Tell Us About Your First Turkey

[Drthorn]

It was my second season trying to get a turkey. I was 12 years old at the time. Dad and I had been set up for a few hours with no response from a bird. The wind had really began to pick up so we decided to leave. As we were getting up, I thought I heard a turkey gobble down the tree line to our left. I told Dad that I thought I heard one, but wasn't for sure, so he hit a series of yelps on the lohman box call, which was cut off by a "faint" (seemed faint because of the wind) gobble. So we quickly sat back down and got ready..Wasn't but a short few minutes that I saw the head and neck of a turkey coming from our left. Then the whole bird appeared and as soon as I saw a beard, i fired. We had a camera at the time, but since it happened so fast, we only got the camera turned on immediately after the shot. It's funny to watch my shake and say "this is awesome" into the camera. I was hooked.

The bird weighed 22.5lbs, had 1" spurs, and an 11" beard.

[tomstopper]

First Gobbler/Turkey was when I was 14. I watched hunters on t.v. and was like how hard could it be (didn't have anyone to teach me as my dad didn't hunt). I went & bought some slate calls & a box call. I praticed making the sounds that the pros did all winter long. Opening day I was positioned about 30 yards in from a public field with my back against a huge oak. I had seen turkeys there plenty of times and felt good about my chances. At approx. 8am I was starting to pack up my things b/c I hadn't seen or heard a bird at all. As I was picking up a gobbler gobbled right behind that oak & made me just about crap my pants b/c it was unexpected and scared the heck out of me. This was the first time I had heard a gobble and it was close. I quickly grabbed my Win 1300 and waited until he walked from behind my tree. He gobbled again when he was at about 8yards away and it was the coolest thing ever. I waited until he got about 20 yards away from me (always was told that you needed a little room for the shot to open up some) & then laid him to rest. 23 lbs, 1in spurs, 9 1/4 beard. The coolest experience turkey hunting and the start of my addiction. Taught me that patience truly does pay off when hunting birds & that it didn't always go as planned. I have had many birds come in silently since but none like that. Still wonder if I called very well or if he was coming in out of curiosity to see what kind of sick bird was making those crazy sounds (I know that I didn't kill another bird until 2 yrs later though).

[chadly]

I've read every story and enjoyed every one of them.  I will contribute soon to the thread.  Keep them coming.  Its been a joy to read. 

[shaman]

For me, there are a bunch of birds in my First Bird firmament. Each one kind was a first in its own right.

There was this one:

My first Turkey Hunt

That's the one that got me hooked on turkey hunting. It took 5 more years before I finally saw that old gob, or maybe it was his brother.  I was at the very back corner of Gordon's property with my back on the corner fence post, when the gob came out a good 100 yards away and stood there strutting with a red sun rising over his right shoulder.  I had been going to Gordon's orchard like a religious pilgrimage all that time. By now I was married and had a son, and Big Bob's knees had given out and he could not go anymore. I was hunting alone. However, for the better part of a half an hour, that old gobbler stood there and danced for me, and I was transfixed.

My first chance at a shot was 3 years later.  Mind you the reason it was taking so long was that I only had 1-2 days a year when I could get out and hunt.  There were not all that many birds around and at Gordon's place there were no roosting flocks. You had to call them in from the neighbor's property. I switched my turkey hunting in the 90's  to a farm in Warsaw, Kentucky.  I still never bagged a bird, but on a cold, windy April morning, I managed to get a gobbler to start making his way to me.  It took over a half hour, and he had to come over from the neighbor's place, finding his way through a fence as he came.  I was still very inexperienced, despite being at it for 10 years, and I had gotten myself wedged in in the "Y" of two crossing logs with the barrel of my shotgun pointing the wrong way. All of a sudden a red head popped itself about 10 yards away and scared the beejesus out of me.  I scrambled to get the gun turned around and pointed. By the time I had the bead on him he was airborne. I emptied my magazine at him as he flew off.  I hear him alight about a hundred yards away, and heard him running after that.

After giving up on Gordon's place and the place in Warsaw, I decided to hire a guide, pay money and get my cherry popped.  That happened at over on the American Power lands over by McConnelsville, Ohio.  The guide was a  retired PA Game Warden named Ernie.  Our first attempt ended poorly.  He called two gobblers in, but my glasses fogged at the wrong time, and I never saw them.  Finally, on the third day, we got ourselves into one of those ideal situations with a bunch of horny gobblers at flydown and had gobs coming from all sides.  The gob that finally presented himself came in on our Six. I had to roll over and lie prone to take the shot. It turned out to be a boisterous jake that interjected himself at the last moment.



Finally, in 2002, I had my own place, 200 acres in the Trans-Bluegrass. I took a whole week off work to hunt.  I had heard a lot of action down in the bottoms of Pity Creek, so I spent the first 6 days down there getting my butt kick.  In the subsequent 14 seasons, I still have not taken a turkey out of that creek bottom. However, about mid-week I began to wise up.  The rest I'll leave for what I wrote at the time:
Turkey Camp, 2002

[OldSchool]

More great firsts, Awesome!  I'm tempted to print this all out and keep it, if nobody objects. That way I've got my first bird to think back on, and I can enjoy reading about all your "firsts" any time I want, too. Thanks.

Bob

[greentag]

my turkey hunting addiction kinda happened by accident,when i was about 13 every year during deer season me and three of my good friends would camp out at one guys house and deer hunt while we were off for school,we made this kinda a tradition and did it every year for several seasons.we live in eastern ky and this boys family had a great farm and we could hunt all the surrounding areas around it too.we had seen turkeys during deer season but never gave them much thought.one of the guys decided we should try to get one the following spring,we agreed.that spring came and we were back over there,we all put 5 dollars in a pot and the one with the biggest turkey would collect,i had bought a cheep little turkey call that week and could make a decent racket on it.that morning we all split up away from each other and were on our own.not knowing what to do i walked around and made a racket,when all of a sudden one gobbled,i was hooked imediatly as the hair stood up on my neck,that was the first one i had heard gobble in the wild and it just did something to me.i called and he would gobble,he closed the distance to about 80 yards but wouldnt come no closer,none of us got a turkey that day,or the rest of that season for a matter of fact,they decided i should get the money at the closing of the season cause i was the most devoted,i was over there every chance i got trying to get one.i got close a time or two but couldnt get them on it.the rest of the year i was a turkey addict,i read everything i could find,watched old hunting shows,stayed in the woods just trying to watch them and figure them out.i had no one to show me the ropes and i had to learn on my own.the next spring i couldnt wait,i was better than the year before but not a whole lot.it was getting close to the end of the season and finally it happened,i was walking out one evening and ran face to face with a hen,luckily it didnt alarm put it just took off quick,i dropped down on my knees craweld to the nearest tree as this was on the edge of a field i got out an old box i had bought and yelped about three times one gobbled so close i should have been able to see him but couldnt.i sat real still and in what seemed like forever,but was just a few short minutes i saw a fan coming through the timber.my heart was about to bust,i thought he was gonna hear it.i shot him about twenty yards away and got my first bird.i just sat and looked at him for a moment,i had never been so proud as i was carrying him over my shoulder,and i will never forget that day,the white dogwoods,what he looked like coming,it all.that was a long time ago and i have been turkey crazy ever since,fortunatly each year i would learn from my mistakes and i can finally consider myself a decent turkey hunter.those other guys just didnt get it like i did,they go every now and then but they are deer hunters,me im a turkey hunter,i almost forgot about the deer the first time i heard that first gobble.i got that first one mounted and still have him  hanging in my living room and he still looks great,he was the one that started it all and i am so glad i got him mounted by a good taxidermist,in fact he is still one of the better birds i have ever gotten 24 pounds,10.5" beard,and 1'3/8 spurs.

[hunter22]

I was raised in the woods hunting. I started going squirrel hunting with my dad when I was 5 years old. I killed my first buck deer sitting by myself when I was 10 tens old. I continued to kill deer on a regular basis which was something back in the early 60s in Arkansas. Our deer seasons were two one-week seasons and if was buck-only. So I knew my way around in the hunting arena. 

We did not have a huntable number of turkeys in my county until 1995 when they opened our first turkey season. I went to Walmart the night before season and bought a Knight & Hale double glass pot call. I took it home and ground around on it until I finally started getting some squeaks out of it. I got up before daylight the next morning and went to our family farm. I did not know where to go so I went to a ridge where I deer hunt. As it started to get light I heard a couple birds gobbling at a distance but that did not mean much to me. I sat down against a big oak tree and pulled the pot call out of my pocket. I did not have a vest. The striker was a hard plastic peg. I started grinding on the call and got a squeak out of it. A gobbler exploded about 75 yards from me. It liked to have scared me to death. I would make a sound and he would gobble. He strutted right up to me and I killed him with #4s out of an old Belgium A-5 3-inch magnum Browning. I took the gobbler home and since it was early I decided to go back and hunt some more. I went to the same place I had killed the first gobbler and started calling. A bird answered me at a distance. It was just a couple minutes he came over the ridge looking for something. I hate to say I was sounding like a hen. I killed him also. First day of turkey hunting and I have killed two 20+ pound gobblers with 10 inch beards. Nothing to this turkey hunting. Yea, right. Needless to say that hooked me. I hate that I was older before I got started but I have tried to make up for lost time. I hunt several states and I am on my second hundred now. What a rush.   

[WyoHunter]

I shot my first gobbler in South Dakota in 1988. It was raining and started to thunder and lightening when I heard a him gobble. I called to him and he responded and then he went silent. I was watching the brush when he stuck his big red head above it. The 12 ga. Remington 1100 roared and down he went. I'll never forget that day!

[OldSchool]

Thanks for the new replies! Each time I think I've gotten all the stories I'm going to get, you surprise  me with a few more. I've enjoyed and appreciate each one, thank you.

Bob

[RutnNStrutn]

My first turkey, a jake, wasn't a special story. He saw my dekes, ran across the hammock and got shot.
My first gobbler though, now that was a story!
I was hunting a WMA in FLA, sitting in an oak hammock next to a swamp where the turkeys roosted. Later in the morning I heard sirens approaching out on the highway. In between the high and low pitch of the sirens, I thought I heard a gobble. Again I thought I heard it. Then again. The fourth time I was sure, and it was getting closer!! The fire truck went by and started to fade away. The gobbler was now gobbling about 100 yards away. I could tell he was walking on the sandy fire break that ringed the hammock, separating it from the pines.
Being a fire dep't Lieutenant , I knew it was destiny, and that this gobbler would be mine!! I picked up my box call and floated out some yelps to him. He instantly gobbled back. A minute later, I called again. He fired back, and he was closer!! Another series of calls, and resulting gobbles, then I saw the snow white cap of his head bobbing down the fire break.
I waited until he reached an opening, then softly yelped on a mouth call. He broke into strut and entered the hammock. He immediately saw my decoys, but opted to strut at the far range of my gun. Back and forth he went, several times. Finally he walked behind a palmetto bush. I raised my gun, clucked and let out a couple of soft yelps. He came back out from the bush and eased his way in towards the decoys. At 20 yards, I dropped the hammer on him! He piled up and I had my first mature gobbler!!
But that wasn't the end of the story. My buddies were supposed to meet me on the fire break 100 yards behind where I was sitting around the same time. They'd had no luck and got there a few minutes early. As they approached, talking out loud to each other, my shot rang out. They were afraid that a gobbler had heard them, spooked and ran, causing me to rush the shot and miss. Not wanting to be blamed for that, they turned around and beat feet back to the trucks!! They were milling around the trucks talking and drinking water, acting like they'd been there all along. Then they noticed I had a gobbler!! Once they saw I got my bird, they broke down and told me the truth.
It was a super exciting hunt for me!! My gobbler weighed 18 lb's, had an 8 inch beard and 3/4 inch spurs.