How long did it take you to down your first bird?
 

My apologies if it's been asked before but I'm curious how long it has taken for you to down your first thunder chicken...I'm going on year two so far, hoping I can get one this week.

I killed my first spring gobbler the third year that I hunted them..

That was 35 years ago and I've killed spring toms every year since then except two...

Natimage. If your going the self taught route it can take a while. lol I went that route and it took me 3 seasons also, just like Pygmy. I've also been hunting them for nearly 40 yrs. now and I've killed my fair share since then but I remember that first one like it was yesterday. You'll get one just keep after em.

Dan

missed one my 2nd year,so it took me 3 years until i got one,this is going to be my 5th season and im still yet to shoot a tom,so this year jakes are walking.

Self taught turkey hunter here. 25 now, and have been hunting 8 years. First year I got skunked, second year shot a jake, and every year after that I have tagged out.

3 years for the first, and then 6 years later for the 2nd. Ive killed 2 birds in 9 years.

First yr I started I was lucky and lucky and lucky and missed and lucky...................

long story short I have learned a ton........and do each tme out.....but have more luckies than time to report. Hey am not rubbing anyones nose in it at all - you get out of it by how much time you put in! I spent a bunch scouting and still do!

My Best tip

All I can tell you -Think Like A turkey - Act like a Turkey - and scout hard - you will Kill a Turkey!

JW

Went a handful of times back in high school with folks...don't really count those tho. More to go do something that to try to kill something. This is my first year out, at age 26, and I am a self taught kind of guy. Been deer hunting for several years and have been in the woods wandering and squirrel hunting as far back as I can remember. Took me a week and a half. Killed a gobbler and a jake last week. Most of it was luck, no doubt, but I put in a lot of time scouting and practicing calling. The best thing I believe I have learned so far, thanks to many on this site, is to make sure and not call too much. My first gobbler I called sparingly. Once he was coming my way I just shut up and let him do his thing. That didn't work this morning, but it is called hunting and not killing.

My dad never was a big game hunter, but I owe a great deal to him for teaching me everything I know about woodsmanship. That has helped me more than any other one thing with deer hunting and now turkey hunting. Being familiar with the woods is my greatest asset right now. Hopefully in years to come, with more experience under my belt, I will have more than luck working on my side.

2 hours...i was very lucky

I've been goin 5 years now and never shot one. I got myself into turkey hunting and every year I go with my bow and try getting one on film by myself. Its tough but my first turkey WILL be with a bow.

I busted my first during my 2nd season. I bumped one my first season, and the sight of him flying off haunted me for a year. I went back to the same general area the following year...it was a huge rush when I shot him.

first year, 2nd day out

I hunted for years on heavily hunted public land in a heavily populated state without tagging one. I could always call birds in to within 100 yards or so, then they would just hang up. I got hooked on that alone, even though I never got one. Years later I started hunting Rio's on private property and now I can't seem to do anything to stop them from coming in. So I think it has to do with the bird and the pressure. Calling skill is also a factor, but in some places it is definitely harder than others to get that first bird.

10 years of chasing them.


Finally killed my first one on my 18th birthday in fact.

Self taught, first year I tried I only went a couple of times. Got close once, no luck though. I moved the following year from VA to RI and didn't get out hunting for several more years, but I did score my first season back in the woods. There has only been one season since then that I did not score, and I did have some close calls that year.

Second day of my first season hunting turkeys. However, I went with an experienced turkey hunter (10 years, 20ish birds) on private land. So you might say it was because I had a good guide.

I bagged my first bird (birds actually, 2 in 1 shot) last weekend on my first time ever going, but I too was with a very experienced turkey hunter and we were on some of his land that he'd been hunting for 35+ years.

i went last year. Im fourteen and self taught go out by myself and i can call um within 20 yards....now....thats gotta happen saturday!

Self taught trial and error,Is gonna take longer if not a couple seasons.
Unless ur lucky.;)
But to be taught by a seasoned turkey hunter it could take less then a hr!

It took me 3yrs.back in the day,25yrs ago.To finally catch on to what i was doing wrong .Over calling,not setting up right,Moving,

Now i fill my turkey tags every year,
Sometimes without calling,
just by getting in close,
& using my hat to simulate a bird flying down by hitting it against my leg,And brought toms in by just scratching the leaves like a turkey raking the ground for food while im sitting there with a stick or my hand..

3 years for my first. 30+ in the 14 years since.

First yr trying spring gobbler or turkey hunting all together. I am patient though, took me 8 yrs to get my first deer. Problem was the person who I was hunting with when younger. Once we stopped hunting together and I did my own thing it has been awsome.

first year 17 minutes into it i pulled the trigger

Went out for turkey's the first time ever yesterday.

A co-worker set me up on one of the hunting properties he manages, right under a roost tree in a ditch next to a field. Told me to sit tight and still. Birds came out of some wheat about 400 yards away and eventually walked up to about 25 yards from me.

120 minutes after settling in, I had my first turkey.

I tried 3 years on my own on public land. Best I did was spook one off a roost trying to set up on him! 7 or 8 years ago I started my current job and met a guy who had some experience. He called me in a jake that season (my 4th season) and a big tom the next year. I once again set out on my own with lessons I'd learned from my buddy and from the birds. I've called in and killed at least one every year since.

My brother-in-law had the least time under his belt that I know of for his first kill. I took him out 2 years ago and we happened to set up under the dumbest jakes I've ever met. They pitched down 100 yards out and sprinted back to the decoys. He had a total sit-down time of about 5 minutes!

rw

I've been taking my Daughters Turkey Hunting for going on 4 or 5 years now...still haven't shot one yet,the Girls and Me had several close calls where the Toms started to come in but they either hung up with the Hens or they would travel off down into the woods?I can get a Deer with no problem but those Turkeys can beat me every time.I'm going out for the 1st this year sunday morning so hopefully I will stick with it and get lucky this year?Its tough for me to go out because I work thru the week and may only get sat or sun off to Turkey Hunt and we can only hunt til 1:00 PM so a time factor is also against me too. :(

The first 4 seasons I hunted I was unable to connect. I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning and slowly began to learn. My 4th year I feel is the year I learned more than any other year. I happened to be bowhunting that year and didn't get one, but I figured I could've killed 10 - 15 birds that year had I been carrying a shotgun and had enough tags. Those first four years were very valuable to my learning curve. In the 7 seasons since then, including this year, I have scored every year and have taken 14 gobblers total. No jakes, all toms.

I'm starting to think that I might want to try bow hunting. Do most hunters Turkey hint with a bow? Just curious.

3 years and I killed him at age 11. Gobbler too, so I said then and there I will not shoot a jake because the first one is down.

On my 2nd hunt on game lands. On my third hunt {yesterday} I saw two hens. I may have had success so quickly because when deer hunting this particular stand I saw turkeys about everytime I went. So I sat down and started calling. One hour later the 870 barked and I was on my way home.:wink: