Turkey hunting history

[Dennis]

I was thinking today about the first year that I hunted spring turkey. At that time, my dad lived in Ashtabula county Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. I remember reading that there was going to be a spring turkey season that year in that area for the first time in many years. I got permission to hunt a beautiful property that used to be a Boy Scout camp, but I didn't know how to hunt them. I read in the newspaper that there was going to be a seminar on turkey hunting at the local VFW, so I went to that. I was trying to figure out what year that must have been but I am not 100% sure. I think it was 1988 but i could be off a couple years not sure. I do remember sitting by a true that first morning and hitting a pot call. I remember thinking there were more than 10 different gobblers responding in all different directions.

Was it the same here in Tennessee? When was spring turkey hunting established or reestablished here?

 

[Iglow]

I think the first modern day seasons were in the early 70's and just a very few places. I went for the first time in 1983 and it was still very few places/parts of counties and certain wma's. There probably were some places on the plateau and along the Mississippi that had a few birds that hung on all along but other than that they had been wiped out.

 

[Chief44]

As far as TN goes, it really depends on what part of the state you were in. I saw my first Turkey at LBL in the mid 80's. As a teenager, my dad and I deer hunted LBL quiet a bit during bow season. They had opened it up where you could kill a Turkey with a bow while deer hunting and I missed the first one I ever saw. My first actual Turkey hunt was in Houston county in I believe 1987 or 1988. At that time only the west end of Houston county was open to Turkey hunt. I was still in high school and had gotten permission to hunt a place on the west end of the county. I got there late and heard a bird gobbling his head of. I got close and tried to work him in but couldn't get him to budge. After messing with him for what seemed like half the day, I finally got close enough to him to realize he was a tame bird in a pen. I felt like an idiot. I ran into another hunter on the way to the truck. He was laughing and said, "I guess you couldn't call that bird out of that pen either". He had apparently done the same thing before I got there. The next year, they opened the rest of Houston county. I remember it snowed on the night before opening morning and I killed my first gobbler with 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. I'm not sure when other parts of TN opened up. Maybe someone else will know.

 

[Iglow]

I remember it started off slow with parts of counties and gradually more opened up, by the mid/late 90's I think the whole state was open. I remember seeing a map of what was and wasn't open in the 80's and maybe 15% of the state had a 30 day 1 bird season.

 

[RobDooley]

turkey was hunted unrestrictive to near extinction nationwide. I must admit the TWRA did a great shop of reintroduction.

 

[Plateau Hunter]

My first turkey hunt was about the mid 60s I reckon…there were a few native turkeys left on the Plateau north of Savage Gulf…armed with stories from my grandfather, an old Lohman call, and a JC Higgins 12 ga pump I was off…needless to say no turkey were heard nor seen…life happened and I was out of the woods and state for a long time…back to TN in 1999 my cousin urged me to try turkeys as he had become an accomplished turkey hunter by that time…deer and squirrels were my passion…about 2004 or so I gave turkey hunting a try…after making every mistake in the book several times I killed my first gobbler in 2007 I think…since then I have killed several which coincided with the rising turkey population…now that turkeys are much scarcer, hunting will be less productive no doubt…hopefully the turkey numbers will come back and they don't go the way of quail and ruffed grouse…as y'all know there's nothing quite like the booming gobble that reverberates through the woods and your chest when he is closing in…good hunting…

 

[RobDooley]

they aren't scarce in Hickman County. It was rare that I did not see turkey while deer hunting. I'm not talking about one or two, bunches. If I was a really good turkey hunter, I would limit out pdq.

 

[megalomaniac]

I started in Dickson County back in 1988. Only parts of the county were open, and most counties didn't have a season at all. Didn't even hear a turkey until 1990, didn't kill my first one until 1991. By the mid 90s, they had exploded in population. I think the entire state was opened up in the late 90s.

 

[Gravey]

I didn't start hunting them until 94. Had been deer hunting in Macon county the prior year and saw one and curiosity got to me. Never hunted them there but started in Perry county. Today they're all around me in Rutherford but don't have permission to hunt those places. Our lease in Hickman county has a good amount of birds.

 

[Wrangler95]

I started turkey hunting in the mid 80's but my home county of Clay was not opened for turkey hunting except the Corp land around Dale Hollow Lake.I hunted several years in Overton county up at Alpine Mountain and on Standing Stone State Park,killed my first turkey in Overton county!!

 

[Gravey]

I started turkey hunting in the mid 80's but my home county of Clay was not opened for turkey hunting except the Corp land around Dale Hollow Lake.I hunted several years in Overton county up at Alpine Mountain and on Standing Stone State Park,killed my first turkey in Overton county!!

I hunted Standing Stone one time during deer archery season when I was at TTU which was between 91-95. The only thing I remember about it was walking up on a dead rattlesnake but it scared the crap out of me.

 

[Squadron77]

I found this while looking through my ancestry. I guess I come from a long line of turkey hunters. This was my 5th or 6th great grandfather.

Thomas Fine
Birthdate: 1725
Birthplace: New Jersey
Death: Died 1775 in Norfolk, Virginia
Cause of death: accidental discharge of his gun while turkey hunting.

 

[elknturkey]

I started in 1988 I believe in Virginia. There were A LOT of birds then. My uncle who got me in it started prob around 1960. He passed last June so I can't ask now. As good as it was when I started I remember him telling me it was even better when he started. Tons of birds and finding a turkey hunter was rare. It was like that here till late 90s 2000ish. I sure miss those days. Hearing 20+ birds from a listening point on public was magical. Those days are long gone.

 

[TheLBLman]

I sure miss those days. Hearing 20+ birds from a listening point on public . . . . .

I also miss those days.
Seems from the late 80's thru the early 2000's, I typically heard a lot more gobbling from multiple birds than has been the case more recently. Just a lot more "fun" when there are multiple birds trying out-do each other.