First turkey
 

Well guys, I surprisingly actually got my first turkey this year. In a state with a 25% success rate I thought that was pretty good for my first try at it. I was lucky enough to get the earliest season though. I went out on public land early in the morning and found good turkey sign and identified where they would most likely roost. So I came back at 6 that evening and sat for and hour and half on the side of an old logging road. I had a decoy about 15yds down the road. I was getting ready to go when I heard rustling leaves behind me as well as some clucking. Soon enough three young jakes showed themselves on the logging road not far from me. They immediatly starting heading straight for the decoy.The first onestepped not 7 feet from me and didn't notice when I drew my gun. And so at 7 feet I harvested my first turkey, a jake with a 5" beard. I plan on going back out this fall. I've got permission to hunt on private land this time that hasn't been turkey hunted in over 6 years. Im pumped!

Anyone else have a 'first turkey' story to share?

RE: First turkey
 

WOW! Great story! In the words of Ben Rogers Lee... "Its a disease"....

RE: First turkey
 

Thats cool congrats on you new addiction :D

RE: First turkey
 

thats cool......hope you get a big one next hunt....

RE: First turkey
 

Awesome!!post a pic if you can..sounds like you did your homework...well done!![8D]

RE: First turkey
 

Congrats! I still havent had that thrill yet but hearing stories about it pumps me up. Sounds like a great hunt.

RE: First turkey
 

Congratulations!!

and I see you just joined this web-page..........there is alot of very good inforamtion here from some very good sesasoned hunters - to which you are on your way to joining.

My first bird was over 20 years ago. Had a guy who had hunted Turkeys before and I got to tag along. We applied for tags but each of us took a different time period. Well I tagged along with him and learned a ton and then it was my turn.
We spotted a group of birds with several toms. They all turned out to be jakes. We quickly did an end around run to the likely direction they where traveling in and set-up on and edge of a cedar swamp......a few calls later they came marching in all 5 Jakes with one other slightly bigger Tom and hen in back. Heck they caught me with my gun down and sitting in the most uncomfortable postion. My buddy was calling.
Well they stood not more than 25 yards out and would not come any closer. Good thing I was woodswise as I knew I could not shoulder my gun quickly. I even learned at that very first time that those birds knew something was up and did become nervous was everytime I blinked! So I tried to stop blinking to the best of my ability. When the majority would peck there was always at least one standing guard. Ever so slowly I started to bring my gun to shoulder and would stop when I saw a bird was nervous. Took me for ever to get that gun up, and the sun on my knee was burning something fierce through the camo pants.......and when I did get the gunup - I still had to wait for a good shot at just one jake, as they where so tightly grouped. But I did and I dropped it like a rock.
My partner told me later as he watched me bring up the gun - that it was not so much bringing the gun up to shoulder, but the gun meeting me as I was also crouching. He told me I could not have done that any better.

all in all know when to move and when to freeze was my first lesson........and now each time out I learn somehting knew - either on my own or from others here - and i don't think it will ever stop.

Am I infected - Heck ya! Ben Lee was right! turkey hunting is a disease and is the rason I hunt several states each year - but onluy in spring...

JW

RE: First turkey
 

TfL,
Congratulations on your first turkey. I can assure you, as others will, you will learn something new every time you go after a gobbler.

We didn't have a turkey season where I live until I was a grown man. I had to teach myself, and trust me when I say, you will make mistakes in the future, I do every year. But learn from them, and love the sport. Nothing I have hunted over the years compares to turkey hunting.

One other thing, as JW said, you can learn alot from the members of this board.

dog1

RE: First turkey
 

Thanks everyone, I'd get pictues of it up but a chip with the digital camera kind of prevents that. Technically I'm not really new here however. My name (TheformerLives) was actually named because I used to have an account called Lives2hunt743. That one got deleted however and so I started this one, named as it is because I am the former Lives. lol, Thanks again! Im going out tomorrow to scout for the fall season.

RE: First turkey
 

good story, I got my first bird this year. I have double bull to thank for that, I will post a pic when I get home.

RE: First turkey
 

Here you go guys. We just started hunting this past Thanksgiving, so this is the first harvest we've made. I wanted to Turkey hunt, and I have to admit it's an addiction. There seems to be way more skill to it than deer hunting.

I took vacation the first week of the season, which also happened to be spring break for my son. We saw a few and heard a few but couldn't get near them. We set up on some power lines one afternoon and had a hen come as close as 25 yards and hang around for several hours. After the week was over, we were limited to after work and weekends. On the Tuesday after I went back to work we rode the Honda Rancher (to save time)about a 1/2 mile up the power lines around 5:45 and pulled it into the edge of the woods. Within ten minutes we had the blind set up and a jake and hen decoy out. Around 7:15 we were getting bored so I started calling more often. About 5 minutes later a jake stepped out beside a creek bed and walked right up to withing 10 yards of us. One shot dropped him. There were two great pleasures with this hunt, my 7 year oldwatching with such excitement, andhis reaction when he went to pick up the bird. It dropped flat and didn't move but I knew it would flop. I sent him over and told him to grab it by the legs, so he picked up a decoy stick and poked it...all hell broke loose while he chased a flopping turkey. It was priceless to see him carrying it back with a leg in each hand, but when mommy told him he was full of crap because she didn't hear the shot she seemed a little upset when he carried it in the house.