Gosh, there are so many good hunts. There was my first turkey taken 2 hours after my husband had just shot his first turkey. Or the story of how I was caught with my pants down peeing when I turkey walked by. Or the first time I ever called a gobbler in with aggressive calling. That was fun!
But I think my favorite hunt was probably one of the shortest ones too. I had been turkey hunting around4 years and had shot either 3 or 4 turkeys, but they had all been jakes. I'd been learning a lot on my own and been going to the school of hard knocks. I started my 5th spring season determined to get my first mature tom.The morning it all came togetherwas the start of the third week of the season and I set up along a field where I had seen a tom strutting the previous week. I knew the birds roosted across the field from me and in fact, I had watched a group of them head to the roost woods the evening before.
As the sun came up, I heard a gobble, but it sounded like it was behind me? No, it can't be. I RARELY have seen a turkey roost in the young woods behind me. Whatever. I get my slate out and quietly "yelp, yelp, yelp". The gobbler answers and he IS behind me. Softly "yelp, yelp, yelp" one more time and I set my call down and wait. I turn about 1/4 way around the tree and see the gobbler coming from my right. There is another field about 50 yards away and the gobbler is walking the edge of that field, but not coming into the woods towards me. He looks into the woods and gobbles. This is all so cool. He keeps walking toward a fenceline and goes behind some brush. I now know that he is going to pop into the field I am sitting along. I turn back around to face the field and wait. He struts up the edge of the field and stops about every 10-20 yards and stares into the woods looking for that hen he knows that he heard. He gobbles again. Finally he walks in front of my gun. BANG! My first mature gobbler. Weighed almost 23#. I think it was around 6:20am. I called twice, very softly and then waited 10 minutes for him to finally reachmy position. Gosh it was all so very special.
