Official Thread: My First Turkey

[eggshell]

Hey gobblerman, nice Bobby Parks hair. Now let me think, there was that Mexican lady that always came to the prison to visit. She moved to ga didn't she?

Actually if I could post my picture, you'd be amazed at how much hair was on this head back then too.

[Everyday Hunter]

I think it was 1973. I remember that because I had a 1970 Plymouth Duster and I had the tail fan laid out on the back window deck. The car was copper-colored, and it looked great. I've told the story on the "First Turkey" thread, but here goes again.

I was in college in the Boston area, and I came home for the weekend just to hunt spring gobblers. It was near midnight when I got home, and it was raining. My dad had located one for me and asked if I still wanted to go in the rain, and I said, "That's what I came home for."

We got on the top of the hill at daybreak and heard a gobbler down the hill near a pipeline right-of-way. We hurried down to a bench, and set up with our backs to the root ball of a fallen black cherry tree. The only call I had was an old Penn's Woods single reed diaphragm with black tape on it. The gobbler answered and steadily closed the distance.

The shotgun I was using was my dad's old Ithaca double barrel because my Ithaca model 37 pump was broken (thanks to one of my younger brothers.) At about 50 yards he began to circle to our right, and I had to shift the stock of the gun from my right shoulder to my left in order to put the bead on him. I didn't go all the way left-handed because I still had my right hand on the grip, my left hand on the forearm, and was sighting with my right eye. Yes, awkward.

When he got to about 40 yards, and to my extreme right, I finally lit the powder. He went down in a heap. To this day that's the longest shot I've ever taken, and only one of two beyond 30 yards. His beard was shredded by some shot, but I still have it.




I carried that 20½ pound bird with 1" spurs to the top of the hill. That turkey had lice, and by the time we got to my dad's International Scout they were crawling all over me. (It's the only turkey I ever got that had lice.) On the way out we met a couple of guys who were hunting that same gobbler every day. They were pretty disgusted that a kid came home from college and shot it. They had the reputations of good turkey hunters, but I was the one that got the gobbler.

I was hooked.

The picture? Sorry it doesn't measure up to today's standards. And I know, wearing red and white is a big No-No. If I remember, the photo was taken with one of those little 110 cameras. Most of you probably don't even remember those.

Steve

[cuttnrun1187]

My nephew's first turkey.
Cody, 12 yrs old, third season. Mind you he has basically only gone on MD's 1 day Youth Hunt in the spring, I think maybe he has gone with me 1 or 2 days other than the youth only hunt. So that means he has gone turkey hunting only about 5 times. He says that will change now! [:)]

Anyway, the hunt:
We did a roost set up at 5:20 AM. Gobblers started about 10 mins later and finally flew down around 6:15. Several turkeys worked a bench below us for 30 mins or so (we could see them strutting, 1 mature bird and several jakes and hens) before they decided to work away from us and come up to the pasture field and our level. Such good gobbling and hen talk we heard that morning, I thought it would be over shortly, and just like that, lights out, no more turkeys.
I thought they had skirted around us, when a lone jake came walking into about 20 yards on the wrong side for Cody to get a good shot. He left unspooked and I did some soft yelping again with my mouth call. Soon, I could see the flock working through the underbrush away from us and no matter what I tried, they would not turn around and come our way. I finally said we'll let them walk away and move around the hill to get into another position on them. We waited about 15 mins for them to leave and was in the process of gathering our things to move when I caught some movement from where the birds were last. Three jakes were coming fast, looked straight at us as we were half sitting, half kneeling, kept right on coming into about 30 yards and the rest is history. Cody killed his first turkey @ about 7:20 AM! He was pretty relieved and I was very proud! He made a tough shot look easy. There was some small brush between us and the turkeys and he picked a hole to shoot through. He used my Remington 1187 12 ga with 3" Winchester #5's. What a trooper, he said he never even felt the gun.

[thunderchicken]

This is the turkey that got me hooked for life! My buddy and I hunted this bird for 3 weeks until we finally got set up on him right with only 6 days left in the NH season! My first!
 
http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh410/thunderchicken_05/20020625100446-SM1.jpg

[Bobbyparks]

ORIGINAL: eggshell

Hey gobblerman, nice Bobby Parks hair. Now let me think, there was that Mexican lady that always came to the prison to visit. She moved to ga didn't she?

Actually if I could post my picture, you'd be amazed at how much hair was on this head back then too.

Dana ,

Mr Bates would have had to stay away from the barbershop about 4-5 more years to have competed with me in the hair catagory.

That was in my outlaw /nonconformist years. Of course now I'm a model citizen.

This is my first that I killed the very first morning although it was a fluke for sure. The Flint River swamp had flooded and the guy I was hunting with and I split up. I walked around the edge of the flooded swamp and sat down behind a big tree with my back to the water. Because I thought there was no chance of killing anything and the guy I was with had already told me it might take years to kill my first bird, I just started playing and practicing with a mouth call. I started clucking and heard something out over the water that I thought might be a turkey clucking back at me. This went on for a while and then I heard wings flapping a a hen landed about 30 yards away and started walking around. This made my day and after she walked off a ways I started clucking and she did too so I knew then it was her that I heard.

After she left I decided to get up and go back to the truck. Almost as soon as I stood up I heard wings flapping again as a gobbler flew in from behind me and the tree that blocked both our views. I saw him just before he hit the ground about 10-12 yards away and I knew it was gobbler.

I think we both about crapped our selves and he ran off a few more yards and looked back at me and I blasted him.

The guy with me had not heard me shoot and when he got back to the truck he was in disbelief. Of course being the Einstein that I am I said, " Man what da you mean it might take years...theres nothing to it"......I regretted saying that the rest of that first season as I didn't even get a good look at a gobbler until opening day of my second season

[Gobblerman]

Hey, Bobby,....I was wondering when you were going to notice that wisecrack that Dana made about my picture!  ...Surprised it took you this long, buddy! 
Looking at your picture, I believe you are correct in your assessment that it would have taken me a while to catch up to you.
...And good first bird story, by the way.
 
Jim

[Turkeybuster]

My first bird was in the fall season in Pa. 1958 didn't have a spring season at that time.
I saw this bird pitch off the ridge we were on and land in a small pine field at the base of the ridge. I eased on down the ridge put the sneak on him then jumped him out of the orchard grass and shot him flying with a load of 00 buck shot. Well don't laugh too hard I
was told boy if your gonna hunt turkeys you need big shot and that was the biggest I had.
Jon

[mark hay]

Dang Jon,, I was only a year and a half old then [8|].
 
My first kill was an ambushed jake,,in the fall. I knew absolutely nothing about fall hunting ,,,,,,,,,well ,  I knew some of the false teachings , and wondered how anyone ever killed a fall turkey . That was in '99.
 
My first called in bird was in '88 . My dad killed it , but I was just as pleased as if I pulled the trigger . But it was the fact that this suicidal turkey ran hard through thick greenbriars to get to where I called from that pleased me even more . This was done near eggshells part of the world .
 If I could , I'd post a pic. But you all would either laugh to tears ,,,,,or just sit down and cry at the way I was dressed .

[Bobbyparks]

ORIGINAL: Gobblerman

Hey, Bobby,....I was wondering when you were going to notice that wisecrack that Dana made about my picture!  ...Surprised it took you this long, buddy! 
Looking at your picture, I believe you are correct in your assessment that it would have taken me a while to catch up to you.
...And good first bird story, by the way.

Jim

Jim,

For some reason I had not scrolled down to the photo section of this gallery. I just sensed someone said something about me down there so I took a look...and there it was.

I have to say in all seriousness. I am really impresesd that you were hunting and killing turkeys in 1975 and you looked like an outdoorsman.
I remember you telling me when I was out there how persistant you were even without much avavilable information and not that many turkeys. It takes a special drive to spend alot of time chasing something when there are not that many somethings out there to chase. I admire the persistence.

I deer hunted with my dad when I was little but all I did was complain about....." It's cold, I'm hungry, and when are we gonna go". I know we never saw a turkey down here or at least I didn't.

[Duke0002]

No photo, but I remember like it was yesterday.   First two spring seasons all I harvested was an education.   Scouted a woodlot the winter before my third season.  Saw the same 2 gobbler trackways, presumably, in the snow a number of times.   Heard their gobbles all the way up to the season opener.  Confident I had them patterned correctly,  I set up dutifully inside the same area all week.... of course, nothing!

The next week I decided to set up outside the woodlot several hundred yards away.  You guessed it...  8:30 am that day the gobbles returned to the center of the woodlot!  Next morning I went back inside the lot and hunkered down in some downed tree trunks.  

Several minutes after shooting time, I heard a gobbler sounding off on the slight ridge I was sitting next to.  A couple of yelps on the slate and it came in looking.  I will never forget the sight of that bugger weaving its way toward me.  I was amazed at the thought that I had called this bird in.   What a rush!

Gun was in position and ready.  I knew the spots between trees and brush where I felt comfortable pulling the trigger.  I had rehearsed this moment in my mind a hundred times.  As it walked closer, a second gobbler appeared trailing some 10-15 yards behind.   Ignoring the second bird,  I concentrated on the first one.  It reached a spot 20-25 yards away.  After double and triple checking that it was fair game, down it went  -20 minutes after shooting time.

As it was flapping and kicking the second tom ran over to spur, peck, and mount it's dead buddy.   For at least 10 minutes it circled and abused my prize.   What a show!   Finally it wandered away and I could get up to claim my prize.      20lbs, 3/4" spurs, 8" whiskers.

A week later we were pretty sure that my son took the second bird.