How did you get started?

[Gooserbat]

I copied this from the home page of my website.  It pretty much sums it all up.

"I was seven years old the first time I went turkey hunting with Dad. It was in Pushmataha WMA in Southeastern Oklahoma. I can still remember the big pines and how Dad explained that "they like to gobble at a hoot owl". I remember watching in the half light as he put an old PS Olt owl hooter to his lips and blew the ol' familiar question. "Who cooks for you, who cooks for us too?" Then somewhere in the distance a turkey gobbled, and then another. Right then and there a seven year old boy became a turkey hunter."

I might add a big "Thanks Dad" 

[Uncle Nicky]

Went a few times with my brother-in-law & his buddies back in the 80s, but it was more of an excuse to drink & go trout fishing in the afternoon than anything else.

Fast-forward 20 years later, and I bought some land for deer hunting, that just happened to have some birds as well. I decided to get serious and learn how to kill them, and the rest is all history. Think about turkeys a lot mor ethan deer these days...

[flintlock]

Dad never hunted, only went w/me once for squirrel.  But, I was always out after something and after I jumped a gobbler in Ky at close quarters and later found that the state had stocked a few a month earlier in "undisclosed locations" I knew I had to know more.

I started reading up and searching them out and as luck would have it I arrowed a hen on the opening day of Ky's first fall season a few years after they stocked them. 

Dad had a place down in south central Ky and told me he had heard gobblers behind the house, so that spring I was there w/my bud and I ended up killing a jake on opening day a few min before the 12pm quitting time, what a rush. 

Never looked back but have since switched over to archery and traditional black powder just to add a little "extra".  WOW what a good time it is!

Good luck and take some pics this spring!
Wess

[bamagtrdude]

I fully blame bamagtrdude for my obsession.

Happy to *oblige*! 

[RutnNStrutn]

My Dad taught me to duck hunt. From there, I became a self-taught small game hunter, then a self-taught deer hunter. I just love hunting and being in the woods. So I heard about spring turkey season, and decided to give it a whirl. Also self-taught, which led to a very frustrating first couple of seasons. Then I went out the third season with friends, and lucked into a jake. The fourth season I took my first mature gobbler, who came in hard, strutting and gobbling. Oh yeah, to say I was hooked after that was an understatement!!!

[Muskie03]

I grew up staring at my old mans turkey mount. Just fascinated by it. I told my self that someday I was gonna hunt turkeys. I grew up running barefoot thru the woods, swamps and rivers that encompassed my house. Learned woodsman ship on my own in those formative years. And the first year I hunted I killed a strutter because of my woodsman ship~ no calling, decoys or scouting, just used what I knew. Since then I've killed them more ways than I can count.

[Tail Feathers]

They stocked our lease in the early 90's. The lease allowed turkey hunting in 2000.  I thought it sounded like fun after seeing it on TV.  I bought a DVD and a couple of calls and went at it based on that.  I had some early success and got hooked real fast!

[slamman]

Back in the day (mid 60's) Arizona had what was the big 10 (now the big 13) which is 10 big game animals turkey being one of them  I had the goal of getting all of the big 10 in the state.  After getting drawn for spring turkey I went on my first turkey hunt, I was lucky enough to bag a turkey and I have been hooked from that day.

[Rio Fan]

I got interested in turkey hunting from reading magazine articles and watching some hunting videos. There wasn't a spring season in eastern Washington until 1990. I killed my first bird, a jake, in 1992.  I really had no clue what I was doing, but I saw the jake walking along the edge of an alfalfa and got way out in front of him and he walked right into my lap.  I was excited to shoot my first turkey, but I wouldn't say I was hooked yet.  The next spring I was hunting by myself and I was using a Quaker Boy old boss hen mouth call.  I let out a series of yelps and a bird gobbled.  He ended up closing the distance fairly quickly and triple gobbled at one point and it felt like the ground shook.  There ended up being a thick patch of brush between him and me and I never even saw that bird.  However, after that hunt I was hooked on turkey hunting.  I love to hunt ducks/geese, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about turkey hunting!

[hs strut]

i got started in to turkey hunting when i was 10ys old know one in my family turkey hunted and i wanted to so i got the books and the videos and a couple mouth calls and went to practacing i learned real quick they werent easy to kill like the videos made it out to be but that challenge was what had me hooked

[El Pavo Grande]

Began going with my dad at an early age in the spring and fall, and watched him kill a few.  He got me a single shot H&R 20 gauge at the age of 9.  That fall while squirrel hunting one evening we busted a flock of turkeys up just before dark.  The next morning I killed a young hen as the turkeys looked to reassemble.  I killed a jake later that fall.  That was nearly 28 years ago.

At the age of 11, my dad took my older brother and I to Missouri for a week long hunting & camping trip.  I got to skip a week of school which was awesome of course.  I still remember being amazed at all the gobbling turkeys.  Finally, it worked out one morning.  We had 3 turkeys gobbling that went quiet, and like it was yesterday I can hear them coming to us through the leaves.  They crossed a dry creek bed and I was able to kill a jake.  Needless to say I have been hooked ever since.

I enjoy fall and spring hunting, and my dad taking us on that trip created an interest in traveling and hunting new spots, which we have continued to do. 

[Jay]

Wanted to for years, but was too busy in the Spring coaching little league and working. Went out in the Fall on my own, but didn't really enjoy it that much the few days I had to hunt. Then I met an old time call maker, we became friends, and with no more little league he took me hunting Turkeys, and taught me the basics. He was from the old school of calling less was better. I did kill my biggest Turkey ever in Iowa using one of his calls, which was cool.

[VA_Birdhunter]

My dad took me when I was 8 yrs old.  The gobblers tore up the woods that day and I was hooked ever since....and its grown into an almost unmanageable addiction and passion.  My dad is no longer able to hunt do to his health but he's the one that got me started and showed me everything he knew and got me well on my way!

God Bless

[cnette01]

When I moved to Middle TN I joined a deer lease and kept seeing turkeys in the fall when deer hunting.  I mentioned the turkeys to my Mom and she bought me a triple tom talker for my birthday that year.  I went out one time that spring, but it was a hot day and no birds were gobbling.  The next year I decided to try it again and this time birds were gobbling all over the lease.  I could hear one answering my calling, but I thought he was a lot farther off than he really was.  I moved closer and got busted.  After about 8AM, all of the gobbling died down and I thought it was over for the morning.  I went back to the camping area of the lease and started pitching my tent.  A crow flew over, cawed, and I heard the loudest gobble I had heard at that point in my life!  I grabbed my call, face mask, and gun out of my truck, yelped a couple of times, heard the bird gobble again, and it was on!  I'm sure my truck 50 yards behind me didn't help any, and the bird hung up about 45 yards out.  I could see him strutting and gobbling and got to watch the show for 20 minutes.  I didn't get him, but I got a nice tom the next year and have been hooked on turkey hunting ever since. 

I have to mention that watching hunting videos gave me some false impressions about turkey hunting, mainly running and gunning and having a tom come in gobbling every time.  It doesn't happen that way very often in real life.  The best advice I ever got regarding turkey hunting came from an older friend that I used to work with.  He told me to treat it more like deer hunting, listen to how much calling the turkeys do and imitate them, and stay put for a couple of hours after the birds fly down.  Many times the tom will come in silently and less calling is better once they fly down.  I listened to him, and my success rate went way up.

[Eric Gregg]

I started in 2008 and really learned on my own. I wanted something to keep me occupied in the Spring, but I didn't realize what an addiction it would turn into when I started. The first gobbler that ever answered me back is what sold the deal. It was awesome and I still get a thrill when one hammers out back to me.