Remember the first bird you called in ?

[Waynesworld23]

Yes I do it was a Tuesday morning in march on national forest land didn't hear anything that morning started walking and heard some hens raising heck so I cutt at them and they yelped and cutt back and he fired off jumped against a old burnt pine and got ready went back and forth with the hens till the boss hen broke off and came to check me out bringing the gobbler in tow was so nervous i didn't get down on the gun enough and missed him at 10 steps. Learned a lot that morning

[Hooter]

My first bird that I actually called in gobbled at a Dove cooing, right after a light rain ceased at daylight.
All I had was a Quaker Boy, Old Boss Hen.  The call sounded terrible to me, and I heard Bok, Bok.
And then wings beating. Figured I scared him out of the country!
Sucker flew in right on top of me. Was not near ready of course. Didn't even have my camo clan mask on.
He stood there wondering what the heck, just long enough to get a bead on him.

[CT Spur Collector]

Yep, never forget it.

I hunted him every morning for a week, was gonna quit, getting to the last week of Pa. Saturday rolled around, clock goes off, shut er down and back to sleep. Wife literally kicks me out of bed!  Roll into my spot, he won't gobble, he gobbled in the same spot every day! I jumped in the truck to head to the "old farm".   Heading out, I roll the window down and hear him gobble, he moved on me!  I pulled off, jump out, load up and head in. Crisp cold Pa. morning...like 20. See your breath...and HIS!!  Literally made three calls on an old DD Adams slate, 5 minutes...he's riding home in the F-250.

I love to drag those photos out.....how young I looked!  One of the best days of my life.

[UGAturkey]

I was 12 years old on my families property.  My dad didn't hunt but I was teaching myself listening to those Ben Lee tapes on how to call turkeys.  Went behind our house alone and use my Lynch's Fool Proof like a champ that morning.  The birds were gobbling good that morning but patience was not a virtue at that time, so I shot the first legal turkey I could.  It was #16 Jake, but it was a trophy to me.  I was absolutely hooked from that point on.  Nearly 30 years later I still get just as excited, as that 12 year old, hunting these wonderful creatures.

[beakbuster10]

First bird I ever called in alone is one I will never forget. I arrived at the farm I was hunting and began to listen. I heard a few birds fire off and there was one in particular I was going to set up on. On my way, another gobbler let out and he was a lot closer. As I began to move to him, I could hear the hen tree yelping that he was answering. I set up in between the pair, but closer to him. I softly yelped one time, and he cut me off with a double gobble. He proceeded to gobble for another 10 minutes or so almost every breath. I did a fly down cackle and he double gobbled again. I heard him open his wings and he gobbled every breath to me after he hit the ground. I shot him at 15 yards. He was a classic instance of finding the right bird and saying just enough to get him interested. Of all the birds I've called and killed, he's probably the most memorable.


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[Dtrkyman]

Absolutely, It was was my second bird ever but first I actually called in. He was roosted the same place he was the day before the Missouri opener, maybe 1991?

  He gobbled early one time and I moved into about 125 yards and sat against a giant oak. He gobbled a few times only all on roost and I gave him a couple tree calls on an h.s. lil duece and set it down, he did not answer the calls but I knew he should have heard them. The leaves were really wet from all the rain the previous day and I never heard him coming but picked up movement about 75 yards out and thought it was a coon.

As he got a little closer he lifted his head and I almost chit my drawers when I realized it was him, he was headed straight to me, he started to angle a little to my right and went behind a giant oak about 25 yards out, I pointed my 835 to the other side of the oak and when he crossed my front bead I clucked, he stretched his head and I fed him 2 1/4 oz's of 4s!!!   

Turned out to be the perfect setup, he was roosted on the end of that ridge overlooking a creek bottom, I had accidentally set up in the perfect pinch point where the ridge narrowed from both sides steeply and he was forced to walk right through there, talk about dumb luck!!!

[Captain Hooks]

Like it was yesterday

[stinkpickle]

I clearly remember the first bird(s) that I called in and...
1.  couldn't get a shot at.
2.  shot at but missed.
3.  shot.
...in that order.

[chow hound]

First bird I called in was a jake.  He came running in so fast that he was standing 10 feet away before I could even pick up my gun.  That was the first of MANY lessons!

[TauntoHawk]

Spent my youth chasing longbeards not knowing what I was doing. First bird came at 19yr old I climbed a high ridge and sat down not knowing I had the perfect set up as there were 3 lone longbeards not 70yds Infront of my position. They came in off the roost but I didnt have a range finder then and thought they were too far and too bunched up later I placed it at 38 steps but it had looked much further out. I spent the rest of the morning kicking myself sitting at the edge of an old over grown field when a bird gobbled behind me out in the field. Everytime I called aggressive the hen he was with would walk the other way so I stopped calling loud and just did some purring and clucks on a knight and Hale sla-tek (ceramic). The hen closed closer and the round fan followed. The brush was tall and all I could see was his fan and the occasional Bob of his bright head. I probably pushed the shot through too much brush becuase I knocked him down but when I ran out there he jumped up and took flight right Infront of my face but I was able to shoot him again as he came right up Infront if me like a good pheasant flush and I was hooked.

It was the year after that a met a guy a little older than me who offered to take me out in NY state and show me more of the ropes. We've been chasing these birds every chance we get since.

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[Ontario_caller]

It was 1991 I believe the third year you could legally hunt wild turkey in Ontario after they were reintroduced
Very few birds occupied huge amounts of land. Very few people had even seen one and even fewer had hunted them . When I told folks that I had a turkey tag and was going to try for one they said "good luck with that waste of time".
The fall before while trout fishing a small stream for specks I had seen a group of turkeys along a railway track.
I had not retuned there until opening day of the season, I pulled into the provincial wildlife area parking lot and slammed the car door just before first light and two gobblers sounded off at the slam, I couldn't
Believe my ears. From there they kept getting gobbling over and over on the roost at each other.
I crept as close as I dared and got set up, as soon as they flew down I gave a few yelps on a Quaker boy old grand master box call , the only call I had , still have and still carry. The first bird came running in at full speed and stopped about 5 feet off the end of my barrel staring at me in my military greens and bandana face mask, boom I shoot and nearly miss him, just catching him with the edge of the pattern. Shot him with a browning bps #4 game load and full choke.
After that I was totally hooked and have hunted and tagged out every season since.
Turkey is my absolute favourite game to hunt, I just love it.
All the folks that told me I didn't have a hope that fist season couldn't believe it when I rolled into town with a turkey that day. A day I will never forget.

[RutnNStrutn]

My first gobbler, now that was a story!! He came down a firebreak shock gobbling to a fire engine's sirens and air horns. Being a firefighter , I knew I was destined to kill him. After the truck got out of range, I called to him and he gobbled. Not knowing any better at that early stage of my turkey hunting career, I kept calling, but he kept coming in on a string, gobbling the whole way. It's better to be lucky than good sometimes!!
Finally I spotted the white crown on his head bobbing down the trail! I called to him again, he gobbled and stepped off of the trail into the little hammock my decoys were set up in. He strutted back and forth, but was at the edge of the range my gun could shoot back then. I was tempted, but didn't want to wound or lose him. I clucked at him and gave a couple of soft yelps, and he slowly eased his way in. It seemed like an eternity, but he was finally standing next to my hen dekes, 20 yards away. I fired and he was mine!!!
The best part was, my buddies were supposed to meet me right near the hammock on the firebreak, at 10:00. They got there a few minutes early, and were standing there talking softly when I shot. They feared they had spooked my bird and I had missed, so they took off running all the way to the trucks. When I got back, they acted like they had been at the trucks all along. Once they saw I had my gobbler, they told me the true story.

My first gobbler. Public land Osceola, 18 pounds, 8" beard and 3/4" spurs. At that moment I became an official turkey hunting addict!!!

[Tail Feathers]

The first bird I called in was a hen.  She walked within 5' of me looking for the "hen" she heard.  I was pretty much hooked at that point.  I called up two jakes the next morning and got my first turkey. 
I proved that calling too long and too loud could still work.

[chcltlabz]

First bird I ever called in is burned in my memory forever.  It was also the first and only bird I've roosted to the exact tree the night before and snuck in under him in the complete dark.  I couldn't see him, but knew within 10 feet where he was, and I was able to sneak down the ridge and set up above the tree he was in, but about parallel height with him.  Perfect spot for him to set his wings and glide to me, but I doubt I knew it back then.  It was also the first bird I killed with a muzzleloader shotgun.  Don't ask me why I was hunting with the muz and had never killed a bird on my own, but I was. 

As it got light, it turned out there were 2 gobblers, not the one I had heard the evening before.  I was using my old 2 sided quaker boy slate call.  I never heard him fly down, but pretty soon I heard them gobble from the ground, and a full fan showed up just below the ridgeline.  Pretty soon, I saw his white head and he was in range.  I still have that gun, and it shoots about 2 feet low, so I had to pull some kentucky windage, but he went down.  8 inch beard and 7/8 inch spurs.

A good friend went back to the exact same spot the next morning and killed his partner.  In less than a week, there was a new bird in that spot.  Definitely one of those places that a tom will always claim as his own.

[ncwoodsman]

I remember it like it was yesterday....

My cousin and I wanted to give turkey hunting a try. It was the first year or so turkey hunting was allowed in NC. We both knew nothing about turkey hunting but the little we had heard here and there from our deer hunting buddies. We both hit the woods early with very few calls including the only one we could make sound like a turkey (push pin call). We sat about 15-20 yards from each other so we could cover both sides of this point in the field and see each other somewhat. Nighttime turned to daylight and the woods came to life with birds gobbling right behind us in the swamp on large cypress trees. I can remember the hair standing up on the back of my neck when they sounded off. Made me nervous a little and still does today.

We started calling with soft tree talk and the birds immediately would cut us off. We sat quietly for what seemed like an eternity. Next thing I knew "BOOM", my cousin shot, scared the living crap out me. Well, he jumped up and ran out to make sure the bird was down and he grabbed it by the neck and sat back down. I thought to myself, "You lucky DAWG"! The hunt is over and you got one and I didn't. I had no idea what was about to take place. Another nice gobbler was heading straight to me from my right. About 20 minutes had passed and there he was strutting at my decoy. I raised up my brothers Stevens 20 gauge with no special choke and "BOOM" slammed him. My cousin and I jumped and hugged each other in that field and this hunt will be forever etched in my memory for as long as I live.