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good luck. I will not be able to be out in the woods until next sat am. I am looking forward to this though!

The DEC. is planning a study in 2013, to assess wild turkey hen survival, breeding success, and harvest rates. You can read that in the fall turkey harvest report for 2011. Take a look at the past with the ring neck pheasant. The wild population thrived 35 years ago. Now if it wasn't for the release program of farm raised birds, very few pheasants would be harvested. Their are some wild birds still in the lake plains area, but very few. The rest of the state is pretty dry. As far as stopping the hunting season for turkey; what did DEC. do with length of pheasant season? Extend it.

Well actually, this thread sounds no different than some of the deer population threads we periodically see. I have no doubt that just like deer, the state has areas of plenty and areas of scarcity. And as is human nature everywhere, we tend to project whatever we see in our individual hunting areas to everywhere across the state. Yes you can make judgements about what you see in your area, but when you start to roll out those conclusions to apply everywhere, you start losing the real picture. I'm sure that there are stats that show what is happening statewide. If the population is in a serious decline in NYS, I'm sure the DEC is well aware of that. Harvest results should tell that story very reliably. You want the real state-wide scoop, give the DEC a call. Frankly, our area has been a bit light on turkey populations for quite a few years. But a mere 12 miles south, my son annually has great luck with harvesting and seeing birds. Also a couple of weeks back, I saw a flock of 50 or 60 birds just 16 miles north of me. Apparently no problem there .... lol.

I understand your wish to buy a bolt gun, as I did for my first deer rifle, but depending on where you hunt, you may want to consider a short brush gun. I hunt in the Adirondacks, no trails, no people, no houses, no-nothing but deep woods. My Winchester .30-.30 is my go to gun when I am tracking.

Match!! You are amazing and extremely dedicated.. I look forward to your posts.. I have to imagine that a lot of people read your posts and say "that guy is lucky"... I have always figured it is not luck at all.. Any idea how many hours you have spent looking this year? I am sure it is a number that will shock a lot of people on this board.

Nah , too big for a cat's rib !

Doesnt matter to me why they are anti-gun, it only matters that they are anti-gun.