My first year was 1981. That was the first year that turkey opened up in the State of New Jersey
I did not draw a permit but my brother did. It was 3:00 AM when we woke up for the drive to my friends farm in Sussex County. We parked and walked almost a half mile in to the center of the farm where there was a small hill that overlooked the fields. When the sun broke there was a lone gobble from the top of the next ridgeline which was off of our property. I let out ONE loud series of yelps and this bird flew from the other hill across a 200 yard field and hit the bottom of our hill on a run. He came barreling over the top looking for a hen when my brother dumped him at 20 yards. The whole hunt lasted about a minute from the time I did my one and only series of yelps.
We checked the bird in on rt 23 at the forest fire station in Franklin and the girl there had never seen a wild turkey before so we read the instructions and filled out the paperwork from the state together.
That was 35 years ago and I still enjoy the thrill of hearing a turkey gobble at first light and having close friends enjoy it with me.
I did not draw a permit but my brother did. It was 3:00 AM when we woke up for the drive to my friends farm in Sussex County. We parked and walked almost a half mile in to the center of the farm where there was a small hill that overlooked the fields. When the sun broke there was a lone gobble from the top of the next ridgeline which was off of our property. I let out ONE loud series of yelps and this bird flew from the other hill across a 200 yard field and hit the bottom of our hill on a run. He came barreling over the top looking for a hen when my brother dumped him at 20 yards. The whole hunt lasted about a minute from the time I did my one and only series of yelps.
We checked the bird in on rt 23 at the forest fire station in Franklin and the girl there had never seen a wild turkey before so we read the instructions and filled out the paperwork from the state together.
That was 35 years ago and I still enjoy the thrill of hearing a turkey gobble at first light and having close friends enjoy it with me.
