First turkey

[Browning4140]

Just wanted to hear if anybody has any exciting stories about their first turkey.

Mine was when I was about 18 and decided to try out turkey hunting. I read several articles in magazines to get some tips and talked to a bunch of older guys who had some experience. I set up beside a creek and begin to call and it wasn't to long before I heard the thunder roll about 100 yds away. About 5 minutes later I had a hen come walking in and she got close enough to me that she stepped over my legs where I was sitting on the ground. She finally walked behind me and started yelping and here came 3 jakes down the same path at about 60yds and they refused to come any closer. I was shaking so bad I knew they had to see me. They finally got into about 50 yds and started to turn back. I decided to go ahead and take the shot and dropped the jake in the back of the group. He had a 6.5" beard and weighed about 18lbs. and ever since I have ever been hooked.

[fallhnt]

My first bird with a bow was a 4 year quest. I ended up with 2 longbeards with a bow in two states in 1996. Every year I would come home and threaten to gun hunt. I ended up buying a Remington pump turkey gun in 94' and never even used it until 97'. Bowhunting turkey is a passion and I have had many hunting memories from spring and fall sense 96'.

[g8rvet]

My first spring turkey, I went with a friend.  Had high brass #5 and a Mod choke in my 870. He told me we would only shoot one close.  As we were crossing a little bridge in a bottom heading to a distant bird, one gobbled 150 yards up the little creek. We quickly set up. After we did a hen still in the tree down the creek started tree yelping. My buddy flapped his hat (I did not know why) and the gobbler flew down. Walked right in and I took him at 26 steps.  The hen had not even flown down at this point. Pics of the bird in the swamp look like it was still dark outside, it was so early. I thought, this is easy.  I was wrong.  We chased the other bird that was still on the limb and gobbling, but he did not want to play. 

Took another 2 years for me to call one in on my own, although I had a lot of close calls in those years.  Making every mistake and a debrief with my buddy after every hunt.  While I am still learning, I learned a ton in those 2 years.  When I finally called in my own bird, I thought I had arrived. I am still learning all the time.  The one thing I know for certain about turkeys is that I don't know anything for certain about turkeys.  They are wary, random and just when I think I have one patterned, he breaks the pattern for no discernible reason!  I think that is why I am so addicted to hunting these crazy birds.  Dumb and easy one day and wary and un killable (for me) the next! 

[longbeard11]

My first turkey experience was when I was 9 years old. I came home from school on a Friday and my dad was home packing up all the hunting stuff. I always wanted to go turkey hunting but mom wouldn't let me, too dangerous she said. But this time dad stole me to go get ready, I was going with him to turkey camp for the weekend. I was more than excited! Mom was nervous and didn't want me to go, but thank God she let me!

So the next morning came and I was wide eyed and bushy tailed! Couldn't wait to hear that glorious sound of a turkey gobble that up to this point I had only heard on TV. So we all departed from the turkey camp heading our separate ways in search of that gobbling tom. My dad was a very novice turkey hunter, he had only killed one bird his whole life and I always say that dad and I kinda learned how to turkey hunt together through trial and error, but it worked. We heard several birds gobble that morning and it was music to our ears. After things kinda slowed down after fly down we decided to head out a very long ridge prospecting to try and find one willing to play.

As we came to a big low gap where my favorite deer stand was a turkey gobbled across the hollow on the opposite ridge from us. Looking back we had absolutely no idea what we were doing, we thought we were in great shape and we would just call him across to us, now I know how extremely hard and what a long shot this actually was. But nevertheless we sat down and dad handed me an old lynch box call to start yelping on to these birds. I began to squeak out some yelps and the turkeys absolutely loved it! Gobbling like crazy at just about every call that I made on that box.

After a good while Of calling to them we could tell they were moving, we just sat tight and continued to call. These turkeys came all the way down the other mountain, crossed a road, crossed a big bottom field, flew a creek, and came all the way up the mountain to the ridge where we were sitting on. 5 big longbeards and my dad shot the lead bird when his head popped up to periscope the flat where we sat. I will never ever forget this hunt, I remember every detail as if it were yesterday and it is the day that I was forever hooked on turkey hunting!!! Ever since that day my dad and I have killed numerous turkeys and spent countless hours obsessing over and chasing these beautiful birds all over the place, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!

[Marc]

I got into turkey hunting completely on my own.

I was lucky enough to hunt a very turkey rich environment near where I attended college.  I made some terrible mistakes (including trying to body-shoot a bird at 30 yards).

I picked up on the techniques of calling quickly, probably due to having some experience with a duck call and learning to emulate wildlife from an early age.  I quickly found that being able to emulate sounds is a lot different than knowing when or what sounds to emulate.

I also lacked any degree of patience, which is a huge handicap in turkey hunting.  Five minutes without being able to make a bird gobble, and I went looking for him...

I managed to luck into a nice jake by the end of my first season though...  This came after multiple hunts and even more failures.  Basically, I did was gathering my strength for the long walk back to my car, and was taking a breather...  I would lazily call every once in a while whilst trying to garner the courage for the walk back...  And all the sudden I heard a clucking/putting sound, and looked up to see a jake who also saw me.

My gun was not ready, so I quickly shouldered it, and shot him on the run...  The bird rolled a looong ways down the steep hill I was hunting, but I was thrilled to run down (and I do mean run) and collect my prize.

I had no idea how well I had it back then, cause I was hunting some areas (all to myself) with some really high turkey populations. 

[Worm82]

I killed my first turkey in 1997 or 98. The state had stocked turkey's in the area in the early 90s and when the population had grown enough they finally opened season in my part of the county.(I think this was one of the last places in Tn to get stocked). I was 15 and had never turkey hunted but had always had box calls and mouth calls to play with growing up, my dad dropped me off and I walked to the top of a ridge and started calling with a mouth call, after 20 mins of hearing nothing I started walking out the ridge calling way to much and walked right up on a jake in full strut that was coming to my calling. He was 20 yards so I pulled up and shot, he started flopping down the ridge (I thought when you shot a turkey they would just fall over lol) so I took off after him and shot again but he was still flopping and had got caught up in a rose bush so I got real close and shot again lol he no longer had a head and was still flopping and I was out of shells, he finally stopped moving and I had my first turkey. I have killed a bunch since and learned a lot but I will never forget my first.

[learn2hide]

1995, I was 16 and had killed many deer but no turkeys.  My dad and I were hunting a nice farm in MO on the last day of the season.  We hunted early, heard some gobbles but nothing close.  Typical morning lull so we switched positions and walked up to a ridgetop.  Dad stopped and let out a cut and cackle on his mouth call and a gobbler answered, double gobbling close!  We sat down best we could but I was really in some tight cover.  Dad was under a tree 10 yds left of me.  Wasn't but a few seconds and the tail fan appeared over the rise just in front of my dad.  The bird strutted past my father at only a foot or so, feathers actually touched his boot!  Obviously I couldn't shoot I needed to wait for the bird to pass him up and clear well behind us in order to kill him.  As he pass and his tail fan shielded my movement I shifted left and drew the gun.  My dad would tell me later that he was terrified that my excitement would lead me to shoot towards him even though that would never happen.  Enough time passed that dad was worried that I somehow didn't see the bird, he wondered why I hadn't shot him yet.  He clicked his own safety off to turn and kill him but just then, the bird finally turned my way enough to show me the red/white/blue head and I fired.  First bird 22 lbs 10 plus bear and 2 year old.  I was hooked FOREVER!!!!!!