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Well I gave it all I had, not a gobbler from the roost again today, busted 1 off the roost @ 5:45, sat it out till 9 hoping there would be 1 nearby. Took a walk,at 10 I set up again and called aggressively, had 2 gobblers sneak in quite, season ended 5 minutes later!!!

Found this juvenielle crow today trying to figure out how to put some air under his wings. They nest high in the tall pines every spring, but this is the first time I've ever come across one at ground level. Apparently he bailed from the nest just a little too soon as he wasn't accumulating many frequent flyer miles. He's not the most exciting critter to ever step in front of the lens, but shooting "black" subjects in bright light has always been a challenge for me. .... and here's a couple random filler pics to get my 10 shots in.

Nothing this morning in the spot where I heard four gobblers last Friday.. GLAD it's over !! Not I can get all that stuff out of my truck and get it put away, to make room for my FISHING stuff !! Of course, then there is that LONG honeydo list that The Mermaid has been harassing me about... That woman's INDIAN name is "Five Horses".....Nag, nag, nag, nag NAG !

Girls and I went down there today. Checked out Arboria luminarium It's an inflatable maze with light and music inside. Actually pretty neat. Took the bike ferry from outer harbor to inner harbor Checked out the naval ships , sub and planes. Area was quite active today as war memorials being visited General Mills but we didn't smell Cheerios today as usual. Pretty impressed on how they've built up the area. Someone had some serious kite action going on.

Bill , It's 82 degrees out and way too warm for us all to wearing hip boots for the $hit you're shoveling. Do you have a friend or neighbor who has a smartphone who you could borrow to post pics ?! We'd like to see pics of a possible NYS record bird. Just askin. Just think if you wouldn't have "stung " that other bird you wouldn't have had this chance. Crazy how things work ain't it.

I think I may have finally caught up with the gobbler that I've been chasing for the past couple of weeks. My wife nearly killed him yesterday morning but he slipped through our fingers. Had him going this morning til 7:00 but neither I nor the real hens could lure him down the hillside. Eventually, he just shut up and I figured he had crossed the road above us. I left and drove around to check out another area and on the way back through where I had worked the bird earlier that morning, I spotted two longbeards fanned out in a corner of field circling each other and getting ready to fight!!! I hurried to get into position to intercept them further up the field. I got to the field not knowing exactly how far from them I was and was contemplating my next move when a full fan suddenly came into view at 35yds!!! I didn't even have time to sit...I raised the gun...he was facing away...I got him to raise life his head out of strut and delivered a load of Longbeard XR's to his face. Game over at 8:50. The other gobbler and 4-5 hens stood there and watched as I ran out to retrieve him. Not bad for the subordinate bird...almost 22lb, 10.5" beard and 1 1/4" hooks. One of the two was the "youth season" gobbler I had been after. The other one will have to wait until next year. This is the latest in season that I've ever punched a tag but it was worth the wait!!! It's been a rough season plagued by close calls and a miss early on. I've only really hunted two spots but was within striking distance of gobblers nearly every morning but just couldn't seal the deal. He lost a few tail feathers during the retrieval process. I also got a nice gash on my finger from grabbing his legs... This one's for you Reeltime...limbhanger!!!

Thanks, Turkeyfeathers! Here's the stats: 18.5 lbs. 9 5/8" beard, and 7/8",15/16" spurs. Ants, funny you should mention shed antlers, I found a half 8pt yesterday and today I found a basket rack half 8 pt. Today I saw 2 bucks running together both had 2-3" spikes, and later on my 9-10 am walk I saw a real nice buck, he was up to his ears!

Tis also a rap. Time for new line on the rod n reel. It's been fun reading this thread this year. Congrats to all who prevailed. Even if we didn't we learned a great deal and saw and heard some neat things. Til next year you wiley turkey ..

And that's a rap.... No gobbles today. Talked with a hen off n on for over n hour as she was feeding in the corner of the field ... Eventually paid my jake a visit, was hoping she'd have a beard haha... No boyfriends lurking in the shadows .... 2016 stats.... Days hunted - 26 Days off- 5 KIA - 1 two year old tom Beard- 8 in. Spurs - 7/8 in. Weight - 21 lbs. Birds worked - 8 Hens called in - 5 A-hole hunters snagging my spot - 3 ( 1 tom to show for it , grrr) State Lands Hunted - 5 Counties Hunted - Genesee, Cattataugus, Wyoming Been fun... GONE FISHIN ... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All is quiet

Saturday over the long weekend, i got my 2 acre soybean plot in, with a screen of field corn going around 3/4 of it, and a few rows of sweet corn as well(for my own consumption, if the deer do not beat me to it lol) we also got a quick heavy storm right afterwards. Just hoping its enough to make some germination quicker. Looking forward to it. I have never planted corn before, and i hope the screen works for entering/exiting my stand.. also helping the deer stay at ease a bit longer.. as well as a small winter feed source. Providing the coons dont tear it all apart..

Ever see a fishing spider?! Hand to God, one chased my boat down to get on it. Not even kidding, I kept clicking the trolling motor faster and faster and it swam faster and faster and climbed on the transom. I had my buddy's 13 year old nephew go back and knock it off or I was getting out of the boat lol

In the grand scheme of things, I'd agree with you. I'll admit that I don't like them for what are mostly irrational reasons. I find them creepy, no matter how fascinating. There's one in the corner of my kitchen that seems to eat fruit flies. It gets a pass. But when you're working in a crawlspace with 6" to 8" of clearance and no way to flee or counterattack, or when one jumps into your hip-waders for no reason while you're chest-deep in a boathouse doing electrical work and starts biting you, I'm not so sure the fear is entirely irrational. 6 or 7 bites can wreck your day with the bigger ones.

I want to see those hooks too, preferably on a limb

When we go into,basements , I always send the youngest man first. Only exception is if he's short, then the tallest goes first .... Clears the webs out ahead of me .

you don't know wood spiders till you hunt in the south. One overlooked benefit of our cold and snowy winters is that we're not dealing with crazy spiders and venomous snakes. be thankful.

With all my might, I'm willing a longbeard within range for you! If anyone deserves one it's you! Good vibes and luck being sent!

I love spiders. Isn't this beautiful? Scary

I don't like those leaves in the Chipper Monk pic ...........

Another day - another view

This is the biggest I have seen so far

Love me some Corona in the summer

Partook in a few myself this weekend. In no particular order, here are a few. Not posting the 12 pack of Coronas I drank Sunday at a BBQ. They were free and it was hot. Plus we were playing Cornhole.

I prefer to hunt like the Indians did, you know, 85 % let off, drop ,away rest, fiber optic sites , release, carbon arrows. While wearing a scent loc suit, from a tree stand with a range finder, 6 trail cams, and a gps . Just like Ishi .

I think you are missing the boat on this one. The whole tone of the original post sounds a little arrogant and elitist. If you make comments like this on a public message board, I don't know why you're acting so surprised that you get negative feedback....

Like it or not full inclusion for crossbow is coming. I've hunted and killed deer with bow and crossbow. No big deal to me. If you don't like crossbows, don't use em. Very simple and no arguments from me.

I'm not gonna beat you up over it but a xbow is just a much archery equipment and the modern compounds...so unless you hunt and shoot strictly trad you are no closer to the true origins of archery than I will be with my xbow Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Let me get a beer and some popcorn....<< SIGH>>....

Season I over now what? How bout introducing some new folks to the outdoors? Take your youngster bream fishing, maybe your wife to catch some bass, be the guide n keep it fun w both. Leave your gear home the first couple times n concentrate on the newbies. How bout taking your teenager n his/her friends bow fishing or a 3D shoot? All great memories n better than sucking up ac n TV til the fall

It's JMO, but a security/self defense handgun is not a hunting option. 9mm, .40 cal, even .45 cal are close-in defense weapons. 25 feet is considered a pretty good range for a well-grouped target.

has a lot of beans last year and now it's back to corn.

Oh they are great when driving...I had one drop down in front of my face..a big one 55miles an hour and out into a field I went...good thing I had the big F250 4x4...... I watched my Mom get bit..little black jumping spider, her wrist swelled up to a size her hand wasn't recognizable...That scene freaked me right out...spider nightmares for years...afraid to kill them because they'd get revenge...Ohhh ya the whole nine yards. Once I had a little battle with a jumping spider...got safely pulled over with 3 screaming kids in a Vega. coming back from hockey practice...I open the passenger door and ask for a hockey stick....Well that nasty little So n So saw me move that stick toward him and literally raised up off his front legs on the dash board and attacked the stick....Now I have 3 preteens in the back seat screaming and trying to climb out the windows...lol...It took me 10 mins to kill it...He looked like Ali dancing around and lunging at that hockey stick....when they are big enough to see all their eyes and mouth parts moving...I want no part of dealing with them...Kids talked about that spider battle for weeks...by the time the boys got done that spider was the size of a base ball ...lol more like the size of an SD card...but crazy aggressive little booger...

no bird for me this year, but still a great season. Passed on Jakes, had nice Toms that I just couldn't close the gap with and I saw birds every day I hunted. (at least 15 days). Found one tiny shed and saw lots of deer and deer sign. Good season in my book.

Best I could do at gas station in the hills of the boonies on way home from hunting.

With last years mild winter. Will they grow faster, bigger and quicker, this year, due to not having to replace as much body reserves? Last winter was by far the least snowy and the mildest, in our area that I have ever seen. Will it make a difference in rack size, this year?

Depends on too much to say...I have them from 6" to well over a foot on each beam with brow tines and G1's

We went there today too!! Beautiful day for sure!!

Lamb Tonight Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Short ribs and chicken

Liberty Hound with the girls. Parmasean truffle fries , crab cakes , tuna nachos

hey wait a minute they had all that and here i am still making my hunting heads out of stone I really need to catch up LOL

Like asking someone if they stopped beating their wife and only acknowledging yes and no replies.

OMG! First we have our winters are too cold for foreigners. Now, the government is dividing hunters. Where do people come up with this stuff? Hunters divide hunters! Do you really think the DEC or the government has backroom meetings just to make the hunting community divided? LOL! Man, now I do need a beer.

you guys are all over thinking it. its a new world, guys liking guys, girls liking girls, girls wanting to be guys, guys wanting to be girls, just kill the damn tom.

The guy (Ken Wallace) who keeps finding these rattlers in the park is a friend of mine. He's also an incredible flintnapper, shed hunter, and very knowledgeable guy about many things in nature. No surprise to me at least that this is his second rattler find in as many years here! He has a you tube channel that documents a lot of his time spent in the park and many of his encounters, along with some great knapping, and I believe some caching videos. I would love to have an opportunity to shoot one of those suckers with the camera just once!

That's what I thought. I been looking up "Golden Rattler" and found nothing to state they are an actual species. Oh, and just for a giggle, the massasauga is also known as the "pygmy" rattler. LOL.

No such thing as a golden rattlesnake...Some reporter who don't know **** is referring to a yellow phase timber rattler as a " golden " as if it is a distinct species.. Three venomous snakes in NY....The copperhead, the missauga rattler and the timber rattler in it's several color phases..

Thanks.....

Use to have a .357 & Couldn't stand to shoot it. Way to loud & to much recoil. Got rid of that & bought one of these. Browning hi-power in .40 S&W. Has adjustable sights, fun to shoot, & accurate. Ballistics are pretty close to a .357 mag. with a lot less recoil. Shot one deer with it at 40 yards with a 180 gr. hollow point. Took two steps & fell over. Deer came in on the blind side. I always carry it during gun season for that reason. A little heavy for a every day carry but carrying in a shoulder holster isn't bad. Well made gun and has been accurate & reliable.