First Turkey Hunt

Being rookies at turkey hunting, we weren't quite sure what to expect. When we arrived, we quickly went scouting and found signs of turkeys near water with access to the forest and an open area like a meadow or field.

Opening day morning our timing was off and our scouted spots were already occupied by other hunters. We were late! We can hear gobbling across the valley and shots are ringing.

Dissapointed we headed to another creek closer to camp and hiked around looking and calling. While we sat and waited our call was finally answered. There was a gobbler behind us across a field and by the creek. Matt and I quietly hustled to the area and set up underneath some pine trees bordering the creek. The gobbler was just across but hidden by brush. Matt got this turkey fired up! We were so excited that we were talking to the turkey that we didn't pay attention to our positions and hiding spot. The turkey flew over the brush and landed on our side of the trees about 70 yards and busted us right away. Turkeys 1, Rookies 0.

That afternoon our original spots were finally open. Matt and I hiked up the mountain into a meadow. There, we hiked along the edges and called. About an hour into it we stumbled upon another gobbler willing to talk to us. We were again inside the canopy and was hidden from the turkey. This turkey decided to walk around us just out of range. Shortly after the gobbler was out of sight two hens came across us and busted our positions. Turkey 2, Rookies 0.

A few minutes later we hear another gobbler across the meadow. This guy had a hen with him and started struttin' and gobblin. As we sat at the edge of the woods trying to figure out how to get closer a truck comes up the non-motorized road and of course scares everything around us. Welcome to public land hunting. Turkey 3, Rookies 0.

The next day was unproductive. We were up early and first at our chosen destination. We had another gobbler across from us when another group decided to call on top of ouir calling. They also decided to give chase. The gobbler went quiet and he was gone. Turkey 4, Rookies 0. Later that morning we heard one other gobbler at a distance but was inaccessible from where we were. As we left the field and started our hike down the mountain, we were surprised by a turkey who was roosting along the road. This thing was less than 10 ft from us and our guns were unloaded! Turkey 5, Rookies 0. We watched this bird run away and had a good laugh.

Our finally day we hiked to where we heard the gobbling the day before. We were again first on the scene and Matt was getting this this turkey fired up. An hour later and this turkey is still up the tree when another group of hunters decided to camp right underneath of the roost and start calling. The turkey went quiet and we were done for the day. Turkey 6, Rookies 0.

We learned a lot from this trip and hope to return next year with better tactics and some experience. Overall we saw 12 turkeys and heard more than 5 gobblers.