Turkey hunting fond memories, non-turkey experiences too

[Kylongspur88]

The absolute best experiences I've had in the turkey woods are calling in birds for other people and especially youth/young hunters. There's nothing better than watching a kid bag their first bird.

[Tail Feathers]

The absolute best experiences I've had in the turkey woods are calling in birds for other people and especially youth/young hunters. There's nothing better than watching a kid bag their first bird.

I've got a good friend named Randy.  Randy is crippled up from breaking his neck as a teen.  Couldn't walk very good most of his life, can hardly walk at all now.  I took up turkey hunting on my own, didn't know anyone who hunted them.  I killed my first longbeard on opening morning and it was an epic hunt, shoulda had a video camera crew with me.  I was so pumped up that I went home and called the only person I thought of that may could take off work at a moment's notice.  I called Randy, he owned his own business.  He jumped at the chance.  Went back within 100 yards of where I killed my tom.  Randy fell twice walking to the spot, I didn't fully appreciate how hard walking was for him then.  He brought his own gun, he showed up with a nickle plated receiver Benelli Montefeltro with a modified choke in it. 
We called in two toms and he took the near one at 12 yards.  The gobbling and strutting was once again as good and memorable as any I've seen since. Randy was hooked as bad as I was at that point and we had many great turkey trips and hunts together.  Sadly, his conditioned worsened and after a big neck surgery that he couldn't shoot a gun any longer.  He tried a crossbow on deer but the mobility issue took him out of the hunting game for good.  We still share great memories of many good hunts tho.

[Paulmyr]

The absolute best experiences I've had in the turkey woods are calling in birds for other people and especially youth/young hunters. There's nothing better than watching a kid bag their first bird.

When I call them in for my dad he gets all shook up. I haven't had the pleasure of calling for him the last 2 years. He just turned 80, a tad more than a little over weight, bad ankle even after replacement surgery. After he got the Covid he hasn't felt up to it. Hopefully next year. Been calling for him for darn near 20 years. He's the only person I've ever been in the turkey woods with other than 3 occasions with others in over 30 years.  2 of them I met on OG.

The other was with the head ranger from a state park in  NW Ga where I camped during my turkey forays to the south before the season opened in the frozen tundra.One of my fondest memories. The night before the hunt I was sitting after dinner with his assistant on the deck of his living quarters on Park property. He wanted to hear how good i was with a mouth call. I obliged and layed it on real thick. I could call real good and was just coming into my own as a hunter. It wasn't long a hen came running through the park looking for all the commotion. The head ranger must have got wind of this and asked  I knew where some turkeys were and if so if I'd take him there  and call for him in the morning seeing as I had filled my tags and was leaving for home soon. I was pretty sure I knew where some gobblers would be so I put my departure off a day and led him to the spot early the next morning.

As the sun came we could hear some gobblers off on private land. We were sitting on a log waiting for something nearby to sound off.

It was killing me to not call out to the gobblers we could hear and when I looked at the ranger he was as cool as a cucumber and asked for more coffee as I had a thermos full. He didn't hear so well. I think he could only make out 2 of the 5 or 6 gobblers in the distance. I was getting antsy to say the least but we just sat there on the log sipping coffee and listening to the turkey woods wake up and watching the sun rise.

Every so often he'd lean over and ask if I could hear any gobblers on the public side of the boundary and I'd respond with a no and we'd go back to listening.

After about an hour of this I finally heard a gobble back behind us up on the next public ridge over. I informed the ranger and the bird gobbled again much closer in the creek bed behind an below us. I said he's coming out way and he's coming fast.

The ranger sprung to his feet and I informed him the turkey just gobbled  up on our ridge about 300 yds away. The ranger picked a tree about 30 yds away in the direction of the gobbler and hastily set out his decoy. I pulled up a tree close to where we were sitting and waited for the ranger to complete his set up and settle in to the base of his selected tree.

Again the gobbler sounded off, this time down in the creek on the opposite side of our ridge. He had crossed over our ridge and was making a bee line to the turkeys out on private. I was waiting and called to him right away to try and stop him. He readily replied and held his ground about 150 yds away after a little back and forth. Problem was he was closer to me than he was the ranger and if he came in I might be in the line of fire.

I'm sure the ranger realized this as I caught him looking over his shoulder at me. I cutt at the gobbler real hard a couple times and he ate it up. With the ranger still looking at me I began to crawl a half circle back behind the ranger to take myself out of the field of play yelping and scratching the leaves as I went. When I arrived at my new set up about 30yds beyond the ranger from the gobbler the ranger acknowledged with a head nod and turned his focus back to the gobbler.

Having quickly settled in to my new location I cutt at the gobbler again and he gobbled much closer than where he was holding his ground. It was time to go quiet. I stared at the woods and the ranger intently. After few moments I seen the ranger raise his gun. I was waiting for the hammer to drop when all of the sudden there was a loud clap of thunder followed by gusting winds and a downpour. A thunderstorm rolled in over the top of the ridge. After what seemed an eternity the ranger lowered his gun and stood up.

As quickly as the thunderstorm rolled over the ridge it dissipated  and by the time I walked up the ranger it was no longer raining and the skies were clearing. I asked if he seen the gobbler because it sure looked like it. He said sure did, he was at 30yds and walked behind a tree. I was waiting for him to step out when the storm blew in and never seen him again. It just wasn't his time to die!

We were soaking wet but before heading to the truck the ranger looked at me and said "Boy, you ain't missing a thing!" I was filled with pride. This was the guy I spent the previous 3 years tormenting with all my questions about turkey hunting when ever I ran into him in the park. To be honest I would go looking for him to pick his brain. He had to his place for dinner a couple times. I guess he could be considered my mentor as I knew no other serious turkey hunters. I learned a lot about patience that day and my way of hunting turkey changed. I no longer felt the need to run after and call to every turkey. I found myself sitting and listening more, reacting or not to what I was hearing/seeing around me. Picking my battles and where they took place instead of running headlong into them.

I spent early spring chasing turkeys in northwest Ga. for about ten 10yrs until life happened and I wasn't able to make the trips anymore. 3 years ago after 20 years I was able to once again spend an early spring chasing gobblers in NW Ga. I drove all day and all night to arrive at the very spot I just wrote about. I had to go there. I had no choice. It's one of my happy places. Even though I hadn't been there for many years, I found myself there quite often. Something would trigger my memory and bring me back there so when I pulled up to the gate, tried futilely to get a wink of sleep, and heard the whippoorwills a smile spread across my face. I was back after many long years. It was almost like coming home!

[crow]

I can remember my first time of putting meat in the pot. I was with my Pop Pop on the farm, too young to be legal and no official mentor program back then but when the adults thought you were ready, then you were ready.

  We had put the sneak on some pigeons, I shot one with my Grandmothers single shot .410, He shot 2 with his old Fox SXS. My Grandmother made a potpie out of them. These were farmers that went thru the depression raising a bunch of kids and not much got thrown away. I grew up watching Daniel Boone and always liked the pioneer hunter stories, I can still remember the proud feeling as a little fellow of helping to put meat in the pot.


My first real game, a rabbit came several weeks later. We were posted at the head of a hedgerow and the dogs were having a good chase, I can still hear my uncle saying to make sure I didn't shoot his dog, and my Pop pop saying "I got him" lol. A great way to grow up.

[Tom007]

The fondest Turkey Memory for me is my first Turkey harvest in the early 80's. I can remember this as if it were yesterday. It was my second season of Turkey hunting. The first year I called one gobbler in, but over-calling had him skirt around me, no shot opportunity. I was devastated, I spent an hour calling him in. That off season, I read some turkey hunting literature and realized that limited, soft, infrequent calling works much better on mature gobblers. The following spring I went back to the same spot thinking that Tom would still be there, he was. I did get tighter on him in the roost. At daylight, a crow sounded off, BOOM, he gobbled. He was about 150 yards away. It was still too dark, so I waited. Once I thought it was light enough for fly-down, I did some soft yelps on my mouth call. He gobbled again, twice. It was then that I said "Don't call" anymore. He knows where I am. A few minutes later, he gobbled again, this time he was closer and on the ground. With my gun up on my knee, I pointed in the direction I thought he was coming from. Next thing I see is the Red White head coming towards me in my direction. He was about 50 yards out, but I had to move the gun a bit to the right for the shot. I noticed a big pine tree ahead of him about 35 yards from me. I decided I would make my move when he got behind the pine. He walked behind it, I shifted. He stopped behind it. I got nervous he spotted me, but I waited. He proceeded to step out and looked in my direction. I had a clear shot, boom. He flopped. I never thought I would harvest a Wild Turkey, I'll never forget picking him up and admiring the beautiful feathers with the irredecent colors. He had a 10 inch beard, 1 inch spurs and weighed 23 pounds. This hunt is one that is etched in my memory for ever. I smiled all the way home, it is a day I will never forget....

[Spurs]

My first turkey was not what really got me addicted...it was my first turkey as a non resident in Mississippi.  Until my mid 20s, I considered myself more of a duck hunter and passed time turkey hunting.  MS had kicked my butt the previous year and I had some time off between jobs, so I rolled back down to the "Land of few to hunt with plenty".

For 6 days straight, I was never really "ON" a bird.  Heard some early, walked a million miles, had a rattle snake strike the bottom of my boot (3 miles back without cell phone service too). 

I had a spot marked on the old forest service map that I had been passing almost daily, but it was one of those places I thought it was TOO obvious.  I never saw a truck there, but I just had a feeling that someone was hunting it while I was in the woods and left before I drove out.

Last day, last stop, and had to be back at the truck in under an hour to make the empty handed drive with a dose of tag soup.  I decided I'd make a quick walk down the fire break.  To my surprise, there was not a single boot track 50 yards outside of the parking spot.  I guess that everyone thought the same thing I did.  Half mile further and a tom barked back at my box call.  Within 3 minutes I had my first OOS tom by the leg. 

That hunt there is what changed my direction.  It lit a spark in me that would change the course of my outdoors experience and created a drive like no other pass time ever had. 

I have had dozens of fond memories in the turkey woods, but that one was a game changer for me. 

[eggshell]

I been pondering this topic and what story to tell. It dawned on me just now as spur talked about his first out-of-state bird and the empty drive home. Driving to and from hunts with friends in the truck are absolutely some of the best times. The conversations are about reliving the hunt and many times turn to the deeply personal. I have engaged in many conversations where heavy burdens are laid bare by both myself and fellow travelers. Turkey  hunters trust one another with their deepest feelings and struggles. Many things have been shared in my truck that will never be spoken of outside that cab. It is a form of therapy. It's like sitting on the tailgate at the end of the day having a snack and drink. It does not matter if your admiring a bird or just tired and ready to roll....it's commonly accepted as a good day. The turkey woods is an escape from all the evil of the world and puts you square in the middle of Eden. So many days Jesus has met me in the turkey woods and as the old hymn says, "He walked with me and talked with me and tells me i am his own". The world thinks it's about killing, for many of us it's much more.

[Kygobblergetter]

Hunting Georgia this spring my buddy and I ran into an "old pro" we talked for a while and he ended up giving us a ride back to our truck. He was quite the character and told us stories of how he got in to turkey hunting as a young man and how secretive it was back then. He told us about lots of hunts in the 80s and was just great over all. He was definitely doubting us until I noticed his 28 gauge double with a skinner peep on it. It made for one of the best experiences from a turkey hunting trip yet. Dodging the 3 mile walk back to the truck up a steep mountain was great but talking to Dan was truly a great experience. I sure hope he got that bird he had been chasing


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[Kygobblergetter]

Opening day in my home state. A private farm I hunt with my dad and brother. We had been scouting two birds but come opening day they roosted in another area. We sat up for my brother and I to shoot a double and my dad was hunting another bird. I called the two up but in the thick woods we could never get a clean shot at both of them at the same time. Finally just told my brother to kill one and he did. The other bird flew off before I could get a shot. We sat relaxing for a half hour or so celebrating his bird when a bird gobbled in the direction that the other flew. Young and anxious we immediately took off his direction. He gobbled pretty good on his own so we decided to circle and call him the opposite way of where his buddy had just been killed. When I called he answered and we slipped in tight. Finally I decided I could go no further and set up. After about 5 minutes in to our set up I spot the longbeard 50 yards away sitting in a tree. How he didn't see us get there I will never know. I'd say legally I could have shot him up there since it was where he landed when his buddy got shot and not his roost but I wanted to wait anyway. A little more sweet talk and he was wobbling on the limb clearly about to fly down right below us so I got ready. Sure enough he pitched down into the creek bottom 25 yards away. The second he hit the ground a big raccoon came out of the bottom of a hollow tree chasing him and right on his tail. My brother was so shocked he said out loud "Brent there's an animal!" I shot the longbeard while he was running from the coon and then swung to roll the coon as he was running away but my brother talked me out of it. Probably the dumbest turkey I've ever killed but every season "there's an animal!" Gets brought up several times


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[Farmboy27]

Oh man. I have so many fond memories of hunting that it would take a book to recall them all!!  My absolute favorites would be watching my son grow from a little squirt who could barely carry a gun into the 17 year old man he is today!  So many memories of turkey and deer hunts. So many times that I'm sure ny heart was pumping even harder than his!  And all the while watching him grow up into a fine young man. He love the outdoors just as much as I do and has a 98% gpa in school! 

[Tail Feathers]

Oh man. I have so many fond memories of hunting that it would take a book to recall them all!!  My absolute favorites would be watching my son grow from a little squirt who could barely carry a gun into the 17 year old man he is today!  So many memories of turkey and deer hunts. So many times that I'm sure ny heart was pumping even harder than his!  And all the while watching him grow up into a fine young man. He love the outdoors just as much as I do and has a 98% gpa in school!

My oldest grandson killed his first turkey, a 1.5" double beard trophy bird.  I think he was more excited when I tossed him the keys and told him to go get the truck.  He was 14, his first time driving alone.  All 600 yards of it. 
They do grow up fast.

[Sir-diealot]

One of my best memories is out turkey hunting I heard something coming down the tree above me and sat still and had a chipmunk get on my head and jump down to my then very ample belly and run down my right leg and sit on the toe of my boot and just hang out there a while. It knew something was not quite right but it could not figure it out. Eventually he left the way he came.

That same morning I saw what to me is still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen outdoors, I had set up against the same tree and as the morning sun got just right I looked to my right and slightly behind me and saw a beautifully intricate spiderweb with the sun shining on it and the morning dew glistened on it like diamonds. I love this world that God created.