What drew you to Turkey Hunting?

[jhoward11]

My hunting buddy and I were talking the other day, and remembered when we couldn't get enough of Deer hunting. That's all there was in life! Then I stopped in at the Barber shop. (yea it was that long ago) He was practicing calls on a slate. We began talking about turkey hunting, and from that moment on I was Hooked. I'm sure glad I needed a haircut that day!!! Now when my buddy and I talk, it's all about our turkey experiences. How/who got you involved?

[Bolandstrutters]

Found an old box call of my grandpas when I was a kid.  Walked out to the barn to try using it for the first time and got a bird to start hammering.  The wild turkey gobble is what got me turkey hunting.  Didn't know anymore who turkey hunted so just decided to give it a try.  First morning ever turkey hunting I set up on a random logging road and just happened to be underneath three gobblers that started absolutely ripping at the first sign of daylight.  By underneath, I mean i was setting at the base of the tree they were roosted in.  Obviously not where I wanted to be, but it was thrilling as can be.  Havent looked back since. 

[Brillo]

The first time I went turkey hunting was 20 years ago and my son was about 8 years old.  We had fun but I did not know what I was doing.  We got a turkey to gobble in the afternoon and I did not know enough to go after it or how.  He was a ways off and I set up a decoy and called.  Nothing that time or any other.  I did not have much time to hunt then and gave it up as it was not that great.  Fast forward 20 years and I retired.  My son was now 25!  I was seeing many more turkeys in an area I was deer hunting so we decided to try again.  Whole different story today.  Better help, way more turkeys, waaaay more fun.  Plus, I have time to hunt.  In three years I have not shot a bird but my son has.  I like it almost as much as deer hunting.  Almost.

[GobbleNut]

1)  Early 1960's, New Mexico initiated first spring gobbler season.
2)  Read articles, mostly by Col. Dave Harbour in Sports Afield, about spring hunting.
3)  Sounded like fun, decided to try it.
4)  Ten years later, called in first gobbler (slow learner).
5)  Hooked! 

[Turkeybutt]

A good old boy named Chester Lesh! Great Turkey hunter and a good teacher.

[Howieg]

My grandpa and a family friend by the name of Kenny Morgan got me started as a young teen ager .
I was privileged to learn and watch 2 of the best ,,, yelp em up to very close range . No crutches needed .

[Dtrkyman]

I was just plain ate up with anything hunting, I started bowhunting deer when my uncle bought a small piece of property.  No turkey there.

No idea what got me to try turkeys, maybe magazines and definitely the fact there was something to hunt in the spring!  The first time I heard a gobble I was in! Love the interaction with the birds and the challenege of it.

[Greg Massey]

An older gentleman who was a mentor and taught me a lot about deer hunting took me with him to the Masonic Lodge for Turkey Calling Contest and from that point on i was hooked into becoming a turkey hunter. Gerald and i love to camp and hunt together over the years. He was a friend / best friend that i will always remember. Before every hunt i say a prayer which always includes his name for safe and enjoyable time in the outdoors. Gerald and I spent a lot of time together talking deer and turkey hunting. He was a best friend who gave me some good advice as i was growing up and facing those youthful years.

[hunter85]

I was a freshman or sophomore in high school my ag class went to the Sun Belt expo. There was a guy selling diaphragm calls that I got while there. I had never turkey hunted before and I had my dad take me to the woods to turkey hunt and I went to yelping on that call an had a hen about run me over when she came popping out of the bushes and I was hooked ever since. My dad nor me had any idea of what we were doing as niether of us had ever hunted turkeys before.

[donjuan]

Where I deer hunted in college I always saw turkeys and thought it would be like shooting fish in a barrel come spring when I went on my first hunt.
Boy did I get whooped. Then, I set out to kill one of these rascals and along the way got hooked on the strutting, gobbling, and calling interactions of the game!

[bbcoach]

For me, I saw an increase in turkey numbers during deer season on our lease and decided to give it a shot.  And Boy was I glad I did!  I started with an 1100, 2 3/4 inch, lead #5's, 1 1/2 oz loads that I reloaded for ducks.  It took me a couple of years to learn the ropes and get my first bird but since then it's something I look forward to and Truly enjoy.  I was self-taught, made plenty of mistakes early (and still do).  I enjoy practicing my calling this time of year and the interaction with the birds.  WONDERFUL SPORT!!!

[Vintage]

Kentucky had stocked turkeys, There was a five year wait until the season was open. So I hunted Indiana and Ohio trying to get a jump on the Ky seasons. Still took ten years to Kill my first Turkey. I have been hooked since the first day of turkey hunting. Have killed lot's of turkeys since.

[ScottTaulbee]

My dad had a friend who came over to the house one evening when I was 4. It would have been 1999 and KY had only had a state wide season for 3 years. My dad didn't turkey hunt and he wouldn't take me deer hunting yet. His friend had 2 gobblers with him dead and I'll never forget sitting there and petting them and having him tell me the story a handful of times. The next year at age 5 I talked my dad in to taking me where we had seen some in our hayfield. We just laid down in the hay and waited with my moms .410 and high brass squirrel loads. A gobbler and a few hens came out and one of the hens came to within feet of us. I tried to get dad to let me shoot her because we were turkey hunting, I didn't understand that it was illegal to take a hen. Dad told me no several times and I remember being so mad I was tearing up. They all walked off and it lit a fire in me. I watched every VHS I could find on turkey hunting and could talk my parents in to getting me for birthday's, Christmas, etc. Real tree, mossy oak turkey school, Knight and Hale. My brother who is 12 years older than me had a couple calls and I'd sneak in his room and play them when he wasn't around. I talked him out of a Quaker Boy aluminum and a glass Cody envy. The next spring I was 6 and went every time I could get someone to take me. When I made the first one gobble that was all she wrote. It took me until I was 11 to kill my first one, all learned by hard knocks because no one I knew hunted turkeys and ironically I got my first one on my dad's friends farm that had sent me down this path when he had shown up with those 2 on our door step years before.


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[Tom007]

This is simple for me, it was the challenge. The ability to call them in, creating the one-on-one adversarial duel between hunter and quarry is why I wake up at 2:30 am to pursue them. If I had to choose only one species to hunt for the rest of my life, no doubt about it, it's the Wild Turkey!!!

[Yoder409]

A gobbling bird.

First one I ever heard......on the hill across the valley from our house.   I just KNEW that I had to hunt it.