My 1st Turkey

[Goldfinger78]

Going into this first turkey hunt I was not sure what to expect. I have been on several hunts at this point, but never for a turkey. My knowledge of these birds was basically limited to what I have seen on tv, what I have read, and what other people have told me. Luckily for me my brother in law Adam (BigBrowns) also had a tag and was willing to help me out.

 

The first morning we went to a spot that Adam knew pretty well. We set up our blind with a plan to have the birds feed into us on their way out of the roost. As the sun started cracking the horizon we heard several gobbles and it got me pretty excited. The excitement slowly faded as the morning went on and we hadnt seen any birds. Adam decided to sneak out of the blind and check a few other spots for sign. I stayed in the blind with the hope that something was still going to head my way. Around 9am I spotted a turkey about 200 yards away and it was headed my direction. My heart started pounding with the anticipation of having an opportunity. I slowly put the binos up and could not see a beard. I identified that it was a hen and starting scanning the rest of the area for a Tom or Jake. As the hen slowly fed my direction I was unable to locate any other turkeys with her. I must have looked at that hen 100 times hoping it would magically grow a beard but it didnt. The hen passed by the blind at about 30 yards and fed out of sight. Although it was not a Tom or Jake it was the first wild turkey I have seen in Arizona, so it was still pretty exciting.

 

The rest of the morning we spent looking at several waterholes and did a little calling. I learned that I need a lot of practice at turkey calling. I did get better as the hunt went on, but to say the least I was better off letting Adam do the calling. Both lucky and unlucky for me the wind conditions were so bad that it didnt really matter that I couldnt call. We were experiencing 40 to 50 mph gusts at times with consistent wind in the 20 to 25 mph range. We decided to focus on finding water with good sign and sit until birds came in. We were able to find a water hole with tons of fresh turkey sign and decided to sit that for the first evening. I sat in the blind while Adam did some more exploring. Around 530pm I spotted several turkeys coming down into the valley 300 yards to my right. The flock was about 15 birds strong and was followed by a large Tom that was strutting its way through the field. My heart started pounding since there was no question this bird was a Tom. Unfortunately the flock did not veer towards my direction and with that many eyes I decided not to make chase with the hopes they would eventually come back in the next day or so.

 

The second morning I decided to sit the water hole again since I thought there would be a good chance something would come in. Adam decided to sit the blind with me for the first part of the morning. As the sun cracked the horizon we started hearing gobbles in the distance. We knew we might have a chance based on what I saw the night before and already hearing gobbles in the first part of the morning. The bird talked for close to an hour after sunrise and then unfortunately was quieted by a BOOM!!! Another hunter was in the area which we were unaware of and got an opportunity. My heart sank, but I knew there were still other birds in the area so I decided to sit the blind for the day. Nothing came in except for a cow elk the rest of the morning and evening.

 

With the wind looking bad for the third day we decided to sit at our spot from day one. We both sat separate blinds about 150 yards apart hoping that one of us would get an opportunity. The plan was to look behind us onto the hill side where the birds should be coming from as they would feed into the field in front of us. After about 30 minutes and not seeing anything I decided to look into the field and holy #%!$ a turkey was about 40 yards away on a swift walk through the field. It was still pretty dark and I could not identify it with my eyes so I glassed it up and spotted a beard. Unfortunately by this point it was out of range. I let several minutes pass and I checked my phone fully expecting Adam to say Why didnt you shoot!!! Luckily that text never came because Adam didnt even see the bird. Lets just say the Tom made turkeys out of the both of us that morning. We called it a morning after only a couple hours since the wind was so bad!!!

 

For the third evening I decided to sit the same blind I was in for the morning hoping that the tom would come back my way as he headed back to his roost that night. Adam decided to do so more exploring and dropped me off at the field with the plan on coming to pick me up at sun down. I was in the blind ready to go by 3:15. At around 5pm I spotted a tom and hen about 250 yards from me feeding away. I watched them for several minutes as they disappeared out of sight. Nothing else showed itself until about 15 minutes before sunset when 4 birds appeared at the far end of the field. My heart pounded as I watched 2 toms and 2 hens feed my direction on their way to the roost. They zig zagged their way across the field. I was on a roller coaster ride fully expecting them to come my way for one minute and then seeing them go away from me the next. I watched them threw my binos making sure to identify which two were the toms at all times. They slowly made their way to my left threw the field. The first tom crossed the blind out of range over 100 yards away. The two hens and the other tom were about 30 yards behind the first tom still coming my way at a slight angle. I fully expected them to follow the 1st bird and pass out of range, but for some reason they kept feeding towards me. They were still quite a ways out approximately 70 yards but I decided that if the hens separated far enough away from the Tom and he presented me a shot I would take it. Just as the hens started to change their direction away from me the Tom took a few more steps my direction put its head down to feed and BOOM!!! The tom dropped in its tracks and the hens stood there not having a clue what happened. Just as I realized what had happened I heard a scream from across the field it was Adam who came into pick me up just in time to watch the shot. It was a great moment to share as I was able to take my 1st turkey!!!

[Big Browns]

Congrats buddy! You definitely put in a lot of time and effort on this hunt. Hopefully next time we can have a little less wind!

[AZ8]

Awesome! The first one is always the best. Everytime our hunting group is gathered around the campfire and stories begin to flow, the story on how I got my first turkey always comes up! Great times.

 

Congrats!

[rossislider]

Congratulations! Way to stick it out in tough conditions.

[Yoshi]

Congratulations!!!

[218buck]

Congrats

[wildwoody]

Congratulations

[azdonw]

Nice bird and great story! Congrats.

[naturebob]

Congrats ,now You will be hooked...................BOB

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Awesome hunt and great write up! Thanks for posting.

[PRDATR]

Congrats Chris on your first bird.

[Beaton]

Nice Bird congratulations!

[jim]

Congrats Chris, I was cheering you guys on as Adam texted and called in the updates.

[tomharveyb]

Good job-congratulations!

[Big Browns]

I liked how you said I left the blind so I could explore. The truth is I left the blind, because sitting in a blind is the most boring thing in the world! I'm very proud of you for sitting in the blind for over 8 hours every day. Your patience and dedication is the only reason you were successful on this hunt. Congrats again!