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Thought I'd give a little recap of yesterday's hunt... Ethan and I got got to our ambush spot around 5:10 after a nightmarish half mile walk through a soggy plowed cornfield. I popped a groundblind up and we waited to hear our first gobble. From the trailcam pics and several years of hunting this spot (we've killed 3 opening morning youth birds here by 6:30 three years running), I knew the two longbeards that we were after should be roosting close. I was just hoping that they would be talkative in the crappy weather. About 5:45 I hit the crowcall and nothing. A few minutes later I scratched out a few soft yelps and...GOBBBLEEEE...GOBBBLEEEE...there they were only 75 yds above us!!! Over the next 35-40 minutes they gobbled ridiculously at everything. We sat there impatiently waiting for flydown...finally around 6:25 they hit the ground. I thought it would be another done deal in a minute or two. WRONG!!! They stayed strutting and gobbling about 80 yds above us around a bend in the logging road for the next half hour but won't come down to meet us. After not hearing a gobble for 20 minutes or so, I snuck out of the blind and walked up the trail calling, but was greeted with silence. I had a feeling they had hens the entire time. The back of the farm is always good too so we left our blind/dekes and went to doing a little running and gunning. Finally, we got to where I thought we should get into some action and BINGO...a gobble rips on the hillside below us only 75-80 yds away. We quickly set up and I went to work on the Halloran slate and one gobbler turned into three!!! A few minutes into my calling, a hen starts yelping below...I call to her and her she comes up the hill looking for the new hen. She went past us calling the whole time and I thought the boys would be right behind her. Wrong again...she went on up the woods and they stayed put. I tried everything that I could thing off to get them to advance...soft calling, loud calling, fighting purrs and even gobbled at them. They would answer everything but weren't budging. With a squirmy 13 year old sitting next to me, I knew that playing the silent game and trying to wait them out was not an option. I decided to back up the train a ways and descend down the hill to their level and try a new set up. Once we were got down to the bottom I called and they responded from the same spot. We quickly closed the distance and setup again. The next gobble was closer and I knew they were coming. Soon, we heard something walking just over the hill and a longbeard pops up at 45 yds and just stands there surveying the area. I was worried that we would be busted. Soon, another longbeard showed up behind him and they both proceeded to work around below us. As they went behind some trees I got Ethan moved around and situated to shoot. The original bird slowly closed the distance to 35 yds and then started to turn around. It was pushing the range of his Mossy 500 20 gauge but it now or never....I gave him the go ahead. He shoots and the gobbler soaks up a load of 3" Mag Blends but doesn't go down...after a follow up shot the young hunter had his first ever turkey: a nice 20 lb two year old with a 9.5" beard. To say he was excited was an understatement. What a great start to the season!!! His pants right after shooting his bird... After a LONG walk back to the truck...(I forgot to stock my vest with ziploc gallon bags...lol) Come on sunday!!!

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Not sure if anyone lives or travels Route 21 South thru Wayland, NY and Loon Lake area, But i saw a Mother bear and her cubs last night before dark, I believe there were (4) cubs, and they were not much bigger than the size of a bowling ball. I did not stay long for the road had guard rails and no where to park, and kind of dangerous section of road. The bears were about a 1/2 mi. south of Loon lake on Rte 21. She was also seen by a customer of ours right there in the same area, early yesterday morning. I dont know much about mother bears with cubs and how far they travel when they are that young. But i would imagine they wont go too far too fast. Wish i had a camera on me for some photos, I would have had some great ones. But for anyone in that area, keep your eyes open, id imagine she wont be too far away from there. Its my daily route for traveling to and from work. Wish i had a camera on me for some photos, I would have had some great ones. Just thought it was super cool, and had to share for anyone in that area. And to remind myself and anyone else to bring a camera or bino's, you never know lol.

Went out this morning to listen, 1 bird off I n the do dance answers a neighbors rooster, then the rain hit... that's enough for the day..

I believe that's the current education level of most Politicians !

With the camera of course,lol I made some adjustments to my blind set up last night to put me in a better position for some better pics this morning. The first gobble rattled off at 6:19am before a few hens showed up a little while later. Eventually, these three jakes made their way in front of the blind and spotted my "fake jake". I couldn't get out of the blind until 12:09 when they FINALLY made it to the far corner of the field and into the timber! No longbeards today, but no shortage of fun and excitement behind the camera either!

The best source for trapping equipment and how to trap is the Fur Fish and Game magazine, about anything you want to know about trapping can be found. In my opinion probably the best outdoor sports magazine available today, I have been a subscriber for years. Al

How is the battery? The others could be correct that it is the starter but a battery low on juice could be just barely moving the gear to the engagement point............. I find it extremely hard to believe that starter has gone titsup in three years. Hope not.......

Here's a few more shots from yesterdays sit in the blind. The last shot is from this morning right off the roost all 3 came in fired up again. Same jakes as yesterday came looking for their foam friend again but didn't stick around as long when he was nowhere to be found.

Was another great year and a happy little cousin on Saturday morning. After calling in and missing a beautiful Tom at 20 steps, he redeemed himself 15 minutes later when i struck up another Tom close by. 9" beard, 1" spurs. We were all done by 7:30. Love this stuff!

Took my buddies son out for Ma youth turkey season Sat. and he shot a nice Jake, then Sunday to Ny. fortheir youth hunt and shot another nice Jake... his 1st and second birds ever....

As a turkey hunter, decided to post this here since the season is in. The wife had a very close call the day before yesterday. The snake was laying parallel to a tree root and she was nearly on top of it before she saw it. I was on the phone with her when she saw it. She screamed and I took off to where she was at. Keep your eyes on the ground and be careful out there everyone. This evening could have ended in a very painful trip to the hospital for my wife. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

we took our 9yo grandson Gavin to camp for the youth hunt that happened on Saturday. Gavin and I left Thursday afternoon so we would be there before dark to do some scouting and then be out Friday morning to scout. The bird I had been watching was mia Thursday evening and again Friday morning but I did find him right back where he had been the last 3 weeks Friday evening just before dark and just before the torrential rain started and put him to bed. It finally quit raining about 11pm and was partly cloudy and full moon when I got up at 3:30, had Gavin and Scott up by 4 and was on the road to the spot by 4:30. I walked across the big field, which was about 400 yards from the truck. we timed our walking with the clouds as they covered the moon. We got to the spot I wanted to set up and got the blind up and a hen decoy set up, again only moving when we had cover of darkness. when it would get bright out we would stop, hunker down to try and keep off the skyline. had everything set up and was situated in the blind well before legal shooting time. He didn't gobble till almost 6 am. and he was in a tree about 100 yards behind us. I let him do his thing and knew he had 2 hens with him. I did a flydown with the wing and then gave him some soft clucks and yelps... The moisture was really killing the sound of my burrville bomber. He finally followed his hens out into the field and would strut up to 60 yards then go back to his hens. we played that game till 6:45 when I went silent on him. shortly after 7am he gobbles along the woods edge. I make a call and he cuts me off and it was game on. He loved what he was hearing so I got him fired up and then fell silent again once he came up the edge of the field committed to finding the sassy hen. we go Gavin all set and finally the bird worked up into the open and with the aid of the caldwell system shooting pod he could stay steady on his target, little did I know what scene was going to transpire was one we had reviewed many times on Friday while scouting. The bird strutted up through the field and it was obvious once he got to a certain point he could see the decoy. at this point it was all up to Gavin and the gobbler, when he extended up to look at the decoy Gavin had the crosshairs centered on the gobblers neck and took the shot. From my results on the pattern board to the results on the live bird that little 20 ga with the federal heavyweight 7's is a deadly combination! For 9 years old he did fantastic by making sure he was steady on the target and squeezed the trigger and not jerk the trigger. it was a pretty happy moment for all.

Not dinner but snackage. Hot n sweet venison jerky in the oven this morning

Just a Joke ..... The wifey and I had a little argument this morning .... later on during the day from work I called home too see whats for dinner and she said " St " ..... I responded with " make enough for you and the kids I'll pickup something on the way home " .... phone slams down ! LOL

Spinach , grilled pears , Gorgonzola cheese , candied wslnuts , bacon with a port wine red wine vinegar dressing

not entirely..... you've got to figure in recurve crossbows. Excalibur in my opinion makes very nice crossbows that are all recurve. The couple lowest end ones they make have the lightest limbs at 200lbs and they're rated for just over 305fps. that's a little sluggish in the crossbow world. all the rest are over 200lbs. so NY's laws now on the books make practically an entire manufacturer's line not legal to use. only reason is they didn't think things through and consult the industry before writing the law. typical NY policy and I'm not ok with that. I do think that something close to a 200 lb compound limit and 300 lb recurve limit for crossbows would work to allow what's currently out there for "run of the mill" offerings.

Went to The Twisted Kilt with friends. Everyone but me had burgers with sea salt and cracked pepper fries, and loved them. I ordered the Kilt Burner wings which were good, but not really hot. Had a couple glasses of Sierra Nevada beer which was really good.

Beat me to it! I was going to say glazed with tassels or pasties.

I like mine to still be on the woman. There...someone was going to say it so it might as well be me and get it over with.

Had a great morning. Got in a d set up by 525 am. As it got light silouettes of bird showed in the trees all around us. (Good to know roost areas) first bird gobbles 50 yards below us at 545 another 10 minutes goes by and tom gobbles again. He flies down at 553am filled by 5 other birds. Just to our left at 50 yards , still birds in the trees.. a couple of soft clicks and he comes up struttibg at 40 yards. One bird is still in front of us at 30 yards roosted,it's a hen that pitches out and lands 10 ft from us..the last bird pitches out and lands behind tom. The whole time the tom stays in strut, a few soft call and leaf scratching and he moves up to 30 yards.. a hen answers 200 yards behind us to out left.. 9 birds on the ground get to bickering jakes gobbling, hens purring and yelping tome keeps strutting back and forth in 10 ft area gobbling when he reaches each end of the line he's strutting.. I keep wondering when the shot will happen ... I can see her gun up and her uncle sitting with her 10 yards in front of me.. at 630 the birds start to move off.. still no shot nor does tom stop answering or drop out of strut,he just moves down the hill to the left with his 8 companions. 715 I call and see a jake peal off and go into strut headed back our way about 80 yards out.. the whole group turn and slowly the tom leads his group back in strut the whole time.. not gobbling but he's not letting the Jake get some where before him.. they dissapear behind a rise 50 yards out..I'm thinking great they will pop back out at 40 and come right in. Then nothing dead scilence, no spitting and drumming, can't hear them scratching leaves or soft calling.. 10 minutes go by.. and then sounds of something walking.... Damn thats a big fisher!!! Birds must of headed down hill to avoid it... We decide to move hoping the birds may of scattered from fisher a little.. down hill 50 yards and 40 yards to our left. Set up again I drop back 25 yards behind the hunter.. l et out a few lost yelps and bird hammers 20 yards in front of hunter just below ridge.. they shift and face the one brush free opening you know it going to pop up in.. a few more yelps bird hammers back again.. the pop up jumps a jake 15 yards to their left ,walking back and forth on a log.. no way to move or shift to get shot.. he gobbles 4 more times jumps off log and drops over ridge in 2 steps. (It's a steep hill) we try 15 more minutes, hunter tells us she's cold so we pack up at 830 and head back for some grub and a quick nap..

Original battery I assume? You might want to put a load test on the battery JUST to be sure. They'll EAT batteries when not used.................... Good luck and keep us posted.

I got my first buck back from the taxidermy man yesterday but always have trouble adding pictures and shrinking them to fit the sites requirements. Any help and I'll post pics. I also brought along my friends 12 year old along, he said it was better than going to a NY museum!!

This was kind of a joke. But kinda' not, as well.

Should include all kids under 18.

The pressure is on - one target, but he's been there three days in a row now.

Trump Reaches 50% National Support For First Time http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-26/trump-reaches-50-national-support-first-time

Took a drive last evening to take a look at a rototiller and do a little scouting. Noticed quite a few toms, jakes , and hens on the move in our travels. Some really nice looking turkeys around, of good size. A week ago, hadn't seen a bird, now their popping up all over. Caught a few gobbles, seen some big foot tracks in the mud, and picked up a feather or two. Gobbles killing the silence sure is enough to get one pumped.

To to funny! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBhhmGwbHos

Vince1, Are you involved with helping us get the laws changed by calling your legislators and joining NYCC to grow our voice in Albany? Working together, we can effect change to these laws, separately, we will continue to struggle in the efforts for crossbow equality. Please help by joining NYCC. Your $20 membership is an investment in the future of crossbow hunting in NY! Online Application Printable Application

Why only fourth graders? Do they have a lobbyist?

wow! I really enjoy your photos! Great stuff!

my favorite is the head shot where you can see what looks like dew on his head hairs and a piece of clover on his waddles. great pic. all of them.

heard the banquet went well too.

That is nice and clear video and a nice buck to boot.

Congratulations to all the successful and unsuccessful youths some great birds taken and great memories made. .My buddy and i took 2 youths out together Saturday morning and Blaze 13 smoked this jake 5min after it hit the ground from its roost.. We worked several more birds throughout the morning and one nice long beard came into within 35 yards but no shot for my nephew Dillon 13....

Her Saturday

You guys set it up and I'll come up! I got the WNY roots too. TF knows my 1-armed long lost cousin! (not joking).

I second matrix metering like Wooly said. Another option is if you use any post-production software like photoshop, lightroom, etc. You can also strategically expose for the bright areas when you shoot, effectively leaving the rest of your shot very dark, and "bring up" the under-exposed areas in the software after the fact. You can also do the opposite to an extent, though it's easier to get detail from underexposed shadow than from blown highlights. A last option, and admittedly very advanced and not great for wildlife photography where your subject is on the move is a technique called high dynamic range, or HDR, though I highly doubt it would be suitable to the type of shooting you're describing. It's really better for landscapes.

We all need to check ourselves when we leave the woods and again when we get home. Often they can be on your clothes or in your car and not attach until several days later. I treated the seats of my car with permethrin every three months, spring, summer, and fall, I am always careful with the clothes I wore afield so as to not get ticks on my couch or house. Rob, mine was dead center below the belly button join the club!

season 1 a guy quit the first night because of bears, but iirc in his defense he was at least sleeping and there were bears around. Desmond was acting like a dude that's never even been in the woods before.

Congratulations on those beautiful trophies Dinsdale! Superb pictures and narrative too. Perhaps if Larry gets tired of hearing the stories, tell em again for me!

Amazing

One down this am..

Just a refresher: http://www.wimp.com/the-american-form-of-government/

Thanks guys! I hope I can at least get her on some birds. My whole turkey season this year will be an effort to get her a chance. If I get some time behind the gun, then thats ok. Ill probably spend most of it filming her hunts.

Those old "family" guns are a joy to look at and pass down. Even if they are not to be shot. But if it were me, I'd just have to shoot that old Winchester!

Biggest rat of the year !!! Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

2 yotes in 5 traps for his before school line Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk