I started my turkey hunting career on Monday on a solo mission. I heard a few birds and screwed up one opportunity due to my impatience. I had a great time but desperately wanted to go back and try again.
Over the last couple of months @scn has been kind enough to answer my questions and volunteered to show me the ins and outs of chasing turkeys.
Yesterday our schedules aligned and we headed to my lease together. To give perspective on the type of guy Steve is, he refused to even bring a gun. He wanted to be sure that I had a great time and was only interested in me learning and having a chance at my first Tom.
The day started with us listening as night turned to day and we heard quite a few distant gobbles. All of which appeared to be across the property line to our south. My younger ears could pick up gobbles more easily but my inexperience made it difficult to know how far the birds were from us. We got into the woods near the property line and Steve setup behind me to start calling.
One bird (possibly two) gobbled. I thought he was far away but I came to learn later in the day that he was likely much closer than I imagined. He never showed and we heard a few other distant gobbles that were also across the fence line.
We got up and slowly started prospecting around the farm only to be met with silence. After trying a few likely places something pretty cool happened. I turned around to see Steve kicking some dirt in the road only to watch him lean down and pick this out of the dirt.
It was getting late in the morning and I was trying to get Steve to check out an area of the farm we hadn't been to but he insisted we go back to our original listening spot and see if any of the birds we heard had gotten lonely and wanted to play.
We got close to the broken field where we started our day and a gobbler answered Steve's call about 200 yds away. He sent me about 30yds ahead to sit in the fence row while he immediately ducked into the cover. He clucked and yelped and the gobbler answered closer. Yelped once more and it was clear the bird was closing in fast.
I thought the bird was coming up the wrong side of the fence row so I turned and got ready to shoot left handed. I caught movement through a cedar tree on the side where I originally setup to shoot and realized the bird was at 35 yds and closing fast while my gun was pointed the wrong way. Somehow I managed to get the gun back on the bird while he was strutting in front of me at 25 yds.
I've never been more excited and worked up. I had to take a second to calm down and steady my gun. As the bird came out of his strut, I squeezed off the shot and the bird fell over dead.
This was my first turkey and something I'll forever cherish. It was only made possible due to a great guy sacrificing one of his hunting days to mentor me in the woods.
It was made even more special by the fact that I killed the bird with an old browning that my Grandfather gave to me years ago. He spent 45 minutes on the phone with me last night wanting to hear every detail about my hunt.
Steve ended the day by gifting me an old box call. I can't wait to return to the woods and try it on another Tom. Thanks, Steve!
Over the last couple of months @scn has been kind enough to answer my questions and volunteered to show me the ins and outs of chasing turkeys.
Yesterday our schedules aligned and we headed to my lease together. To give perspective on the type of guy Steve is, he refused to even bring a gun. He wanted to be sure that I had a great time and was only interested in me learning and having a chance at my first Tom.
The day started with us listening as night turned to day and we heard quite a few distant gobbles. All of which appeared to be across the property line to our south. My younger ears could pick up gobbles more easily but my inexperience made it difficult to know how far the birds were from us. We got into the woods near the property line and Steve setup behind me to start calling.
One bird (possibly two) gobbled. I thought he was far away but I came to learn later in the day that he was likely much closer than I imagined. He never showed and we heard a few other distant gobbles that were also across the fence line.
We got up and slowly started prospecting around the farm only to be met with silence. After trying a few likely places something pretty cool happened. I turned around to see Steve kicking some dirt in the road only to watch him lean down and pick this out of the dirt.
It was getting late in the morning and I was trying to get Steve to check out an area of the farm we hadn't been to but he insisted we go back to our original listening spot and see if any of the birds we heard had gotten lonely and wanted to play.
We got close to the broken field where we started our day and a gobbler answered Steve's call about 200 yds away. He sent me about 30yds ahead to sit in the fence row while he immediately ducked into the cover. He clucked and yelped and the gobbler answered closer. Yelped once more and it was clear the bird was closing in fast.
I thought the bird was coming up the wrong side of the fence row so I turned and got ready to shoot left handed. I caught movement through a cedar tree on the side where I originally setup to shoot and realized the bird was at 35 yds and closing fast while my gun was pointed the wrong way. Somehow I managed to get the gun back on the bird while he was strutting in front of me at 25 yds.
I've never been more excited and worked up. I had to take a second to calm down and steady my gun. As the bird came out of his strut, I squeezed off the shot and the bird fell over dead.
This was my first turkey and something I'll forever cherish. It was only made possible due to a great guy sacrificing one of his hunting days to mentor me in the woods.
It was made even more special by the fact that I killed the bird with an old browning that my Grandfather gave to me years ago. He spent 45 minutes on the phone with me last night wanting to hear every detail about my hunt.
Steve ended the day by gifting me an old box call. I can't wait to return to the woods and try it on another Tom. Thanks, Steve!
hopefully not!
