My first encounter with turkey hunting was back around 1962 while I was still living at home with my Grandma Coley. 

My Uncle Douglas Coley had seen a flock of wild turkeys in Anson County, NC somewhere near Jerry Ingram's home, Ingram Mountain Road, Lilesville, NC and decided to try for them the next day.  Uncle Doug was an excellent quail hunter and used a Browning "sweet sixteen" shotgun, but knew that was not the weapon for Wild Turkey hunting.   Uncle Doug borrowed my Dad's 12 gauge double barrel shotgun which had a 30 inch length barrel; one full choke and the other was modified.  I believe the gun was sold by Sears & Roebuck.  He no doubt borrowed a few shotgun shells # 4, 5 or 6 as well.

Doug had some type of friction call that you rubbed on the stock of your shotgun to make a yelp or clucking sound and the next day he went turkey hunting.

Not too late in the morning, Uncle Doug came home with a nice long beard that he harvested.....you might call that beginners luck, whereas I don't ever remember him going turkey hunting again.

EARLY TURKEY HUNTING

I harvested my first Wild Turkey which was a one or two year old bird with a seven (7) inch length beard if my memory is correct sometime in the early 1980s.  I was hunting in the morning with my friend and fellow co-worker C.W. McKenzie of Rockingham, NC on Blewett Falls Lake, Anson County, NC and we had turkeys gobbling that morning on one of the islands commonly called, "Grassy Island"  near Smith's Lake.  C.W. had to work second shift and I returned via my boat back to the same island strip there on Blewett Falls Lake that afternoon and called a long beard in before dark.

I remember that morning I would answer a Wild Turkey's gobble with an ole Lynch Box Call, of which the turkey would quickly answer.  C.W. would call to him and the gobbler would not answer his Lynch Box call.  C.W. wanted to buy my turkey call, but it was not for sale....grin if you must!

I have turkey hunted off and on since then, but turkey hunting was definitely not my passion as I had some friends that were totally obsessed with turkey hunting.  A turkey will answer different calls at different times, therefore different calls have to be used to get an ole long beard's response; no one has a definitive answer as to why they do such.

I have not seriously turkey hunted since 2015 having more pressing things to do like getting our tomato patch soil prepped for the  tomato growing season, grass cutting season and other things which now takes priority.  The date on my birth certificate might have something to do with it also............grin if you must!

I currently would rather observe the wild turkeys than kill them!

GOING BACK IN TIME TO THE PRESENT

Back when I rabbit and squirrel hunted in the late 1950s until I enlisted in the U. S. Navy in 1964, Wild Turkeys were definitely wild and if you did run across or see them, they did not wait around to see what type of danger was present; most of the time, they ran off like a road runner at a fast pace and/or would fly off.

TURKEY HUNTING IS BIG BUSINESS

With the NWTF being established in 1973 and cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission introducing "wild" turkeys trapped here in the State where turkeys were plentiful and trapping turkeys in other states, whereby introducing turkeys back into the habitat here in NC where turkeys were scarce, it is my humble opinion that the turkeys they introduced are not of the same wild "strain" as was the wild turkeys here in Anson County, NC when I was coming along.  Something has happened to the wild nature of those transplanted and released "wild turkeys" into the habitat in my humble opinion.

You can currently ride by a field with a flock of wild turkey feeding and they for the most part will stay put and not run or fly off like they use to do.  I remember going turkey hunting at the Anson County Airport area on land owned by Pines Davis (now deceased) in the 1980s and while driving across a field, several wild turkeys were running ahead of my vehicle in the field, not paying too much attention to myself or the ole blue GMC truck.  That certainly doesn't seem like they are too wild to me personally.

There are many writers of various magazines trying to convey to their readers that hunting wild turkeys is one of the most difficult and challenging things to hunt/harvest, whereas said magazines and/or writers are promoting turkey hunting products and services, etc.  It is simply big business and nothing else.  Wild turkeys are not some elusive species and our current turkey population here in NC is far from being wild like they were in the 1960s as I have earlier stated, especially before the introduction of wild turkeys back into the habitat. 

Don't get me wrong, the NWTF did a great job along with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to get the North Carolina's turkey population to an excellent number with record turkey harvest numbers to date, however that is about as positive I can be for the NWTF.

With coyotes ever present here in Anson County, NC, the mature Long Beards do not immediately respond to calls like they use to, but will sneak in unannounced since they apparently realize gobbling while off the roost gives their position away to the coyotes. 

With the above said, you still have to use good hunting techniques to harvest a long beard and of course hunt where there are turkeys.  Around our home, the turkeys will feed literally in the back yard and lower field and at a couple of my feeding stations for deer!  Our neighbor called one day and asked if I had any peacocks and I told her "No", they were wild turkeys.

I NO LONGER SUPPORT THE NWTF

I definitely no longer support NWTF and the last banquet I attended was totally disgusting and let me clarify.  "I no longer donate calls to NWTF chapters or support the organization, their members or sponsors due to alcoholic bars set up with free drinks as a means to inebriate potential high dollar spenders and bidders at their banquets.  This is a disgusting and immoral way to conduct business to raise money in my humble opinion!  Also, the usage of "bar maids" (literally and figuratively) to serve the drinks and assist in the auction is low class.  When you are of the world, this is a normal protocol."

As stated, turkey hunting is big business not only for the NWTF, their staff and sponsors as well. 

Web page published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 04-12-2022.