether it was the thrill of all the gobbling, the super close double gobble or the very close encounter and shot...I was most decidedly hooked.  I called a buddy and took him the next morning and called one in for him.  He got hooked that day.

[ElkTurkMan]

April 23, 1987.  The second day that I ever hunted Turkeys.  My dad had shot a nice Tom the day before  and on this next day he went with me to try and call a bird in for me.  He called up three jakes right after first light and I picked out the biggest bird and took him.  My dad was so happy and I was equally as stoked.  It was one of the few times up until then at that point in my life where my dad had told me he was proud of me. I have been addicted ever since.             

[g8rvet]

Duck hunting buddy of mine warned me not to start.  He invited me one day and I went.  As we were walking to one gobbling a ways off, one sounded off 150 yards away.  We slipped into the swamp and set up.  He gobbled a few times, buddy yelped once.  Hen behind us started calling. Heard the birds feet hit the ground and he came straight in. Killed him at 26 steps with high brass #5 and a mod choke in my 870.  The pictures we have from that day it looked like it was still dark in that swamp.  He warned me it does not happen like that all the time, but I was hooked. Finally called my own in a year later in the same stretch of river bottom.  I did so many things wrong the first few years, but it was such a blast matching wits and figuring out my mistakes. 

[bigriverbum]

i don't remember any specific hunt, but more vague memories.

i loved the experience of waking up super early and enjoying a time of day i'd never known before. it made me feel "grown up".  the drive with my dad. trying to sneak in on a roosted bird. the woods coming alive in april.  i remember pastured woodlands and hills so steep i didn't think i could climb them. but i was always right there behind dad.

i did have trouble staying awake and my first bird came after dad elbowed me awake. 

as high school sports took over my life we didn't get to hunt as much. then one day in my early 20s we had one of those perfect mornings and i've been obsessed ever since.

and the amount of great hunts we've had since then are a blessing. i've introduced my dad to public land hunting recently and it's like i get to teach him now. love every second of it

i'm forever grateful for his guidance and selflessness. it's what drives me to hunt with my nephews now.

[MO_HUNTER]

1997... stepped through the gate at my uncles farm, walked down the lane as it was cresting daylight... we owl hooted (saw it on a Primos video) and nothing! Walked a little more than 50 yards further, my buddy stops me and says "do it again!". I cranked another one out and this time the woods lit up. Late 90's heyday in MO. My friend took off at a dead run down the lane back to the truck, I followed him, not sure what we were running from. We got to the truck and he said there were 10 different gobblers firing off on that ridge. It was a week before season and that sound will live with me forever. The following week season opened and we had a chance to double up except he got trigger happy and shot before I could see my bird.

Never hunted with him again... been turkey hunting ever since that day!

[Treerooster]

About 30 years ago. No mentor, not internet forums, just read a couple of magazine articles.

5th day if a 5 day hunt I struck a gobbler, but across the river. River was low and I picked my way across and barely made it in my knee high rubber boots.

Set up and it was a classic hunt. I'd call...he'd gobble. Wait a bit and I'd call he'd gobble a bit closer. About 5 gobbles and I see movement in the brush. Seen his head and then he stretched and looked for me at 18 yards. Got him. A jake. That is the moment I became a turkey hunter.

I was so enamored with my gobbler I forgot I didn't have my usual hip boots on and just crossed back over the river, gobbler over my shoulder, without looking too much. Had some pretty   

I

[Vinci1964]

Love to hunt Henderson county Illinois.  It's a little far for me to go but good hunting ground.

I was about 40 years old and my dad invited me to hunt in Missouri. I had a simple setup with a hen decoy out in the field. I sat down against a fallen tree and I can remember that things became magical as the sky started to lighten and there were turkeys gobbling in every direction.  Killed my first gobbler that morning and I was hooked. I still get chills anytime I hear a gobbler.

[Greg Massey]

First time i heard one gobbler and we could start hunting them, at the time it was all a learning curve and another way to put food on the table...

[HookedonHooks]

At the age of 7 years old I can recall seeing my first turkey up close, my older brother shot his first ever that morning with my dad, and if it wasn't just the coolest thing I ever saw when they got back to the house. I couldn't hardly wait for the next couple years to pass to be able to do it myself.

The natural beauty of the bird has always amazed me. Finding a wing feather on a stroll through the woods no matter the time of year and picking it up was something I can remember as far back as my memory goes.