Got my first turkey on Tuesday, the first day of a three day quota hunt on a local WMA. It was a 14.5 pound Oceola, 6" beard. A jake, but a beautiful bird none the less. It was drizzling rain and I was in an area of the WMA thats usually crowded, but for some reason I was the only one there. It was about 7:15 and I was yelping very softly on a box call, and he came in from the opposite direction that I was expecting. I saw his red head over the top of the brush coming toward me by some powerlines. He got to the junction of the firebreak I was sitting on, turned toward the call, saw my decoys, ran about 30 yards right to them, and starting strutting. He was 4 yards from me when I fired. I was breathing so hard, I'm surprised he didn't hear me. This is my 4th year turkey hunting and my first bird. I have the beard and tail fan drying out, my wife has a whole box of feathers to tie flys with, I have the wing bones to try my hand at making a call, and my wife made a casserole out of one of the breasts that night that was delicious. My only regret is that my daughter wasn't able to go with me that day because of testing at school. If she had been with me, it would have been her first bird. It was an amazing experience. I'm hooked.
