Got my first

[Half-Cocked]

I was fortunate enough to go on a turkey hunt and wouldn't you know it I bagged a tom.

We arrived early in the morning though raining the day seemed promising. As a day wore on we saw raccoons, many squirrel, six deer Young five bucks amongst them and finally two Tom's.

We waited patiently as they were closer to our decoys. When they were close enough i let him have it with a 3" nitro turkey. He did a little dance made no noise and expired quickly. Lol

At first I was going to use my hatsan slugger for this turkey hunt. It's a good thing I ran a pattern test. With an open cylinder at 15 yards the pellet spread was too much to be effective. However thanks to Snapbangs help I was able to borrow a shotgun with a tight choke and a field barrel.

I liked it so much I went out and bought my own Stevens 320 that has both barrels that are interchangeable.

And what would a story be without pictures...

 

[snapbang]

I had a blast half-cocked. Glad it worked out.

 

[CatamountRob]

Congratulations on a nice bird!

 

[03mossy]

Congrats!!

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Congrats! I love turkey hunting

 

[deermanok]

Congrats on your first turkey. Hooked for life now.
That breast meat is awesome, chucked up and deep fried

 

[MTY]

Congrats on a successful hunt!

 

[Yammaddogg]

Congrats

 

[Ron Huff]

Season comes in next week I hunted last year but never got a shot, and like you I bought a gun that was more suitable for turkey. Remington 870 express 20 gauge that shoots 3 inchers and a Carlson .568 choke since I am shooting lead. Hope to get a shot this year. Congratulations on your Bird.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Congrats! And glad you guys had a good time!

 

[toytruck]

Congrats on your first turkey. Hooked for life now.
That breast meat is awesome, chucked up and deep fried

When I was lucky enough to get a turkey I ate the whole bird. Legs, back, breast (of course) and what little is on the neck an gizzard/heart. It's all dark meat opposite of tame turkeys. I hate waste, especially when the birds are hard to get.
Congrats on your success Half Cocked!!

 

[jodypenny]

Congrats on your first! You will always remember it. I killed my first in 2009 and just got my second this year. I’ve called in some for my dad but had not got one myself. Hope you have many more successful hunts.

 

[Pike40]

Congrats! great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[brad502a]

very nice!

 

[bamawoodsman]

Congrats! Nice bird. Them thunder chickens been whooping me pretty good this week. They’re henned up bad here. They are opening the season 2 weeks later here now so it’s hard to find that lone hot bird this late in the month but I’ll keep trying.

 

[Rainorshine]

Congratulations!

 

[JIMYJAC]

It`s a big accomplishment to get your 1st bird! congrats!

 

[Half-Cocked]

Thank you everyone. It was a wonderful bird. However they are ugly as all get out on the outside and inside. Lol there is a lot of meat on there though. Should provide me with a nice alternative to the venison.

I haven't bought store-bought meat since November when I shot my first deer. If I eat meat other than what I hunt it's usually from fast food or prepackaged dinners. The cost of everything going up plus I have my own reasons. Wild game seems healthier with less fat. Plus I know that animal enjoyed its life in the wild and then came to a quick end by the muzzle of my gun.

With commercially produced meat those animals don't have much of a life unfortunately.

 

[bamawoodsman]

Wild Turkey Breasts are awesome a lot better than storebought. Cut it up in fingers and deep fry it. It’s absolutely delicious.

 

[Sandhillshunter]

Congratulations! I love all things hunting, but turkey hunting is addictive. Spring is such a fun time to be out in the trees.