My hunting buddy and I were talking the other day, and remembered when we couldn't get enough of Deer hunting. That's all there was in life! Then I stopped in at the Barber shop. (yea it was that long ago) He was practicing calls on a slate. We began talking about turkey hunting, and from that moment on I was Hooked. I'm sure glad I needed a haircut that day!!! Now when my buddy and I talk, it's all about our turkey experiences. How/who got you involved?
Found an old box call of my grandpas when I was a kid. Walked out to the barn to try using it for the first time and got a bird to start hammering. The wild turkey gobble is what got me turkey hunting. Didn't know anymore who turkey hunted so just decided to give it a try. First morning ever turkey hunting I set up on a random logging road and just happened to be underneath three gobblers that started absolutely ripping at the first sign of daylight. By underneath, I mean i was setting at the base of the tree they were roosted in. Obviously not where I wanted to be, but it was thrilling as can be. Havent looked back since.
The first time I went turkey hunting was 20 years ago and my son was about 8 years old. We had fun but I did not know what I was doing. We got a turkey to gobble in the afternoon and I did not know enough to go after it or how. He was a ways off and I set up a decoy and called. Nothing that time or any other. I did not have much time to hunt then and gave it up as it was not that great. Fast forward 20 years and I retired. My son was now 25! I was seeing many more turkeys in an area I was deer hunting so we decided to try again. Whole different story today. Better help, way more turkeys, waaaay more fun. Plus, I have time to hunt. In three years I have not shot a bird but my son has. I like it almost as much as deer hunting. Almost.
1) Early 1960's, New Mexico initiated first spring gobbler season.
2) Read articles, mostly by Col. Dave Harbour in Sports Afield, about spring hunting.
3) Sounded like fun, decided to try it.
4) Ten years later, called in first gobbler (slow learner).
5) Hooked!
A good old boy named Chester Lesh! Great Turkey hunter and a good teacher.
My grandpa and a family friend by the name of Kenny Morgan got me started as a young teen ager .
I was privileged to learn and watch 2 of the best ,,, yelp em up to very close range . No crutches needed .
I was just plain ate up with anything hunting, I started bowhunting deer when my uncle bought a small piece of property. No turkey there.
No idea what got me to try turkeys, maybe magazines and definitely the fact there was something to hunt in the spring! The first time I heard a gobble I was in! Love the interaction with the birds and the challenege of it.
An older gentleman who was a mentor and taught me a lot about deer hunting took me with him to the Masonic Lodge for Turkey Calling Contest and from that point on i was hooked into becoming a turkey hunter. Gerald and i love to camp and hunt together over the years. He was a friend / best friend that i will always remember. Before every hunt i say a prayer which always includes his name for safe and enjoyable time in the outdoors. Gerald and I spent a lot of time together talking deer and turkey hunting. He was a best friend who gave me some good advice as i was growing up and facing those youthful years.
I was a freshman or sophomore in high school my ag class went to the Sun Belt expo. There was a guy selling diaphragm calls that I got while there. I had never turkey hunted before and I had my dad take me to the woods to turkey hunt and I went to yelping on that call an had a hen about run me over when she came popping out of the bushes and I was hooked ever since. My dad nor me had any idea of what we were doing as niether of us had ever hunted turkeys before.
Where I deer hunted in college I always saw turkeys and thought it would be like shooting fish in a barrel come spring when I went on my first hunt.
Boy did I get whooped. Then, I set out to kill one of these rascals and along the way got hooked on the strutting, gobbling, and calling interactions of the game!
For me, I saw an increase in turkey numbers during deer season on our lease and decided to give it a shot. And Boy was I glad I did! I started with an 1100, 2 3/4 inch, lead #5's, 1 1/2 oz loads that I reloaded for ducks. It took me a couple of years to learn the ropes and get my first bird but since then it's something I look forward to and Truly enjoy. I was self-taught, made plenty of mistakes early (and still do). I enjoy practicing my calling this time of year and the interaction with the birds. WONDERFUL SPORT!!!
Kentucky had stocked turkeys, There was a five year wait until the season was open. So I hunted Indiana and Ohio trying to get a jump on the Ky seasons. Still took ten years to Kill my first Turkey. I have been hooked since the first day of turkey hunting. Have killed lot's of turkeys since.
My dad had a friend who came over to the house one evening when I was 4. It would have been 1999 and KY had only had a state wide season for 3 years. My dad didn't turkey hunt and he wouldn't take me deer hunting yet. His friend had 2 gobblers with him dead and I'll never forget sitting there and petting them and having him tell me the story a handful of times. The next year at age 5 I talked my dad in to taking me where we had seen some in our hayfield. We just laid down in the hay and waited with my moms .410 and high brass squirrel loads. A gobbler and a few hens came out and one of the hens came to within feet of us. I tried to get dad to let me shoot her because we were turkey hunting, I didn't understand that it was illegal to take a hen. Dad told me no several times and I remember being so mad I was tearing up. They all walked off and it lit a fire in me. I watched every VHS I could find on turkey hunting and could talk my parents in to getting me for birthday's, Christmas, etc. Real tree, mossy oak turkey school, Knight and Hale. My brother who is 12 years older than me had a couple calls and I'd sneak in his room and play them when he wasn't around. I talked him out of a Quaker Boy aluminum and a glass Cody envy. The next spring I was 6 and went every time I could get someone to take me. When I made the first one gobble that was all she wrote. It took me until I was 11 to kill my first one, all learned by hard knocks because no one I knew hunted turkeys and ironically I got my first one on my dad's friends farm that had sent me down this path when he had shown up with those 2 on our door step years before.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is simple for me, it was the challenge. The ability to call them in, creating the one-on-one adversarial duel between hunter and quarry is why I wake up at 2:30 am to pursue them. If I had to choose only one species to hunt for the rest of my life, no doubt about it, it's the Wild Turkey!!!
A gobbling bird.
First one I ever heard......on the hill across the valley from our house. I just KNEW that I had to hunt it.
Both my parents were hard core turkey hunters. At an early age (5) I had a choice. Go turkey hunting with Mom and Dad or become an orphan. I made the right choice.
Quote from: guesswho on February 14, 2023, 11:31:39 AM
Both my parents were hard core turkey hunters. At an early age (5) I had a choice. Go turkey hunting with Mom and Dad or become an orphan. I made the right choice.
This is just an awesome post ... LOL... LOL...
I was a young sous chef working at a French restaurant in Manhattan, NYC. I was into waterfowling at the time and had a strong interest in wild game cooking. A Greek waiter told me he was going hunting for turkeys and the next day came into the restaurant with a gobbler he'd shot. We braised that bird in wine and stock with carrots and wild mushrooms and served it to the staff. At that moment I remember thinking I'm gonna start hunting these birds.
They turned turkeys loose in several locations in Lincoln Co. in the late 70s. I tried hinting them and never saw or heard one and basically had no idea what I was doing. In the 80s a guy came to work with us that was part owner in a gun shop. During this time the population was growing. The little gun shop started sponsoring hunting seminars and bringing in "experts." I think it was 1987 Jacky came to work all excited and told me a guy with new camo was coming to do a seminar. It was Toxey Haas before he was a household word. He brought a bunch of Mossy Oak tee shirts and his dad was with him helping them sell them after he talked. I still have the shirt but have badly outgrown it. A few weeks later Jacky came in just as excited and told me they were having another seminar. This one was a turkey call maker. He was an unknown at the time but he did OK. His name is Eddie Salter. I learned more about turkeys in that one nigh than in the 10 previous years. He became a regular visitor to the shop. A little wile later Jacky came in equally excited and told me that Jerry Peterson was coming to do a seminar. Of course I had no idea who he was either. He put on a great seminar. With all of this new found knowledge, camo and calls I was ready for turkeys. Of course it still didn't make me into the turkey hunter I imagined my sell to be. It took several years and a lot of messing up before I got the hang of it. After I finally broke the ice I got decent at it. I used to really enjoy our little small town seminars. When they finally sold the store in the 90s the seminars ended. It did something to me because I still get out and chase birds.
I got into it to meet wimmen
Quote from: crow on February 14, 2023, 03:35:51 PM
I got into it to meet wimmen
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: How did THAT work out for you?! ;D :D
Crow is still hunting, ain't he. Must be what keeps him going!!!!
Have a good one, Bo
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
My hunting lease decided to start allowing turkey hunting several years after stocking birds. I had seen a few but didn't know anything about hunting them, nor did I know anyone who turkey hunted. I watched some Outdoor Channel shows, bought a tape and a couple of calls and went at it. I had great success early on with these birds having never been hunted.
The old fellow we used to quail hunt on said if we wanted to keep quail hunting we had to start turkey hunting. This was 1996. Dad and I did alot of bumbling around. I even called in a rooster pheasant in SE Kansas! Eventually my uncle said he would take me. Took a few hunts, but he finally called one in. I was shooting a Browning BPS with a fixed modified choke. I missed the first shot. I had only ever seen "big game hunting" on TV (and they always have to track after the shot) so after the first shot I asked my uncle "shoot again"? I shot again and got my first bird but he gives me crap about that still all these years later.
I was just how I was made. I came from a WV family of deer hunters. Turkeys were just a target of opportunity. For some reason, I was obsessed with hunting them since I was a child and heard one gobble. I started reading everything I could and figuring out what not to do on my own. After 20 years at it, I can now dependably kill a turkey every third year.
Picked up some hunting videos at Dick's when they were not stupid yet, grabbed a Primos Truth turkey hunting video, went home and watched the video and was very intrigued. Went out bought some Quaker Boy stuff (I like to support businesses from my home state when I can) and a Mad Super Crystal. My friends told me I was nuts going out to hunt turkey but I had to give it a go and am glad I did.
In the mid 80's my parents bought a vhs camcorder and my uncle learned how to turkey call. One day we decided to go in the woods and see if we could film him calling in a turkey. We did and I was hooked from there on out. Only did it with a camera a couple times back then and never brought a camera since, but I still love going back and watching those old tapes.
I grew up turkey hunting. No tv shows, no magazines, no pressure , and no other hunters.
What drew me to turkey hunting was their elusiveness. When I started hunting you didn't see many let alone hear them. That was the start of the thrill to hunt them.
I watched my favorite traveling public land group from Iowa on YouTube back when I was cooped up in the house during covid and now I do DIY Public Land OTC turkey hunts in 15-20 states a year on public land. I start in Hawaii and hit up all the traveling turkey meccas (NE Bama, Middle TN, Nebraska, PNW,) Then in June I finish up in Maine with all the boys.
I had killed a few over the years in the fall as targets of opportunity when deer hunting as a kid. Duck hunting buddy told me not to start turkey hunting as I would get addicted and it would cut into my spring red fishing trips. He took me on my first spring hunt and we killed one the first time - my 870, modified choke and high brass #5 at 25 yards. Hooked. Was in my third season before I called one in for myself. We would talk on the phone for after action debriefing for me to learn. I think that is why I enjoy is so much, I don't even deer hunt anymore. I have a stand, a food plot and deer on my home property now that I maintain for family members-I don't hunt them. Only rules - no turkeys! They are actually starting to use the property now, but they are reserved for daughter or grands when they are old enough.
You tube :)
My Dad is a die-hard turkey hunter so I never had a chance. My earliest turkey memory is having one answer me while I blew a crow call when I was around 5 years old.
The only think I hunted was deer, back in 2007 I saw my first wild flock of turkeys while I was bow hunting. I thought it would be cool to try something new ,and to scout for deer sign while hunting for turkeys. I bought a hunters specialities so you want to be a turkey hunter and primos dvd and learn how to call. I waited until 2008 to go on my first turkey hunt. my first morning I called five times in but they were out of my bow range. I was hooked from that point on when I saw them strutting and hear them spitting and drumming. I didn't get a bird that year but the following year I was drawn for firearm tag and I was able to get my first bird, and he is still my best bird 21 lbs 9 in bear and 1 in spurs. I also joined Old Gobbler, and that is where I learned the most and created some great friendships.
Went one time in early 90's. Cousin took me as a watcher on as pure and a phenomenal hunt as I've ever seen to this very day. Along the black water banks of mill creek in bulloch county,ga. It grabbed a piece of my soul and It hasn't and don't see it relinquishing itself anytime soon.
Quote from: Howieg on February 14, 2023, 09:13:29 AM
My grandpa and a family friend by the name of Kenny Morgan got me started as a young teen ager .
I was privileged to learn and watch 2 of the best ,,, yelp em up to very close range . No crutches needed .
Was that the Kenny Morgan?
I got interested in turkey hunting when I started deer hunting in NW Oklahoma, because there are turkeys there. Where I live in east TX doesn't have them.