How many of you shot a turkey the first time you ever went turkey hunting and thought " man, this is a peice of cake" . I shot my first on an afternoon hunt. I had bought some supplies, (decoys, box call etc.) the year before but never went out.
On this afternoon, I set up on a 20 acre field and set the decoys out about 15 yards from me. I clucked and yelped every 15 minutes for 2 hours when all of a sudden this gobbler came running in from my right side and slammed on the brakes before running over my jake decoy. I shot him and thought, " this is just too easy" . It took me two more years to get another bird.[:-]
My first year hunting I called in 3 longbeards with a quaker boy push button. I had never been this close to a turkey and had never really seen one gobble. I had heard them but never saw one do it. I had a buddy with me. We had rode our bikes(14yrs old) to a nearby woodlot outside city limits in my small hometown. Two of the gobblers were behind some brush and the other ' big' one was right in front of me at the decoy. My buddy was whispering " don' t shoot until the other ones come out because I want to shoot one too." About that time this big ugly head stretched out and gggoooobbbblllle. I couldn' t take it. I busted up laughing and didn' t even get a shot. Actually was laughing so hard I almost pi$$ed my pants. I still hear about that every year.
2 days later, I called in a jake and smoked him. He was out in a cornfield and on my first call that jake turned around so fast to come my way he tripped on the corn stubble and almost fell down. Doesn' t feel like 13 years ago. That was the 1st and last jake I will shot. I love the ' show' a big gobbler puts on.
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Where did ya get him at?!? Right behind the shoulder! NO, I mean...
"There's no better sound than that of the perfect arrow smacking an unsuspecting whitetail!!!"
I prob remember my first better than my last. I will never forget that day. 17lb Jake 35 yards with my NEF 10 Fed #4' s. He snuck in quite and kinda cought me of gaurd. Shot that bird my second spring that i hunted...
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"public land will make a turkey hunter out of ya"
Mine was a 17# jake with a 4" beard that came in silent with his brother to a Harn cedar scratch box call about 9am. I had a narrow shooting lane, but had a bead on him as he stepped into the open and shot him at about 25 yards with an old H&R 12ga with a 28" fixed full choke bbl.
I had called a nice 3 year old off the roost earlier at sunrise that sailed in to about 50 yards right in front of me, but moved to my left instead of coming in more to my right. I shoot left handed and any attempt to make a switch would have busted me, so I watched him walk away. LOL. He put on a good show, though.
It was my first year(1990), my second hunt.After sitting thru 3 hours of light rain, i decieded to get up and stretch(i was deer hunting turkeys). Walked a few steps, looked to my left and lord almighty, there, at 50yds was a gobbler pecking at various things on the ground. He hadn' t noticed me walk up, so after he went behing a tree, i hit the ground.Five minutes later he walked up and Bang!Easy kill. Nothin to it!Man was i a greenhorn that first season. Killed my second bird a week later in another lucky string of events that as i look back on them now, is both hilarious and amazing.
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What u get out is what u put in!
Nope, don' t remember my first because I haven' t shot one yet. I have called in a hen but that is it. There are tons of turkeys around here but I can' t seem to call one in. My relatives are too selfish to bring me out with them. This will be my fourth year hunting turkey and my last if I don' t call one in. I have spent hundreds if not a thousand plus dollars on turkey hunting stuff that could of easily been spent on deer hunting equipment, I have even offered a ' friend' $100 to call a turkey in yet he still says no. Yea, I know you are saying it' s all about the experience, no it' s not about the experience when it is the worst hunting experience you have ever had. Going out for 8 or so hours a day for 2 weeks (not to mention scouting time) straight is a waste (you know it is) if you don' t even call a turkey in. My suggestion to all new turkey hunters is to poach (don' t take this serious) all you can, buy a two dollar call and make sure you don' t do any research on turkey hunting because those people are the ones that seem to get the turkeys around here. I do like how you can interact (call) with the turkeys but there is only so much time/money someone can waste on stuff which has no reward (physical or mental). Sorry about that, had to vent.
I went to taxidermy school a few years ago and at this time I had never been turkey hunting. I did a lot of duck and deer hunting but mostly fishing. In fact that' s why I had never been turkey hunting because I was too busy fishing during the spring. So when it came time for turkey class it was during turkey season and my taxidermy teacher was also a guide. So to make a long story short I killed my first turkey on my first hunt (by 10:00 AM) and the first turkey I ever mounted in taxidermy school was also the first turkey I ever killed.
Needless to say I don' t have much time to fish during the spring (because I am too busy turkey hunting) and it was 3 years later when I took my next turkey.(wasn' t as easy as I first thought)
I remember, it was the biggest, hardest gobbling bird that ever walked the hills of Northumberland County. He gobbled every step of the way in and when it was all over I slung him over my shoulder and carried that jake home with a grin from ear to ear. He got the hooks into me good because I`ve been chasing those birds every spring since and can`t imagine spring without the sound of turkeys announcing the rising sun.
Do you remember your first turkey?
It took me two more years to get another bird.[:-]
