Tell Us About Your First Turkey

[OldSchool]

I started turkey hunting in 1980. Didn't know squat about it, and I spent my first season educating birds without even realizing it. Looking back on it, they learned their lessons a lot faster than I did. Towards the end of that first season, I was a very humble turkey hunter with a newfound respect for the wild turkey.

After almost an entire season of nothing but mistakes on my part, I snuck in one morning and sat down on a ridge against a big maple. There'd been gobbler roosting on the side hill below me from time to time during the season and I hoped he'd be there now.

I'd been trying to call him from the hardwoods at the bottom of the hill, but for some reason he always seemed to move to the top of the hill after he flew down and gobble his head off. I'm not sure I even realized it at the time, but I was starting to learn. On this particular morning he wasn't there. If he was, he wasn't gobbling, and nobody else was either.

I didn't know what else to do, so I decided to stay put and call once in a while. After an hour or so, I could hear what I thought was several deer coming from behind me and to my right. It wasn't far off and getting closer. I was getting bored with the lack of gobbling, and the thought of seeing the deer kind of perked me up.

Within a minute or two, I decided that they were going to come past me on my right. I'm right handed and my gun was in my lap pointing to my left.

I didn't dare turn my head and as the deer slowly came into my field of view at about 20 yards, I was surprised to see something black. Then it dawned on me what I was seeing. Four jakes walked out in front of me and stopped at 15-20 yards.

I picked out the one that looked a little bigger than the others, brought the gun up and put the bead on his neck, just under his head. When the gun went off, three birds flew away and one was left flopping on the ground.

It probably took me all of 3/10ths of a second to get to the bird and make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

I couldn't believe it. After all the time, effort and aggravation, I finally had the object of my dreams on the ground in front of me. I think that turkey was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

I spent the next half hour admiring him, then slung him over my shoulder and walked out with a big smile on my face.

So, tell us about your first bird.

Bob

[chcltlabz]

My first bird, I was still too young to hunt on my own.  Turkeys were still pretty scarce in that area, so we spent many days without even hearing a bird. I missed my opportunity on a bird earlier that year paying too much attention to what I was told.  My father reminded me not to move my gun when I saw a bird, because he would eventually walk in front.  Well, I had a gobbler pop up over a ridge right in front of me.  He couldn't have been 2 feet to the left of where my gun was pointing and I didn't move.  Of course, I was pointing right, and he went left... Late in the season, my father asked if I wanted to go hunting or walleye fishing.  I said I didn't care (really wanting to go fishing) but he chose to try for a bird.

I don't remember where we started that day, but I know we didn't hear anything.  We moved to a new spot and hunted out most of it.  We worked a bird for a bit but he shut down on us so we headed out to the truck.  We decided we'd stop along the road on the way out and crow call and we got a response way too close to the truck.  I remember my father putting the truck in neutral and letting it coast down the hill to try and not spook the bird, which we of course did. But when we stopped, a bird across the road from the last one answered and we went off after him.  I remember setting up on a small ridge facing the gobbling, my father behind me to the back of the same tree.  I saw the bird moving in through the thick brush, he popped in, still mostly in the brush.  In an adrenaline fed yelling whisper I asked if I could shoot, but my father couldn't see to tell me.  Luckily he stepped out right after that and I had my first bird, a jake.

After we had him tagged, my dad went in the direction of the bird next to the road while I stayed in the truck.  Not long after, I heard him shoot, so I drove the truck up to meet him (too young to drive, so I'm surprised I didn't get in a lot of trouble for that one), and I get to see him carrying a longbeard out of the woods.

[dirt road ninja]

Mine was in the early 90's – like you I had no one to teach and learned the hard way. The details are starting to get fuzzy, but from what I do remember.....
I heard a bird gobble the afternoon before while unloading my shotgun. It was in an area I was very familiar with and despite being a novice turkey hunter I knew just about where he was sitting. The next morning was cool as I walked down a finger ridge into an open hardwood bottom. The bird was on a creek about 100 yards from the tip of the finger I was walking down. I elected to stay about 30-50 yards up the finger to give myself the tactical advantage of the high ground. Estimated distance from me to the bird was 150 yards or so. After erecting my camo blanket around on a few sticks, I sat down just as daylight was starting to break. Mind you this was a clean hardwood bottom with very little undergrowth, visibility was excellent. Pulled out my little slate and yelped, a gobble followed immediately, so I repeated the process again and again till he stopped answering me. If he flew down, I never heard it, never saw it, and never had a clue as to what was going on other than he wasn't gobbling. After about 15 minutes of nothing, I saw a large, round, dark object moving around below me 25 yards or so to my right. "Holy **** it's a turkey" I thought and in range! I raise my gun swiveled right and smoked him. How that bird got to me without me seeing or hearing him is beyond reason, I think the bird I started hunting never flew down and the one I killed was another tom in the area.

[silvestris]

Mine was April 12, 1975.  I was on an afternoon hunt on a place that had a lot of Black Angus cows.  I would periodically make what I thought might be turkey sounds on a Morgan Caller given to me by a friend.  A few cows passed by and I saw what I thought was a bright red afterbirth on the rear of a cow.  That soon turned into a wild turkey gobbler with a 9 and one-half inch beard.  I promptly dispatched him, but at that point my luck changed.  I went back to the tree and could not find my caller.

I drove to Baton Rouge to try to buy another but all of the stores were sold out.  As I had to come close to Kenny Morgan's house in Jackson, LA on my way back, I decided to see if I could find him.  The gobbler was not the best thing to happen to me that day.  Kenny and I struck up a lifelong friendship and I cherish my time at his feet as much as anything else in my life.  What a turkey hunter.

[Gobble!]

Heres a good one.

It was 2005 I was a junior in high school. First time hunting by myself. I think I went maybe two times before then with friends/family.

I was using a MAD Calls Hatchet, still have it lol and think it sounds terrible. Called up 1 hen and 3 jakes. They walked by me at 5 yards I was tucked back tight into a bush. They were to my left and I was pointing right, just watched them walk by. Finally one walked out into my shoot lane at 25 yards and I pulled the trigger, at least I thought I did, and nothing happened. Ejected that shell and tried another, felt the trigger move but nothing happened. At this point I'm wondering what the hell caused two shells to not fire, eject the second shell and at this time I realize it was the hen that walked out not the gobblers. I was shaking so bad and so stinking nervous lol. After I ejected the second shell they all walked out of sight. At this point I pick the hatchet call back up and let out a few calls. They gobble and walk back into sight. Pull the trigger again and thankfully this time it went off. Smoked by first bird a jake. I was so damn happy!!! After looking at the shells I didn't pull the trigger far enough for it to fire. I felt a little trigger creep and assumed the shells were bad lol.

[OldSchool]

Great stories everybody, thank you.

Please keep 'em coming.

Bob

[hs strut]

i remember my first tom like it was yesterday. when i was 9 i decided i wanted to learn to hunt turkeys but like some of you i had no one to teach me. i knew i would have to teach my self and being season had closed for the year i had all winter to learn. i bought some calls with the money i got for christmas. i practiced every day when i got home from school.after a winter of driving my folks crazy with my calling the spring season finally came around and i was ready. so i spent the week before opener watching turkeys to see where they went in the day where they were roosting and just trying to listen to them.fast forward to the opening morning i had been up since 2 am and i was ready to go when 4 am came i threw on my camo grabbed my 20 870,shells,and calls and i was off. i get to the tree where the birds are roosted and the sounds those birds were making was some of the coolest sounds i ever heard. i mimicked the calls of the hens the best i could and a tom hammered off.i talked with that tom till they finally flew down. that tom came in like he was on a string and i MISSED i dont know how but i did needless to say that ruined that trip.i felt TERRIBLE i had never been so disappointed in my life.i tried for the majority of the season with only a few jakes and some hens coming i let the jakes walk though for a kid that was hard but dad taught me that good things come to those who wait.now fast forward to the last day of the season i had turned 10 a week before.i had all but gave up that season but for some reason i felt i had to get in the woods.i didnt get in the woods like i wanted to that morning so i was already sure i wouldnt see or hear anything but at least i was in the woods.i had been trying to strike a bird all morning and it was pushing 1 pm i was just about ready to go home when a thundering gobble came to my yelping and it was close. i went to the first tree and set up that tom gobbled 2 more times and went quiet. after about 20 minutes i thought he had left when i caught some movement out of the corner of my left eye.it then dawned on me it was the tom and he was a big one.i was as still as i had ever been before in my life. as he pasted me at maybe 10 ft. he came out in front of me at about 15 yds and started strutting i called to him and when he gobbled i let those 5s fly he hit the dirt and didnt even attempt to flop. i was beyond myself he was bigger than i had ever thought he had 1.25'' spurs and a 11'' inch beard. the look on my dad face was priceless. i have been hooked ever since and if god lets me ill be out there this year for my 13th season.id love to get dad involved but he wont go

[Cut N Run]

I started a little different from most in that I called up gobblers for others to shoot before I ever killed my first.  They had rights to hunt on quality land, but lacked calling skills.  I could call well enough, but didn't have such great places to go.

My first was on some private land that held birds some of the time, but not always.  They'd often roost on neighboring property and work their way across the land I could hunt. I was set up near a ridge top near where a pine thicket transitioned into tall pines and mixed understory. I heard a gobbler fire up just past dawn less than 300 yards away on the neighboring land.  I knew to keep any calling quiet until he was on the ground.  Once he was on the ground, I yelped a few times on my Lynch box.  It sounded kind of shaky, though he fired right back.  The next time he gobbled, he was closer, but still on the neighboring land. I called on my slate and got no answer.  It seemed liken an hour before I saw or heard anything, though it was probably more like 15 minutes.  I remember seeing the tip of his fan pop up over some broom straw by the short pines.  I also remember how blue his head looked.  When he crossed the edge of the thicket and went out of sight, I pulled the hammer back on my old single shot and got the gun ready.  He almost ran right to me and I dropped the hammer at 17 yards.  He weighed 20 pounds with a 9.5 inch beard and 7/8 inch spurs.  It was a long time ago. but I remember it like it was last week.

Jim

[Planner]

I didn't catch the turkey fever until I was in my late 20's. A friend of mine was hooked badly and would constantly tell me how awesome it was. He came to visit one spring when I lived in South Carolina. We spent a couple of days chasing some pressured birds. We found a spot a couple miles from the parking lot where some birds were roosting. Thinking this may be a good spot to work a bird we headed there one morning. As luck would have it, another Hunter was headed to the same general area. After talking it over with him, we had a plan that would keep us all in good areas but give each other some space. Shortly after we left the other Hunter the sun was starting to rise and a crow flew overhead and with his squawk a gobbler blew up, not fifty yards from us. We quickly set up and as daybreak came, my buddy let out a couple soft purrs. The gobbler responded, pitched down and crested the hill in front of me. Once he hit the stump I'd identified as my range marker the 12 gauge rang out and two flops later my first bird was down. I've been hooked ever since and while I'm far from having it all figured out I've spent the last decade plus being an ambassador and taking out new hunters every chance I get. There's no greater satisfaction than helping someone shoot their first bird. Pay it forward.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tail Feathers]

I started turkey hunting about 2000.  We have few turkeys around here and I didn't even know anyone who had hunted turkeys.
On my first morning, I had a hen come within five yards after using my box call.  I was thrilled.
She left and I figured it was over and went home, only to return the next morning.  I set up where I found lots of tracks and called too long and too loud.  Two jakes came in quiet and I shot the biggest one.  I was forever hooked!
My first longbeard was on the next hunt (a year later with our one bird limit), and THAT was the thing turkey videos try to be.  TONS of gobbling, birds racing to be the first to me, two came in side by side and gobbled in my face at 15 yards.  They shoved my decoy over and finally separated by a step and I shot my first longbeard at 5 steps. 
I was so thrilled I called a buddy and ordered him to go with me the next morning.    The same thing happened again.  He is now a turkey hunting addict like me.
When I first began turkey hunting, my first nine trips to the woods resulted in six birds called to the gun.  I thought I had it down!  Little did I know.

[guesswho]

Killed my first turkey in 1965.   It was a fall bird.  Back then we went hunting.  If you saw a deer your were deer hunting, saw a hog you were hog hunting etc.  My first kill was an ambush while sitting with my Dad.  Lot's of turkeys back then in Central and South Florida.   So we were in an Oak Hammock and three hens more or less took the wrong route and one of them wound up dead.   Killed several more before ever killing a longbeard. 

Mt first longbeard was in 1968.  Again while hunting with my Dad.  This was a spring hunt and he called up the bird and let me shoot it.   I can't believe the bird couldn't hear me breathing, I'm surprised I lived through that.  Heart about to bust out of my chest, breathing hard and scared to move for twenty minutes.  Then after the shot it got worse.  I was shaking,  and couldn't hardly talk with squeaking.  I still run through that same gamut of emotions to this day, except for the squeaky voice. 

My first longbeard I called up and killed by myself was 1969.  Even though my Dad wasn't to far away I was still by myself and in charge.  Had no idea really what I was doing except rubbing that old PS Olt call and a piece of wood making noises.  The bird never gobbled but I kept hearing what sounded like a motor a long ways off that would never get out of first gear.   Vaaaroooooom, Vaaaroooom!  I could hear Airboats in the distance but I could still hear this motor.   I turned my head to my left, and I mean turned not eased.  Then at what I though was a hundred yards back then "probably 20 in reality" I see this this thing that looked like a black Volkswagen with it's doors open and the back hood up.  Took a second to realize it was a turkey.  My next action wasn't an ease into action either.  I grabbed my 16 ga. auto and threw up the gun and let two shots go boom boom, the bird was flopping so another boom.  Out of shells and the bird still flopping so I ran to it, grabbed it and held on until I was pretty sure it was dead.  By then my Dad was there and he assured me I could let go.  Seeing how he had his gun I felt if it did get back up he could shoot it.    That was the last day I ever saw that old PS Olt call.  I figure what's left of it is still right there until that big live oak, if it's even still there.  I can remember those hunts like they were yesterday, maybe even remember than better now than I could a year after they happened.

My first 1965

My First Longbeard 1968

And me returning the favor forty years later
       

[BowBendr]

In 1983 a girl I was dating had family land that supposedly held turkeys and her Dad told me to go have at it.
Walked in on a high mountain about 10 o'clock in the morning. Made a few yelps but didn't hear anything.
I decided to move on up a few yards to where I could see a little better, but still couldn't see over this little rise. I made a few soft calls...nothing. Stepped it up to some more aggressive cutting...nothing. Waited about 2 minutes and turned around to walk off and there, coming over that rise was a silent, strutting gobbler. We both saw each other at the same time and scared the poo out of each other. He left quickly.

Not knowing any better, I went back to the same exact spot the next day, at the exact same time.
Sat down against a big oak tree, made the same exact series of cutting. He showed up in the same spot as the day before, never made a peep, shot him in the face at 20 yds. Simple as that, thought I was a stud walking off that mountain...been getting my arse whooped by toms on a regular basis ever since then !

[Happy]

It took me many years to finally get a turkey in my gun sights. At the age of 6 I was reading about them in magazines and talking to anyone who would listen about them. I finally got an hs single reed diaphram and a lohman slate. I think it was a lohman anyways. It had areas cut out of the top for the striker. A straight line for purring and an oval for yelps. I practiced nonstop and managed to add an old boss hen diaphram and a lohman scratch box to my collection. Still no turkey hunting. At the age of 8 I was calling our pen raised turkeys all over the yard. I had killed some squirrels and my grandad gave me a new englander single shot 20 gauge for christmas. That spring I was of to the woods on my own. I hunted for 4 years, going out before school and weekends. I never heard a gobble other than when I got to close to the house and our pen turkeys heard me. I learned one of the most important thing though. Patience and maintaining a good attitude no matter what. Then some not so good times in life came and we had to move. I didn't get to keep my shotgun either. Finally after graduating high school i managed to get a full time job. Guess what the first gun I bought for myself was? A mossberg 835.  By 2003 I had my gun, a stardot choke tube, a primos power crystal and an hs split v lll diaphram call. I had a new cabelas vest in advantage timber and I was ready. I had permission to hunt a small farm of about 75 acres. I was full of anticipation as I sat on the highest wooded part of the farm and waited for daylight. As the sun cracked over the horizon I heard... nothing. I waited until full light and started circling the property, calling every couple hundred yards and waiting. Finally after nearly getting back to where I started I heard some very faint gobbles in response to my yelps. There was nothing I could do but call loudly and hope they decided to come since they were waaay off on property I didn't have permission to hunt. Easing back off the fence about 50 yards I set up near the lip of a small hill. I knew that I should set up so I could kill him as soon as he came in view. I would call and they would gobble and that's how it went for about an hour. Eventually they went quiet and I got comfortable and decided to wait it out and see if they would break. I would call softly and purr a little with no response. Finally after about an hour I heard a few coarse clucks under the lip of the hill. I knew it! That old bugger was being cautious and sneaking in. I got the gun ready and clucked back. I could hear it walking in the leaves and tracked it with my gun barrel. Finally three red heads popped up right over my gun sights. I knew they were Tom's from their heads and as soon as one separated a little I let him have it. At fifteen yards there were two heads left briefly in view before they decided they had better places to be. I rushed over the hill to wrap my hands around the kicking legs of a 14 lb jake! I thought I had fooled an old cautious Tom but what I had really done was wack a youngster that had snuck in trying to get some action without getting his butt kicked. I woulda shot him regardless of the fact he was a jake. He was my first and I was proud of him. I haven't stopped since. Me and that mossberg are still Makin memories.

[born2hunt]

I probably don't remember the killing of my first turkey like most of ya'll and it is not what got me into turkey hunting at all.

I grew up in a deer hunting family, and no one hunted turkeys at all. It wasn't until high school that a friend who turkey hunted some invited me to go on some private land they had. He called in a nice bird right at daylight and I shot it...it happened fast and I cant even remember him gobbling, it honestly didn't excite me a bit and I just couldn't see all the fuss in it.

  Well a couple years later I had been seeing some turkeys on a piece of land  that I was deer hunting. I was up for a challenge and figured I would give it a try alone. I knew nothing...so I just did like they do on TV, I set up a few decoys set back and started yelping. Well to my surprise no gobblers came running in !!! and an hour later I had had all I wanted. I packed my stuff and started to the truck. On the way out I stopped at the edge of the property and gave one last loud yelp and that's when it happened....a bird gobbled at me !!!! I called again and he responded, again and again this went on until he had made his way across a 300 yard pasture to the property line and hung up at the fence (not my side of coarse) strutting and gobbling. I sat there amazed at the beauty of this bird and the fact that I had called him in.

Now I didnt kill that bird but that first gobble is what hooked me, not my actual first turkey. Having him respond to my calling and come in the way he did is was what opened my eyes to the sport of turkey hunting. 

I kept at it that season, determined and steadfast. Called in several more birds that didn't work out, and ended up shooting a Jake on the last day. My addiction has done nothing but get worse since. And it all started with that first gobble.

[Will]

It started for me in the mid 90's as an 19 year old Hunter. I hadn't really explored the Spring hunting at this point however was always intrigued by how elusive the turkey was when hunting deer in Western Maryland. I put a lot of emphasis into scouting that fall with finding little sign the area we hunted. Opening day for fall came with me busting a flock as I walked out for lunch that day and missing a golden opportunity. I followed up with a hunt on Tuesday that brought me to a large hollow two hens were scratching. Two shots from my 22 and I harvested my first turkey. Not your typical hunt but it was the beginning of an obsession of not only fall but many spring hunts to follow. When they say there's much more to the hunt than the harvest it's so true. The smell of those fall woods and colors of those trees helps me remember that day time and time again.