Clucks work when it is time for them. Last year I had a tom strutting back and forth in a strut zone about a hundred or so yards across a field from me for two hours. Threw every call I know at him to no avail, until I put out single clucks about every 15-20 seconds or so to mimic a hen walking away. Came right to me and even spit and drummed at 15 yards from me before I dropped him. He only had 3 spurs on each leg - but don't want to brag too much.

The best advice for a newby would be to not give up. It probably took most of us several years before we shot our first gobbler. Stay alert and learn as much as you can about their patterns. Coming home without that gobbler does not mean you came home empty handed. You always come home with more knowledge. Even the more advanced turkey hunters get schooled by gobblers on a re-occurring basis. Every mistake you make is considered a learning experience.

Good luck this spring. The number 1 piece of advice I can give is not to over call. Just call enough to keep him interested and to check that he is moving your way. It's a whole lot of fun to have a bird gobble every time you make a sound, but if you answer every one of his gobbles he is likely to hang up and wait for you (the hen) to come to him. Soft clucks and purrs usually seal the deal for me instead of excited calling. Even scratching the leaves like a feeding hen can bring them in. Welcome to the addiction!

Thanks for all the advice fellas!

I was succesful on my 3rd outing. The first two outings I was working nice birds but couldnt get them to come in range. Had a strutting tom gobble at me and walk back and fourth along a fence line but just wouldnt come in closer than 75 yrds or so. Im still new to calling and can yelp consistantly with a box call but my clucks and purrs dont always come out right... I also spooked a bird that I think saw my hands working the box call.

I decided to get a pop up blind. Got a gorilla one man pop up from academy on clearance for $30! Nice little blind really. Set it up last thursday and staked it down in a nice little cover area by where I've seen em going to water and left it alone. Got in the blind on Saturday about 5:45 am, set up one feeding hen decoy and Waited till about 6:30 and started calling. About 15 minutes later I had two jakes come over the hill. They never did gobble. They just slowly worked their way toward my decoy being real
Cautious.

i purred with the box call (as best as I could) and gave a couple clucks here and there and they kept coming. I aimed and took the closest one when he was about 30 yards out. Dropped him like a ton a bricks.

My heart was pounding! Man it was fun. I felt pretty good about getting one my first season especially given I had to learn from youtube and message boards about how to call and set up.

Thanks for all the help fellas!

Congrats on the first bird. I am sure you are hooked now. Lol. I have been turkey hunting for ten years now and my heart still pounds each time I hear a gobble. Welcome to our passion.

Great to hear you got your first bird.
You'll always remember that.
Hope you get more good hunting for them in the years to come.
The actual fun is learning from those wild Turkeys. They can teach you a lot if you are willing to watch and take notes.....The shooting part is just a bonus.

Congrats on your first bird! I really am still a novice at it although I have had some great success the past 2 years tagging out both of my spring hunts. I have only been hunting for 4 years myself. Tagging nothing during the first 2 years except for a fall turkey taken with my bow. I have to give credit where it is due. That is from getting tips and pointers from the folks on here. The biggest advice I could possibly give you is to stay hidden and stay put once you start calling for them. It can sometimes take a few hours for one to show up..

You've got tons of good advice here.
Here's one from me PLAY IT SAFE at all times, don't assume there's no other hunter there and make sure you have a big enough tree to protect your back and avoid the birds seeing your silhouette.