Who taught you?

[MO HUNTER]

Wilbur Primos, Cus Strickland, Knight and Hale.... I watched hours of footage on old cassettes and couldn't understand why those birds didnt come strutting in to me like they did on the videos. Another huge influence was Mike Battey.... had a couple CDs of his, listening to the sounds of fall birds. I played that thing so much...I can still hear his voice. No one in my family hunted so I hooked myself and was self taught. Growing up in MO in the late 90s sure helped, as we had an abundance of birds. I am still learning to this day.

[bpsmag1026]

I learned the basics from an uncle and a cousin, but they weren't real serious about turkey hunting. I learned a lot from Turkey and Turkey Hunting magazine, I read every issue cover to cover from about 2001 until they stopped printing it.

[eggshell]

I started in the early 70s. I was 16 and had been going grouse hunting with some of the guys who hunted our farm. Turkey hunting had just opened in 1968 and no one around had ever hunted them. There was one old guy that had hunted in Va. mostly in the fall. One of the grouse hunters one day after our gird dog flushed a big gobbler said to me, "You should try to hunt those turkeys". I decided I would and looked into how to get a permit. It was a drawing for 500 permits in the whole state. Bingo I got one, yeah. So I asked the old Va hunter how to hunt them. He went into his house and came out with an old Rhodes snuff box call and handed it to me and said good luck kid. That's all the instruction I ever got. The season was just three days long and wouldn't you know I called in a gobbler on my first try, but I was so dumb I didn't know it was a gobbler because all I could see was a head and part of his neck, so  I didn't shoot. After that I went to seminars the wildlife agency put on and I hunted. I hunted for three years before anyone in our area ever tried hunting turkeys. So I literally had no mentors. It took me 3 or 4 years to kill a bird (three day seasons for a novice does not breed success). What did happen was I became the go to guy in our area, and I helped whenever I could. I have been on more first hunts and kills than I can remember. Sad thing is some of those I taught turned and stabbed me in the back by poaching birds on our farm. Most of my fondest memories are those hunts where I mentored someone to their first gobbler.

[Yoder409]

Pretty much, me, myself and I.

My dad never hunted spring birds............really didn't know anyone much else who did.  I just went at it and spent a few semesters in the school of hard knocks.  I caught on fairly quickly and danged, but if I don't STILL improve a wee bit every year...............disproving the old dog/new tricks thing.

[dublelung]

My dad got me started and I'm sure glad he did.
He started while in college and got bit hard. He hasn't killed one in a couple years and I'm going to do my best to get him in close come Friday morning.

[WNCTracker]

My awesome father taught me everything he knew and I've built upon that foundation like it's meant to be. Growing up in Pa I remember my dad only taking me in the fall season. He had a "kid" who was pointing a gun at him in a brush pile during spring season and he flat out quit spring gobbler hunting. I can't remember him killing a gobbler or hunting for them. But the man was magic with a Pa slate pot call and acrylic corn cob striker. I miss him every year turkey season comes around so I could tell him how many more turkeys there are these days!!


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[Gobbler2577]

Mississippi public land turkeys have taught me, and are still teaching!  Would've loved to had a person to teach me, but the few I knew back then wanted no part of introducing me to it.  This is my 24th year turkey hunting and I learn plenty every year.  There just isn't a better sport/hobby/obsession/addiction...

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[Happy]

Self taught. Determination and persistence are the only attributes I had. I hunted for years as a youngster on the woods behind our house growing up. Life got pretty crazy for a few of my latter teen years and then when I finally got the money together to get a turkey gun, shells, a pot call and diaghram,I started again. Managed to get on a property that had birds and killed my first on opening day. Almost 20 years later I am still using the same gun.

[SteelerFan]

My father introduced me to hunting early on. We hunted fall birds in the late 70's. Around '78-'79? I met Jim Clay at a mutual frind's picnic near Winchester, Va. I was 14 or 15. We talked hunting, turkeys, and calls. Jim showed me a call(s) that he was making at the time, and how to put it in my mouth without gagging. He gave me a couple to practice with and use, and wished me luck! (They weren't in "Perfection Calls" wrappers yet...lol)

My father never hunted spring much, if at all. I went off to college and found lots of public land and turkeys in the spring of '84. Ain't been right, since! My father died of an illness in Feb '85, so I never got the chance to show him what fun this spring hunting was (I believe he's with me on my hunts, but he just lets me pull the trigger...lol).

[Harty]

Great reads! And yes our mentors fathers etc are with us always.


Birds had successfully re established in Wisconsin and the first season was set to kick off. I attended a  NWTF seminar . There was a lifelong turkey hunter from Mississippi who had moved up to live with his daughter helping teach the course. He was 75 at the time. I stayed around after and asked him a lot of questions. He had to get going so he gave me his phone number. It developed into an 18 year friendship before he passed. Man what a mentor! He so shorted the learning curve. Take some tobacco with me on opening day of each season and leave it in the woods in honor of his memory and all the others who taught me about the great outdoors

[Wigsplitter]

Self taught first several years with not much success might I add! A guy I worked with took me under his wing and showed me the ropes and hunted with me to get me started. My success went way up as he was and still is the best turkey hunter I know! We continue to hunt /camp together every year for a week and I so look forward to it. Turkey hunting is kinda a one man game as the book says but.... I dearly love and cherish those hunts with friends and family those are my favorites. 25 years in turkey hunting I've sure seen changes— I've even managed to get the guy that taught me shooting better shells than we used to— old habits die hard!

[paintbrush]

Self taught. When I first started turkey hunting I had to go 200 plus miles south to even find a huntable population. I live up in north central MN. Watched some old VHS videos and thought that would be neat to try, so a buddy and I tried it and we have been hooked for life ever since. Back in the the early 80's you where lucky to get a tag every other year as our turkey numbers were very low back then. Was a rather slow learning curve when you only get out every other year or so back then. Started traveling to other states then so I could hunt every year. I'm still learning and loving it.

[MISSISSIPPI Double beard]

Myself

[oakraidia]

Self taught (trial and error, YouTube). When I was younger I used to go pheasant and raccoon hunting with my grandpa, but he had no interest in Turkey hunting. Life got in the way and I stopped going hunting for almost 20 years. 6 years ago I decided to go deer hunting with my brother in law and his friends and loved it. The following spring I decided to try turkey hunting. I never saw a tom that spring, but after hearing some gobbles I was hooked. Now I'm back into pheasant hunting again and I go deer hunting each winter, but turkey hunting is by far my favorite.

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[zelmo1]

I am self taught, meaning I got really lucky on my first hunt and thought I was a pro. Then reality sunk in and I really had to hunt hard and make a million mistakes. Effort and stubbornness got me through the first few years along with a bunch of videos. Not many turkey hunters around here then. Then I hunted with a real turkey hunter, My buddy Joe and I learned so much from him. He made me a confident turkey hunter, so I made him a one of a kind pot to thank him. One of a kind call for a one of a kind friend and serious turkey man. Al