I saw this on another turkey hunting forum, and I thought it was a great idea…

Make a list of the top 10 memories that you have from this season, and we can put them in one thread-

1. Amy killing a longbeard after making some good decisions during the hunt and making a GREAT shot and me getting it on video.

2. Hunting with HammerDog and almost get killed by a lighting strike, sitting through a torrential rain, and then 1 hour later seeing HammerDog kill his first ever spring gobbler.

3. Watching Abby's face as we stood in the yard and listened to a turkey gobble right at the house one evening. Hearing and seeing Abby on roosting trips in the afternoons stop to examine sign just like her Daddy and seeing her squat down behind her Daddy, put her hand up to her face, and start "calling" to the turkeys. Hearing her whisper while we were listening "Come here turkey!"

4. Seeing and hearing the big gobbler in TN fly down from the roost in the fog and strut all the way in to GN’s shotgun and me getting it all on film.

5. Seeing an incredible hunt unfold the 2nd morning in TN where GN and I had gobblers all around us and GN finally killing a big gobbler after strutting right in to our setup. I forgot to hit the record button on the camera!

6. Getting on a tough old bird with Diablo and SCBigTen in SC and us working him into range for Diablo to kill. I got that one on video too.

7. Seeing the excitement in Shaggy’s face after killing his VA gobbler this season. I had a bird’s eye view right over his shoulder.

8. Having a buddy in that had never killed a turkey freeze up on a gobbler at 25 yards. He never pulled the trigger!

9. Leaving from GN’s foggy opening morning hunt and heading to the Walmart to buy my license and getting on and killing a TN gobbler less than an hour later.

10. Sitting in a popup blind in SC with a friend and his young son and the excitement that was generated when a big gobbler stepped out of the woods at 60 yards. He wouldn’t come any closer…

There’s a bunch more but I’ll stop at 10… let’s hear yours!

#1 for me would have to be the double up in NY, seeing the 10 gobblers all gobbling simultaneously, watching the 3 sneakingly freeze and then come in....after the shot, calling in the ones that went by us previously and my buddy getting one of them.

2. Calling in one for a friend in Floyd, calling the thing in from 300 yards out in a field, lightning dancing around, him strutting out in that green field, keeping the 2 jakes away from the hen his was with.

3. Scouting trips with my little girl.

4. the time spent in the woods with my dad.

5. regretfully the misses, all 3 in one week.

6. Gettin whooped again by the hateful meadow gobbler.(which I think got killed by the single shot of a small caliber rifle extremely early one morning)

7. Gettin whooped several times by a gobbler late in the season.

8. Calling in and killing one of the 9 gobblers on the Wed. of the first week.

9. Gettin whooped in Farmville in the morning by the gobblers, and then slaying the fish in the evenings.

10. Getting that first one of the year on Mon. of the first week.

1. Calling one and watching my dad take his first gobbler on the last day of the year.
2. Missing one opening morning in Va. after calling him a long long way.
3. Watching a gobbler in NC come over a tall pile of pushed up logs on a property line and busting him seconds later, best bird of season.
4. Setting a memorial at the old civil war/slave cemetery on my grandads property one evening and hearing a bird gobble, shot him the next morning
5. Sitting on the same bench that evening and roosting a bird, killed him the next morning. (all three birds taken off my grandads were roosted from this bench)
6. Killing two birds in may, never shot birds that late in the year (one my dad shot)
7. Wondering if i ever was going to get a bird or a chance at any turkeys that would work while going to school and watching the dogwoods bloom and then the petals fall off.
8. calling up several "white" hens down in north carolina
9. Being there when my buddy in georgia tagged out for the first time.
10. Being somewhat lost after killing this seasons birds and not having my grandad around to call or sit and related the story to.

Great Post Freddy. Here's my list:

#1 Being with Scott when he harvested his late season bird after all his season long efforts. The smile on his face and the adreneline draining from him said it all!

#2 Hunting with a few board members, both old friends and new, during the season. I'm finding that as I age, I really enjoy getting the opportunity to hunt with others more than going solo.

#3 That feeling you get when you force yourself out of bed, all the world against you with the tiredness, rain, cold, bugs and you still manage to hear a gobbler sound off at daylight letting the world know he made it another night. Makes it all worth it.

#4 An encounter with a small black, white and red bird high atop a mountain in Botetourt County. He caught my attention as I was easing down a ridge covered with knee high laurel. He jumped up on a bare limb not 25 feet from me and proceeded to do all that he could do to keep my attention, while all the while his mate who was nesting nearby retreated to safety. Never seen that kind of bird before and I really enjoyed watching their antics.

#5 Hearing geese flying nearby in the middle of the National Forest in Craig County. Never heard geese in that area in my 20+ years of hunting it. Brought a smile to my face.

#6 The reflection I got each time I filled out my VDGIF hunter survey. Having to write down all the details the survey requests, it was like reliving each hunt. I also got a satisfying feeling knowing that I was doing my part to further our great sport.

#7 Having my 5 year old son ask me that last week of season if he was ready to turkey hunt. Just having him show an interest in my hobby brought a sense of joy over me that I can't explain. I told him he needed to learn to sit still and quiet for 20 -30 minutes at a time. To which he responded by leaning his back against the wall, sliding down to a sitting position, pulled his knees up to him and sat motionless for 15 seconds with a serious look on his face and then looked up at me and said "Like this daddy?"

#8 Sharing my experiences this spring here on the Board and reading the experiences of others as the season unfolded. We have some great writers here on the board and I felt many times as if I were seated next to them as the hunt unfolded. We've had the opportunity to read along with some new hunters first kills and mistakes, along with some old hands wisdom.

#9 The personal growth that I continue to experience while hunting. Many times this season I found myself deep in prayer in the early morning darkness, back against a tree and so involved in giving thanks that I failed to hear a gobbler sound off. I know Scott must think my hearing is going, but for some reason it seemed that when I reached my deepest point of prayer, that's when the bird would sound off. I found myself looking forward to the opportunity to sit quietly in the woods in prayer as much as the hunt itself. We are so blessed.

#10 The one bird that I managed to kill early in the season and just how quickly he flopped down the hill, into the creek and up under an undercut bank. The survival instinct should never be underestimated.

1) Killing the largest bird of my hunting life (spurs and beard).
2) Hearing my girls voices when I told them about the turkey(priceless).
3) Hunting with my girls-ages 4 & 2. Didn't matter we didn't see any birds.
4) Preseason scouting with the girls.
5) Hunting with my buddies in the mountains over spring break.
6) Having one of my buddies 8 yr old son accompany us on a hunt.
7) Hunting on Sat of spring break with a good friend and then taking his girls and mine trout fishing.
Chasing an old bird all season but never "catching up" with him. He wins again.
9) Listening to the birds gobble on opening morning.
10)Finally, on the last day, getting to hunt with a good friend. Hearing that old bird gobble and realizing he was where we couldn't hunt.

All in all it was a very enjoyable season.

Hard to narrow it down, every morning that I got to go was a highlight for me, but here goes...

1. Taking my friend's son on youth day. It was windy and we only heard one bird gobble 1 time. Afterwards the young man said "That's okay, I still had fun."

2. Waking up an hour before my alarm was to go off on opening morning and laying there with childlike anticipation of the season's first hunt.

3. Hearing that first gobble of the season.

4. Taking my first bird of the season. Heard him at 11:05, 10 minutes and 200 yards later he was struttin' in the dekes.

5. Sitting thru the worst storm that I have ever hunted in during our Wheelin' Sportsmen hunt.

6. Seeing the other Wheelin' hunters happy just to have a chance to hunt, no matter that the weather was miserable.

7. Watching 3 longbeards strut and gobble their way in from 300 yards across a field, then, once they spied the "Pretty Boy" decoy at about 100 yards, charge in and attack it.

8. Watching a hen do what I called a semi-strut around a hen decoy.

9. Calling a bird in for my friend (5 birds actually) and watching him take his only bird of the season.

10. This was an easy pick. Finding VATurkey.com and getting to share with all of you this passion, this addiction called SPRING GOBBLER HUNTING.

barry

#1 Hunting with a very good friend for two days.
#2 Hunting with a slate call I made, the entire season.
#3 Taking two mature gobblers with that call.
#4 Calling in several jakes and hens.
#5 Hearing gobblers fifteen days of sixteen hunted.
#6 Looking forward to going to bed at 7:30 every night.
#7 Getting up at 4:00 anxious to go every morning.
#8 The antisaption every morning as the sky began to get light.
#9 Linda and I finding 209 morel mushrooms.
#10 Linda and I eating 209 morel mushrooms.

Just 10? Alright . . . hmmmm

10. Scouting one Saturday in the snow. Big, wet flakes pounded me and a buddy and two gobblers tore the woods down!! We tracked them for a while in the fresh, fast-falling snow.

9. Practicing on my wing-bone call given to me by a respected OTH (Old Turkey Hunter) until I gained proficiency on it. Seeing my hard work on that call pay off with #1 on my list!!

8. The way that being in the spring woods exhilarates me. As the earth explodes each year with green and white and pink, I'm reminded that life comes from death; that joy comes from pain; that the dawn comes after dark. I worship God in the mountains, and when I come back down to life again, I feel centered and re-prioritized.

7. My all-day back-country hunt in the national forest. Turkey-wise, it was rather uneventful. But at the end of the day when a barred owl cranked up, I called back to him with my voice. After a while, a second owl joined in. With some more calling, the second one flew to a tree right over me. I had a fantastic opportunity to practice my natural voice owling for a half-hour or so as I dueled back and forth with this owl!! On the same trip, after walking 10-12 miles, I pulled off my boots, peeled off my sweat socks, and dipped my sore feet into a pure un-mapped mountain stream. Ahhhhhh!!

6. The opportunity to learn from all of you wise turkey-chasers, and then sharing the season with y'all as we tell stories and share each other's excitement and disappointment. What a ride!

5. Watching 5 gobblers strut for their hens in the misty morning on a friend's gorgeous river-side farm.

4. Hunting with a new friend and new turkey hunter on his property and being able to work two gobbling turkeys late in the season.

3. Hunting the next day, the next-to-the-last day of the season, and making my first solo kill on my second bird of this season . . . and of my LIFE--a humbling accomplishment that literally brought me to tears in the woods.

2. Calling in a long-beard on the second day of the season on a hunt with my dad. When we sat down, I decided that I didn't even want to kill a turkey this day since I had just killed my first one ever. I called, and when the gobbler showed up, I didn't even pick up my gun--I just watched as my dad's barrel vibrated with his shivering breath as he tried to get a bead on a walking tom. A great shot opportunity was never there, and he walked off to gobble another day. But, after that experience, I believe my dad is now a solidly hooked turkey-hunter!!

And easily the top of my list:

1. Opening day, on a hunt with my dad, on a lease where he is able to bring ONE visitor ONE time ONCE a year, I killed the FIRST TURKEY of my LIFE!!

Here Goes..

10. Hunting with a new friend Born2hunt while on a business Trip that graciously invited me to hunt his spot.
9. Hunting with TK582 and Chums the first week and calling in a bird that popped up in our faces at 10 yds, TK later said my eyes were the size of golf balls when I was trying to whisper don't move there he is.
8. Hunting in WV on opening Day and hearing those mountain monarchs sing in the place that I call home.
7. Calling in two longbeards for Chums in WV that never presented a good shot the only shot he had they had their heads crossed and he wouldn't take it showing his respect for the birds. Then later calling in 5 jakes with Chums in WV and watch him take his first WV bird.
6. Working a long beard in WV with my Dad and Chums and having two jakes come in and strut and gobble within 10 yds of us, ended up going in the woods to our right and Dad got confused and thought the longbeard got in there with them and when the Jakes gobbled again and came back off the Hill he killed one thinking it was the longbeard, but he still smiled and had a great hunt and I just kept thinking about what Freddy always says, it's about the experience and not the harvest.
5. Hunting with Hody to end the season this last weekend and playing the game with an old henned up bird in the mountains that I call home. After Hody left I toted the Camera out on Sunday and heard 4 longbeards and one Jake and actually had a longbeard in Range go figure.
4. Sitting in a blind in the Rain opening Morning and just glad to be out there not expecting much to happen because of the weather then hearing a gobble finally around 7:00 and looking around at 7:15 to see him in Full strut and locked in on my Hen Deke in the field I was watching, and piercing the morning air with Owl hoots of celebration after my shot found it's mark.
3. Getting a head start on the season on youth day this year with a buddy and his 13 year old and Fooling two toms into range right off the roost into 30 yds of the blind he and his dad were sitting in and watching as they slowly walked by the blind and by me without a shot fired. The young man said he never could get one lined up for a shot that he felt good about, so they walked off to live another day.
2. Seeing the look on TK582's face and being there to share the memory, after he pulled the trigger on his First VA longbeard on heavily hunted MCBQ.
1. Hugging my Dad after we were fortunate enough to fool on old Mountain Monarch into range in the National Forest in Bath County, and thinking to myself I'm so lucky to have my Dad still around and healthy enough to hunt with me and so fortunate that he introduced me to hunting, because without it my life would just be missing someting.

Ten would not cover it so I am not even going to try..enjoying the reports from the rest though.

In sort of random order...
1-watching my 11y son pass on 2 adult gobblers...just because he wanted to watch them
2-calling in a young man's first longbeard for him
3-sharing a great hunt with SCBigten and ThreeToes in the SC lowcountry
4-figuring out a way to even the score a little bit with UNO on SC pasture gobblers
5-spending time with great friends hunting the sc lowcountry
6-sharing an afternoon with a wise old sage sitting on thebank of his ponds listening to him tell stories of days gone by
7-wrapping the tag around the leg of a tough 4 year old that we've hunted for about 3 years
8-sharing hunts with my old college baseball roommate and reminiscing about old times
9-hunting with NC limbhanger
10-hunting with my buddy max from wv and watching him get excited as the first time he killed his first gobbler as we had some successful sc hunts