well...the PA spring gobbler season will be underway saturday morning...and my dad just told me to make plans with whoever or hunt alone wherever i want to walk to...i dont like any of my friends in the way they hunt except one..but i will let him go alone or with whoever if he even goes out the first day..i live far from him and hate being a pain in the rear..like driving here early in the morning to get me...so i decided me and the pressured already called to by some not to inteligant weekend warrior will go at it the first day...my first time hunting anywhere without an adult...because now im the adult...hunting turkey i found myself..scouted my self..i cant wait..i wish my dad would be there for my first turkey but bagging a pressured bird that i did it all to bag myself would be something special...he has to work and doesnt want to call off...and they are calling for rain..he hates hunting in the rain...i cant wait..time to put myself to the test......i know they walk up and down these big old seldemly used quad trails all day feeding..i know where they roost...i think i know where the hens nest..im just going to set up in the middle of it all..and call very very lightly..just enough to let them know a hens waiting...maybe some clucks and scatching in the leaves..that seems to work nicely for pressured birds...other then that just sit and wait...and the nice part is if something goes wrong i got tons of woods coverd in turkeys...when did you turkey hunt yourself the first time?? howd you do?? i called for myself in the woods before..but dad was always there to instruct me...i think i can do it..i just gota take it one step at a time and think before i act...and not get overly excited..and i dont plan on shooting a jake the first day unless the moment says do it..ive never shot at a turkey and this is my 5th year..all the shots ive had never felt right..so i might take the first bird i have a good shot on just to get one under the belt i dont know yet...just thought id let you guys know mauser is flying solo for the first time for the opener....i cant believe im old enough to hunt alone already!

Good luck to you this comming weekend!! Hope you get a true limb hanger!!

Good luck to you sounds like your pretty well prepared. It is nice to go out and bag game on your own, kind of makes you feel like you made it. I remember thinking the same thing when I bagged a forked horn all by myself years back.But there still isn' t anything like hunting with your Ole' Man. My Dad fortunately is still my hunting partner to this day only thing now is that I' m the patient one

just be careful dont care how old ya are, still want you to be safe good luck !!!!!!

Good luck Mauser, I know what it feels like to want someone there so see your first bird or deer or just whatever. I love hunting with my dad but he doesn' t turkey hunt but he does deer hunt, so I always make sure to plan atleast one day to hunt with him during deer season. He was there when I got my first deer but I also wished My grandfather could have been ther to see it since he was the one who instilled the Love of hunting and the outdoors in me. But unfortunatly he a passed about one or two years earlier, I know he would have loved to see me get my first deer, let alone hunt with me. But about 99% of the time I hunt with a buddy of mine.

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things. As you know there is nothing like being able to hunt with your dad or a member of your family. As much as you enjoy it now it becomes more precious as the years go by.

I remember many of my pre-adult hunts. Most of them I was alone. If I could give any advice to a young woods wise guy like yourself it would be this. Try not to make the same mistake twice, make notes in a journal, take enormous amounts of pictures, and as they say, take time to smell the roses. After you graduate from high school your life will become one long blur as the years pass quickly by. Learn to enjoy your hunts. It is easy to enjoy a hunt where you score but I' m talking about the times when everything seems to go wrong and game is either scarce or has given you the slip. If you can learn to do this you will be way ahead of the game and a better person for the experience.

I think you will do well on your first solo! [:-]

GOOD LUCK! This will also be my first day in the turkey woods without an adult. I am prepared to bag a fulton county gobbler. I think I got them down pretty good and if it is raining I will shoot one in the lush green fields up there. This weekend is going to be great. I am leaving thursday evening so I will talk to you guys when I get back with a big ol tom hopefully.


Shane[:-]

Well, Good luck to ya! just be PATIENT!!!

well this year i got my first bird, i was alone, i got my first deer, i was alone, maybe there is somthing about being alone that will get u the bird to come in that couple more yards? i dont know, anyway good luck, who_else

thanx guys....im pretty sure dad...you all...magazines ect taught me enough to do it.....and im one of the safer people ive seen in the woods and know thats the #1 thing when were all out there...i couldnt live knowing i killed someones dad or brother or whoever....i talked to the one kid i know that i would hunt with and he was going alone too...but now i think were just going to go together and split up...so i will still be alone..but not with my pressuered gobblers....to a whole set of new woods ive never hunted..just 4 wheeled through...but thats ok...i just wanna make one gobble! lol..my dad wasnt there for my first deer either...he had to work that day too..but his friend offered to take me being he was off and knew me pretty good and it was the last day of deer season and he loves taking people hunting....he made me promise id share the excitment of that day with my dad...and this year in deer season we did...we had a blast together..i was tagged out by 930am opening moring...we seen tons of deer..had 3 down by 930...what a day to remember...we took a whole roll of film that day..i love having pics...im taking my camera turkey hunting and hanging my bird from a limb(yes from a limb..the spurs are going to be that long! lol)..and seting my calls and my gun in the pic....i will let you all know how it goes...i wil lbe hunting alone most of the time this season..i jsut got my first real job...dad picked up another job for when hes bored and not doing anything...so there goes our trips to the mountains...kinda hard to work around 3 job schedules...i cant wait....good luck to you york...