Best Turkey Hunting Memory
 

Late 90s I was no older than nine years of age. I had been on many turkey hunts with my dad and got to experience Toms gobbling and hens walking up close to me. Remembering my dad saying they can see the whites in your eyes moving. With a certain amount of fear and heart pounding adrenaline I would sit as still as possible. I never spooked a turkey and that made me proud. It was finally my turn to kill a turkey... My dad woke me up super early, but I was so excited I jumped up to get ready. We drove out to some south Mississippi public land and pulled up to a short road that just stopped in the tall long leaf pines. I pulled the handle and the door to open it and my dad said to shut the door easy... they could be one roosting near us. I slowly opened the door and shut it softly. We stood there and just listened as the woods started to wake up. Birds started chirping as the sun started to rise through the tall pines. I looked at my dad as he put his hand up to his mouth and started to imitate an owl. AH WOO WOO WOO WHOOOAAAA!!!!!. If you have ever heard an owl in the wild it is an amazing experience. Especially when two of them get to talking back and forth. After he let out the hoot we both listened for a gobble. All of the sudden we heard him. Like a deep thunder that let the entire woods know he was awake and ready to claim that ridge for himself. My dad looked at me and said "lets go he isn't far at all". I grabbed my gun and away we went. I was following him into the tall gall-berry bushes that were as tall as I was. Getting soaked from the dew that hadn't burned off from the sun yet. We made it to the backside of the ridge and he let out another thunder gobble. My dad said "he is on the ground... Sit right here by this pine tree and when you see him come over the hill you take him out". My dad sat a few trees behind me to call him on in. I sat there with my gun up on my knee. My heart was pounding so fierce and my body started to shake as he let out another gobble even closer this time. My dad did a soft yelp and That's when I saw his head. Bright blue and Red popped over the hill. His beard hanging down and his eyes looking for the hen he thought was there. I put the bead on his head and I squeezed the trigger. The gun shot turned the woods quite as a Sunday morning alter call. I looked and all I could see was a turkey flopping around on the ground. I jumped up and ran to him. My dad was so excited with me. We high fived and hugged as we hooped and hollered. I couldn't believe the amount of pure joy I felt as we walked back to the truck carrying that bird. To this day I have his beard in a case. I have since been addicted to turkey hunting and it has taught me many different things about patience and perseverance. I now have two kids of my own to pass the love of turkey hunting onto. I pray I do as good of a job as my dad did.

Gatlin Finley.

Awesome story Gatlin........ :)

Thanks. I love sharing these.

I have so many memories of my turkey hunts. I have to say that it has to be the hardest turkey Ive ever hunted. Myself and my turkey hunting buddy Ed seen this tom with 2 hens in the evening in a field we could hunt. ED killed a tom earlier in the season. So we set up the blind at the south end of the field. He would was to the north of us with the hens. So the next evening we set up at the north end of the field and he was at the south end of the field. This went on for 2 weeks every evening. We tried swapping it up, but every time that tom with his hens beat us. So with 1 day and an evening left in the season we found ourselves watching this tom and his hens in the south end of the field why we were to the north. It was getting late in the evening that day and a deer walked out in the field not 50 yards from us. Well it blew at us. So the hens and the tom walk in the woods to the north. I then told Ed I want to be in the north end tomorrow morning. So last day early in the morning we set up. Fly down time came and not a peep of him. So 5 minutes later here comes his hens to the field 10 yards away. A minute later I heard him brushing the blind while he went into the field in full strut. I let him get 10 yards away and made him come out of full strut. Once he did he got it hammered.

My favorite was a lesson learned I use each time the opportunity presents itself.
I was running and gunning. I had a real nice Tom working 60 yards in front of me. In the woods of upper Michigan you never know what you find.
Well after moving twice I was pinned against an old maple with an old abandoned model T pickup in front of me. The Tom was only 30 yds on the other side gobbling his fool head off but would not budge. I could not see him.
I tried everything and then I attempted cutting. This in the early 90s.
Upon cutting quickly and trying to get my gun up a hen appeared from behind and she was really ticked. She yelped and hollered all the way to that strutting gobbling Tom I still could not see. She walked mere yards past me around that abandoned wreck to that Tom.
Usually that means game over.
Once she got around the truck I hammered her with my cutting again. She answered immediately.
We did a bitch fest for 4 sequences.
I matched her Yelp for Yelp. Cluck for cluck. She stopped talking so did I! When she started so did I. She got loud I got louder.
Well the start of the 4th sequence was all she could take. I could tell she was on the move coming my way. I got the gun up and put the call down.
She came running and stopped a few yards away just screaming at the end of my feet. I didnt blink and tried not to hyperventilate. I could see the Tom in full strut moving parallel to us. It was thick woods. But I did have a small clearing at 20 yds out and that Tom was heading towards the clearing. But my gun was not pointed at that opening and I knew if I moved even a muscle game over. She would sound the alarm.
So I waited till the strutting Tom hit that clearing. In one single move I put my shotgun barrel on that strutting Tom
The hen saw that and sent out an immefiate alarm putt, which made the Tom come out of strut and pop his head up. I had my shot to which I did not hesitate.
Lesson learned.
Thus over the years I cant tell you how many times I have a gobbling Tom only to get a hen tell me shut up. NO hen tells me that.
I'll hit that hen everytime with banter just a bit louder and more intense than the real thing.
After all. Think about it. You cut your wife off in mid-sentence and about the 3rd or 4th time you had better run or duck. As here comes the flying fry pan or a scurrying wife with rolling pin.
Learn to tick off ladies boys!

Ps
Not responsible if you practice this on your wife or girlfriend


JW

Nice
 

Great story. Love it

so many I don't know where to start, the 2 times I was stepped on by gobblers was pretty awesome, they don't like the feeling of people under their feet!
RR

hahahaha JW :)

Yall don't laugh but my most memorable (not favorite) was when I was hunting a little piece of public land a few years back. Hadn't had any luck for most of the season but kept at it as always. Ended up taking a nap and woke up to a jake gobbling at my decoys. The gun laying beside me!!

This area was not in the woods but more of a grass prairie so judging distance can be tough, especially when it happens that way. Needless to say I was able to reach down and slowly pick the 12 g up and boom. Bird fly's up in the air flops over and immediately gets up and fly's over me. I let out 2 more shots with feathers flying everywhere. The jake lands and takes off running across a plowed wheat field. I thought I had completely screwed up when he turns and starts running right at me!! I'm out of shells so I drop my vest and gun and pull out the buck knife but when he sees me he starts running away in a zig zag pattern with me giving chase lol. Every time I would get ready to snatch him up he would kick and fly about 5 ft and I would hit the dirt rolling. This happened about 4 times and I said heck with it lol. Again I watched him run away to about 300 yrds out then turn around and run at me again almost like he was taunting me. He ran right by me and to a bush in the fence line and laid down. I went back to the truck (1/4 mile away) and grabbed another shell. Put a sneak on the bush and sure enough he was still there. Let him have it from about 5 ft away. To this day I'm not sure if I am happy or sad no one got video of that!!!

Few years ago I was going after a bird just a few miles from the house that was staying near the road so I decided to take my Toyota Corolla instead of my truck. Did the normal call, reposition, call, change this, change that and the usual loop around the mountain but couldn't get him to come to the call because he was content with his one hen. He finally clams up and I call it quits and head for the car. I pop over the road bank a mere 30 yards from my car and there he stands full strut in the dirt road with his hen feeding by his side. This is all private road by the way. It was a classic game of who was faster and on this morning it just so happened to be me and the shotgun who came out on top. All proud of myself, I let him flop right up to the car as I put all my gear in the back seat. Did a quick field tag and chucked him in the truck on my little gas saver. Less than 10 minutes from pulling the trigger I was in my driveway and ready to pose my longbeard in the yard for some photos. I opened the trunk to see the bird standing there with his head down low glaring at me like a charging bull ready to pounce! It scared me so bad I slammed the trunk lid down before I had even realized what had happened. Now it was decision time. I thought of just standing by the trunk with my shotgun and letting him come out like skeet shooting but what if he flew toward the house or the neighbors? Scratch that idea. So I get an idea to stick a metal yard rake in there and bring his feet back to where I can get a hand on him. So I opened the trunk about 3 inches, slide the rake to his feet and every time it would touch his feet, he would simply just step over it back and forth. Scratch plan #2. I decide that it's all or nothing, I was going for it. I position myself center of the trunk, quickly open the trunk and do my best stage dive tackle! I'm not a real big guy and we all know that these birds have some power in their wings right? So I'm all in from my knees up but I'm on top when the battle begins. It was kinda surreal because every time he flopped or I flopped, the trunk would fly up/down, up/down so it was going dark/bright, dark/bright inside the battle cage. Now on top of all this, I strangely remember the vast amount of feathers flying everywhere as I struggled for anything to hold onto. Amongst all the chaos, I finally felt his head around behind me and managed to seal the deal. When I crawled out of the trunk and my head cleared, it looked like it had snowed turkey feathers in a 30 yard radius around the car. Of course the first priority was to look around to see if any of the neighbors were watching.....

So many, it is hard to say best. Some highlights:

First turkey(s) I ever killed- fall hunt in NY. I had been struggling to figure it all out, a farmer gave me a tip on where birds had been roosting. I set up under a likely tree that turned out to have 30+ birds roosted in it. They flew down directly below, I found myself pinned down with 30 birds on the ground around me. After an eternity I was able to get my gun up and fire a shot, wound up rolling 2 birds.

First fall bird I ever shot with my turkey dog Maizy (PA).

Limited out spring season opening day in Georgia last year, 3 longbeards in 1 afternoon, 1 had 4 beards.

Spotted a bird in an open field in GA spring season, 300+ yards away, about 10 years ago. Threw a Hail-Mary gobble at him and waved a tail fan, he came running full trot, seemed as if I had all the time in the world to get set up. He rode home in the truck that day.

great stories guys :)

Ive posted one story already but most bizarre hunt was when I was out in Missouri at my buddy Dons. Well story goes they had a peacock that was blown in by a storm. Then they told me it was roosting in the trees like a turkey. The next morning im at my honey hole out there and turkeys start gobbling and I hear in a womens sounding voice help me help me. I immediately thought a womens in trouble. I heard it again and then silence. Daylight broke and I began my series of calls. Some gobbling and one is coming. He steps out in the field 60yrds away. He looks at my decoy and runs off. Im like what is up with that. Well low and behold there stood that darn peacock at my decoys pecking at one. Well I stuck my head out the blind window and ran him off, 30 minutes later I called again and a strutter came out in the field again 60 yards away turns my way and is coming and guess who showed back up. That darn peacock. Again I run him off. 30 minutes later Im calling again. 6 long beards come walking in another field 25 yards away. I picked out the biggest and lights out. The 5 other turkey started flogging him until old faithful peacock showed up and they ran off. I get the bird tag it and walk to the blind and the peacock picking at my decoys. He moved away when I gathered the decoys.

Probably my favorite turkey hunting story has to do with a few year ago. Here in Utah, specifically where I'm from, there are wild turkeys everywhere. A few areas get hit pretty hard every year, so I decided to take off with my younger sister in tow to a steep ravine where I figured another big flock would be hanging out. Sure enough, we spotted them about two miles out, so up and down these steep hills we go, trying to sneak in closer. Finally, we were within striking distance, and since it was later in the day, I wanted to get in between the turkeys and their roost. I snuck within 100 yards of several toms and a few jakes, but realized they were on their way to private land, and I couldn't coax them in. So up we go again, up and down hills, when suddenly a big group of turkeys take off on a barren hillside in front of us. I pulled up and took a jake from the group.

Just a great experience, especially being able to take my sister out on a hunt and finding a large flock of turkeys that had been mostly left alone that year.

awesome. Its always good to spend time with family successful or not.

Some of my more memorable moments involve close encounters with animals. One from 16-17yrs ago...
We were a group of 4 guys on a fall turkey hunt. We roosted 2 small flocks the first evening. The first morning, one guy remarked that he usually carried a slug or 000 buck shell in case he ran into big hog. But, he'd forgotten to pack any on this trip. I walked in with 2 guys, Mike & Mike Jr. to set them up in the first spot. Almost there, we heard a huge crash in the grass and bushes in front of us. Then in the pre-dawn dark a big, black blob moved across the road and started blowing and snorting at us. We were <10yds downwind of the pig. We froze for a second and the pig retreated into the brush, blowing all the while. We knew he was big from the sound of the rocks he was moving as he went through the brush..

Later that morning, Mike Jr. got a picture of a huge board with 2+ inches of tusk sticking out of his mouth ambling across a field, right next to where we had jumped him that morning. He looked every bit of 220-250#. If he decided to charge us in the dark, it would have been bad.

I was hunting the George Washington National Forest in Hardy Co., WV. I had camped overnight in a clearing just across from the old forest road I intended to use to get deep into the mt. As I was locking up my camper a vehicle screeched to a halt across the dirt road from me and and the guy jumped out and started hastily up the road. He had to see me so I started out after him and eventually caught up and he said he was going to a spot that I knew of but wasn't in my direction. At just before daybreak a bird sounded off across a hollow from me so I headed over there and got setup about 60 yds from him (still dark). He gobbled a couple of times and then I thought I heard a person call and in the early light as it looked as though a field was beyond the bird and the call was coming from there. After a short time he flew down right where it looked like was the edge of the field. He would gobble occasionally but was walking back and forth for a distance of 20-25 yds. parallel to me and was maybe 15 ft wide. I never saw the hen until he bred her. All of this occurred between daybreak and 9:30. He bred her and I don't know where she went. He stood there a bit and turned on a dime and began walking straight toward me. At 25 yds. I drew down on his head, the gun roared and he flew away untouched. I had been unable to move for about 3 hours, my butt was killing me and I guess I didn't get down on the gun right. I went over to the area from where he was gobbling, but what I thought was a field in the predawn was a cliff. I was worn out from watching, hoping, calling, and discomfort. A couple of years later I moved to that area and became good friends with the guy that I felt had run in on me. Of course, his story was just the other way around. Either way we'd always call each other guy out. He passed away last fall with an enormous stash of turkey beards.

love the stories guys.

Thanks for these nice story!

I was reading these and remembered another story. Happened back sometime in the 70's and maybe our county's first spring season. I was fishing one Sunday morning along the Shenandoah River and heard a bird gobbling his head off up on the hill from the water. After fishing I walked up there to see if I could tell where he was and I saw a deer trail running along the top of the ridge paralleling the river. I had never hunted turkeys before and as a matter of fact had never seen one up close. On Monday morning is was up there by the trail with an old HS Strut boxcall (that I knew nothing about using well) and a Savage 20ga/.22 combo that I borrowed from my brother because it was a 3 incher. The bird just like the day before went crazy on the roost. Eventually he flew down and was coming out the trail just like he had done the day before. Then all went quiet. I am looking for him like crazy and all of a sudden a big black bird walks by at maybe 25 yds. and from my inexperience I didn't know they were black, I thought buzzard. It disappeared over the ridge toward the river which was about 100 yds down to the water. Don't you know he gobbled just over the bank out of sight. I tried with the box call to no avail. I knew I could sneak over there and surprise him and get a shot, right. I got up and crept toward the top of the ridge and as I did I saw him take off running in the direction he came from. Seriously, at 50 yds I shot and he fell backwards trying to get up and run. I ran down there and as he was struggling to get up, I shot him in the head with the .22. Worse yet I didn't know what was the best way to clean him up. Hot water I knew of. I checked him at a local store and the storekeep said the best way was to dry pluck him. I have not tried that since. My mom helped me and we had a mess. I didn't tell the storekeep because I think he intentionally led me to do that to make fun if I told him. We had feathers and torn skin everywhere, look more like a roadkill. My first gobbler, has been fun ever since.

I was heading to the outdoor gun range this morning in my car, when I encountered a young jake or tom (with a 5 inch beard) standing on the edge of a two lane road (on a hill above our gun range). I honked my horn at him...and he scooted up the hill; at almost the same spot where I encountered a tom about 5 years ago.

I was heading to the outdoor gun range this morning in my car, when I encountered a young jake or tom (with a 5 inch beard) standing on the edge of a two lane road (on a hill above our gun range). I honked my horn at him...and he scooted up the hill; at almost the same spot where I encountered a tom, while in my car, about 5 years ago.