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Few shots from our Mothers Day brunch.. Food was AWESOME as expected, and the animals never disappoint!

Scouted two nice toms for three weekends.Opening day he gave the slip, and again this past Saturday. But not Sunday morning. 20lb. and a 9" beard. Worked hard for this shot in the rain. Definitely a great experience.

Ended up having a great hunt this morning, even though it got off to a rough start. I was supposed to take a guy from work who is just starting hunting, this would have been his first time out. He wasn't where we were supposed to meet at 4:00, I gave him 10 minutes but after getting no response when I called and texted I decided he must have overslept so I headed out. I found out later he was running 15 minutes behind and had left his phone at home... oh well, that was lesson one I guess. Since I didn't have anyone with me I decided to go back after a bird I've been on several times this season, but when I got near his roost it was dead silence. No amount of hooting could draw a response so I decided to walk back to the car and go where I was planning to take the other guy after all. When I got over there it was already shooting light, and I still needed to cross about half a mile of open fields to get to the woods. By the time I got out there I was pretty sure the birds would be on the ground, and at first I wasn't getting any response to any of my calling. I entered the block of woods from the north along a woods road that divides the block into an east and west side. The west side is bordered on the north by a beaver swamp that runs right up to the woods road I was walking on. I was alternating between crow calls and yelps on my trumpet and when I got roughly 100 yards past the back side of the swamp a bird gobbled from the west half of the block on my right. I quickly scrambled up the slope to get on the ridge he was on and gave another series of yelps. He hammered back immediately and had already begun closing the distance. I looked around and found a good tree, I was about 25 yards south of an east/west ridgeline and could see roughly 35 yards out toward the west in the direction the gobbler was coming from, it was a perfect setup. Approximately 5 minutes went by and I was starting to worry he might stay below the ridgeline and get too far to my right where I wouldn't be able to swing for a shot, so I carefully gave a couple of soft clucks on the trumpet. The response was instantaneous, he was no more than 50 yards straight in front of me and I could hear his gobble trail off into a low rattling rumble. I spent the next 15 minutes not moving a muscle, safety off, gun trained at the group of trees where I expected him to step out on one side or the other... but nothing happened. I waited another 10 minutes and tried lightly scratching in the leaves. Nothing. A few soft yelps, and again, nothing. 10 more minutes ticked by and I pulled out my crow call, and again I was met with silence. My best guess is that when he gobbled from so close he expected the hen to come right to him at that point, and when no hen showed he bugged out. If it wasn't for that last series of clucks he may have walked right into my lap. I was a little mad at myself for messing up on a bird that was coming in on a string but it was still early so I backed out and went over to the eastern half of the block. I made a loop around the perimeter and on the far east side I ran into 4 hens by themselves in a field. I got them going with some aggressive cutting and they came in to about 5 steps of where I was leaned against a maple before they finally spooked. Despite all of the back and forth calling no gobblers were heard from. I continued my loop and wound up back at the woods road near where I had struck the gobbler earlier. As I was considering my next move I thought I heard him sound off a bit farther out than he had been earlier and closer to the swamp. Rather than trying to call him back to the same spot I decided to swing to his south to try and come at him from a new angle. When I got to the southern edge of the block I switched to a glass pot call and tried a few calling sequences but got no answer. I continued to circle around toward the last place I had hear him, calling every few minutes as I went. Eventually I made it all the way up to where I could see the edge of the swamp and still hadn't made contact with him. I slowly worked my way along the swamp back toward the woods road and was thinking about what area I should head to for the second half of the morning. I picked up the woods road and began walking it toward the fields, there is a small clearing along the road about 60 yards before you get to the fields and I stopped at the edge to call one last time. I got a gobble in response, he was out in the fields and had probably walked up the road that I was now standing on just minutes before. I quickly found a spot to sit in a small stand of hemlocks that borders the road and provided deep shade. With the swamp on one side and thick brush on the other he was going to have to walk up the road if he wanted to come find me. I called again once I was in position and he sounded a bit closer when he answered. Several minutes later he gobbled one last time where the woods road enters the field and I knew he was coming. Thirty seconds later and I could see his red head bobbing down the road, at 26 yards he stepped into enough of an opening that I could see his beard and a load of Federal HW 7's dropped him in his tracks. My NY tags are filled but I may try to hit PA, VT or ME for a few days before the end of the month. Hopefully I'm not quite done yet.

believe me it was not you there are others that seem to enjoy braking balls on here and right now i don't need it I know when some are joking wooly and when others are not I going to take a rest and after awhile ill come back and hope they have changed until them every one shoot strate and keep your lines tight enjoy the out doors as much as i do

For me it's keep it as simple as possible. My set up is strictly for hunting, and the whisker biscuit has been flawless for the better part of 20 years. If I were a target shooter, the drop away is the way to go. But when a shooter deer is within my range, the WB is one less thing I have to worry about.

Yes, there is a lot of combat that goes on here on occasion. Some of it has to do with the passion invested in matters that have to do with hunting and fishing and other outdoor pursuits. I have been a member of a lot of different forums, and find this one no better or worse than the others. I personally refuse to let others ruin a great tool of communication for me, and you shouldn't either. I have no idea what incident or incidents that make you feel that you have to leave, but just remember that for every bad apple that you run across, there are so many more members who are decent and interested in your views and conversation. It seldom makes any sense to be throwing out the baby with the bath water and quitting a great assembly of good fellow hunters and fishermen just because one of the bad ones occasionally shows up. Another thing that has to be recognized is that the internet can be a tough medium for accuracy of expression. Sometimes without the means of expressing tone and intent, things get mixed up and misrepresented, and sound offensive when there is no such intent. At any rate, we all have to make membership decisions on our own, and if it is no longer fun to be here, then we all have to do what we all have to do. I think you will be missed by a whole lot more people than the one or two people that you are having trouble with, and you will leave behind many great potential friends in your absence.

I shoot a whisker and easily can get quarter size grouping at 50 yards. If I was you I'd say any difference in accuracy will be caused by the shooter not the whisker Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

5 gallon pail with 8 or 10 inches of water in it. Float bird seed on surface of water. Place a notched piece of PVC across the top and a short piece of 2x4 up to the PVC from the ground. Takes care of reds, chipmunks, mice, voles, etc.

On a bright note ~ I'm glad to see grow back;-)

I'm sure there must be some kind of mistake. I ain't taken the fall for this one! If that was the kind of comment that would make someone want to leave this site then I don't know what to tell ya.

Shot a bird at 1048 today . 10 in beard nice Spurs came to a set I used on Saturday n called him in. But offered no shot, today he did and I'm on the board. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The season stated off slow but has been picking up. I roosted a lonesome looking longbeard saturday evening. Got set up the following morning in the area where I figured he might be roosting. Around 5:30 a bird gobbled deeper in the woods than I figured he'd be. He gobbled a few more times and I thought about moving in on him but I wanted to be sure that there wasn't anything closer. Sure enough...has a gobble rip out only 50 yds away! I got turned around on the tree and pointed in his direction. A few soft calls and he flew down and was on his way!!! Soon I see a snowball head coming and he was puffing into a little strut. Two jakes came following him...I got the gun up and was ready to blast him but to my dismay he ended up being a jake too. DAMN!!! They passed by at 15 yds and headed towards the other gobbler. I had to leave for work shortly but I got up to where the other bird was and called...he hammered back. I picked out a tree and called again...he was coming!!! All of a sudden I see several birds running around chasing each other...the lead one was headed right for me. I could see a beard swinging but he was in a hurry to get rid of the jakes on his tail. I putted and stopped him several times but before I could get the bead settled on he would be on his way again. Finally, he was about to circle and get past me so I cutt real hard...he froze in his tracks...two more steps and he was gone. I guess I ended up rushing the shot and missed... Today, my wife and I went back to see if he was still around. Sure enough, he started gobbling early at 5:00 not far from where I had missed on sunday. We moved in and got set up about 100 yds from him. He hammered on the roost for the next 35 minutes but flew down into the woods across the field. He gobbled decent on the ground but wouldn't advance. I was playing with him and another bird gobbled behind us less than 60 yds away...I got the wife turned around and ready. Ended up being those three stinking jakes again. Later in the morning my dad and I went to hit up some winery property near Keuka Lake where he'd heard a couple gobblers this morning. We ended up splitting up. It was 11:35 when I finally got a response. I got set up and another bird gobbled across the gulley. I got turned around and next thing you know I heard a cluck and a red headed turkey starts walking away. I called and he turned around...ended up being three more jakes that had flown across the deep ravine to get to me. They came in and actually layed down on some logs 20 yds away and started napping!!! There were more turkeys across the gulley but they never showed. I literally had to chase the three little short bearded punks away so I could leave. I left empty handed but it was a cool encounter. Hope to get on a willing longbeard tomorrow...

My comment wasn't meant for you.. I was just using your quote for a lead-in. I agree that AR's in the form being used in NY and PA don't go far enough to actually create big bucks in large numbers. But, if you look at the size of the record book class bucks in PA since AR's started and you will see a big difference in overall size and numbers of those bucks. I've said it before and I'll say it again... AR's are only one item necessary in an overall deer management plan to improve the age structure among the buck population... bigger bucks are just a by-product of good management. AR's on their own is not deer management. I think we are trying to hard to manage whitetails in NYS with no actual goal in mind of where we want it to take us.

The belief in a benevolent and all-powerful big government is Marxism. Marxist ideology struggled for almost 70 years to gain a following among the US citizenry. It started to take root in the mid-1960's as public education shifted to youth indoctrination. The Department of Education was created in 1979 by Carter and gave the federal government oversight and control of the entire system. Public awareness of current events and their consequences has suffered horribly since then, and it's not a coincidence. John D. Rockefeller said in the late 1920's: "I don't want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers." He's getting his wish.

One good reason NOT to call to a bird on the roost is that it sometimes encourages him to stay in the tree longer and gobble more waiting for the receptive "hen" that is calling to him to show up under his roost tree.. This increases the chances that he may gobble in a real hen, or just as likely, other hunters. Let me tell you of an extreme example of just such an event, that occurred down in PA a number of years ago . I was set up on a ridge slightly uphill from a bird gobbling on the roost.. After a few minutes, another hunter parked by my truck and started calling to the gobbler from a position across a creek and downhill from the bird. The gobbler loved it...The guy called..The bird gobbled. This went on for two hours. Finally at 7:30 AM, I got up and started back to my truck, because I had to be at work at 8:00. On my way out, I ran into another hunter who had been attracted by all the gobbling. He asked me " Why weren't you calling to that bird ? " I answered, " Because he is still in the tree, and he may stay there as long as that joker down in the creek keeps calling to him". When I got to my truck, the guy was still calling, and the gobbler was still gobbling merrily away at him. He may STILL be gobbling..I'd bet next month's social security check that guy didn't kill him...<<grin>>...

Well. Long story. Lol. Started at Plan A, got to Plan F before I was done. Nothing close to me on the roost. Finally found 2 Long Beards in a bowl but boy were they call shy. Plan E I set up across a field from them, Avian X decoy out. They gobbled but never moved. Swung all the way around them, got below them about 100 yards. Set up in the rain. They still wouldn't leave that bowl. Saw 6 jakes across a road, probably 600 yds away. They gobbled at me every time. Sure enough they cross a road and walk right to me. Unreal! These were the 23 Jakes I've called into gun range this year. I usually dont shoot them so I let them go. Well don't they see something and start alarm putting as they head right for the LB's!!!! WTF!!! Everything goes quiet. I call. Nothing. Now I'm ticked! I text Sandra Pirog saying "I'm shooting the next Jake twice!!!!" Lol. I call. Nothing. I look to my left and at a dead run to me here comes the 2 LB's, white heads, beards swinging. I'm left handed. My muzzle is 180 degrees from them. I wait till they get 20 yards and start yelping as I swing my gun. The two birds split, one goes to the right. Red dot finds him at 42 yds and BOOM! Game over!!!! 1 1/8" spurs 10 1/2" beard. Scale says 18lbs but felt heavier. Good 3 year old!

Went out this morning trying to get my nephew on the board. First light I played with two toms who wouldn't come to my location . @0615 had two hens come walking in without the toms, watched them for awhile and they eventually walked off. Moved onto a spot I haven't hit yet, it's a large hayfield and we set up three decoys and quickly got an answer. Bird came across the road and put on a show in the field , strutting and gobbling for about 30 minutes. He was 50 yds out from us on field but wouldn't come any closer. The decoys seem to have no affect on him. Wish I had a video camera . Well we had some fun and that's what it's all about . Won't be able to hunt next couple days. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just Stay .... answer to NO ONE !

I'm hunting a different spot tomorrow.. I may not hear anything, but I'll enjoy the change of scenery. <<grin>>....

Took the family there for the first time saturday. Everyone had a great time.

Rat trap with peanut butter. Game over quickly.

Lol once in a while a bird will gobble so much on his own I'm whispering "shut up, shut the hell up!" To myself because I KNOW another hunter is going to hear him. I'm a selfish jerk...

I miss the Monday opener so much! All the guys I know who only gun hunt do too. Used to be you came to camp Friday, bowhunt a bit, hunt Saturday if you want, hang a stand for he opener, relax, watch some football etc. Now it's all business, get there Friday if you can get the day off and be ready to go for Saturday

Nice shots wooly. And here I thought they only made ranch dressing, LOL.

Nice pictures! The first picture looks like my Sister Inlaw thanks for sharing.

I always enjoyed your posts. And I am sure you gave more brightness to this site than you know. It seems the world we live in now has a certain percentage of people who are quick to criticize and have no empathy for others. Perhaps to cover up their own shortcomings, wich are usually numerous. Hope you reconsider and stay or come back after a period of time. Until then, shoot straight, and keep your top nott.

Not true, there are still a ton of new hunters being brought into the sport by people that are passing along virtues of the sport other than big racks.

We have lost many good members, just because of this. The cyber world can be a mean one. Hope you can take a change of heart and stay. Their are many here, that enjoy your posts.

Marinated a wild turkey breast in OJ and Italian dressing, per Turkeyfeathers recipe, and did it low and slow on the Weber with some apple chips. It came out excellent not dry at all

I absolutely agree with the mandatory reporting of each tag issued (successful or not), but I think one thing that the DEC is a bit goosey about making the next years tags dependent on complying with the reporting law is that they do not want to be denying antlerless permits because they apparently are already suffering for lack of doe harvest participation. The fine should be a financial one that is designed to sting a little bit. The thing that would make them obey this law is the knowledge that the computer would catch you and there is no way to escape that. A simple sort on tags issued, vs. tags reported would instantly pop out a list of violators. In fact if you wanted to get fancy, you could have the computer issue warning notices after the close of the season, followed up by an actual fine notice if there was not immediate compliance within a two week window.

Larry, it's way easier to just go buy a new gun.

ding ding. Dinners ready.

I typically buy from Moms Cigar Shop in Central Ave (Hartsdale/Scarsdale/Yonkers area). I like their homemade no label cigars, especially their 2-tone ones. They are like $6.75 and last like an hour Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

anything that would slip through the bristles with less effort would be best. blazers are thick material so their durable. lots of other good vanes out there too. if any get messed up but are still on there good, just use a hair dryer to relax and straighten them back out.

hey don't listen to WNYBuckHunter, I can send you a QDMA t-shirt that had the words "measure", "success", and "antlers" right on it, if it helps ya. I won't send it if you don't wear it though. don't worry they come in grey or olive. I wouldn't send you a pink shirt or anything.

That's good shooting regardless of rest.

We call that the "Bucket O'Death" over here.

Beautiful Pictures Wooly

I'm sure there are all kinds of people that will make regulations as complex as possible and be real happy with that thinking they have set up the "perfect" set of rules. I personally tend to think the other way around. The K.I.S.S. principle is a good thing to aim for when constructing laws for environmental conservation law (or any other kind of law for that matter). It is interesting that co-ops and landowner biases can involve such unfriendly disagreements and harsh results, but I don't see any of that negativity being of value to the perpetuation and health of hunting. I suppose it is just two different ways of looking at how hunting should be for the participants. Some like to see it regulated right to death with no care as to how practical it is to abide by whatever law is set up. I prefer to keep it all simple and easy to accommodate without setting land-mines when it comes to practical legal application.

I didn't see much else and I'm not blaming wooly by any means. Check his post activity yourself. That was some of the most recent unless I missed something. C'mon back papabear

Which club? Maybe we can do a meetup and shoot as a group. And your hunting setup is just fine

Nice to see the two birthday boys show up. One might be sober................

I'd like to ask this question, When the DEC collects the # of points on buck kills, why do they not release the numbers to the public? As a hunter when they say this % of 2 1/2 yr. old buck were taken, I'd like to see how many deer with 8 pt's or more were registered in that #. Also the the #'s in low points as well. The DEC should realize by now we as a group believe what we see ,in most cases. As far as a campaign for bigger buck goes they need to then explain some areas of NYS produce 1 1/2 yr. old 8pts,then describe what to look for in body characteristics to get an older deer,if that's what they want. Farmers replenish just what they need in their soils to produce the best crop they have planted in said soil. It's all about $$$ This does not mean it is enough of what growing antler tissue needs to grow. Deer in NY have to rely on natural woodland/habitat browse in early spring ,when there are relatively few farm crops about and antler growth is started. NYS does not have the all around soils requirements of some other states. I would surmise that at least some of the huge racked deer we see in NYS perhaps had some help from one or maybe many local people in it's home range. Lets face it, when you guys see carts filled with deer blocks ,gals. of goo or bags of minerals...it's not all going to deer,goat,sheep farms. Nor are they all headed to states that allow the use of mineral supplements. The other reason I would think there has been a turnaround on some hunters trigger break,is game cameras. When one can see the number, size and growth of deer in the area. They now have incentive to consider holding off, if a wall mount is what they want. Cameras are less expensive, smaller, less costly to run and lighter . Many more hunters are using them...even if many are not, the pictures of those that do in different parts of the state are being posted on the net for all to see.

Ironic post of the day. lols

Shot a jake on Tuesday and this longbeard today at 6:15. Had my friend Zach (11) with me on his second turkey hunt. Heard some talk at 5:40 and a few gobbles. This guy showed up silent at the other end of the field and came into a single hen decoy. 25 yard shot w/ Mossberg 935 w/ #6 Longbeards ended his morning. Good luck to everyone still at it.

What a great hunt!!!We set up on the edge of a small swamp where the it hourglasses down to a skinny point.Ive used this to funnel birds before and it worked pretty much like it had in the past.I setup Reed at the hourglass and another friend to watch the backside because they sometimes circle and get behind us.On the other side of the swamp is about 100 yards of timber and a field.At first light we had gobbles 200 yards to our south but off the property edge so we couldn't move on them,the tom keep answering my calls but I could tell he was going away when another started hammering back to the west,he was quickly joined by another tom.I could here they didn't want to budge but we sat still till I heard one gobbler closer....then closer....then real close when I saw him on the edge of the field.He was making his was to our left which was perfect.I told Reed "he's gonna come right through here" as I pointed.Just like he was one a string being pulled in he was coming right to us100.....90.....80.....70....60 then he went into a small dip with some trees blocking our view.All of a sudden I saw him at 50 yards and the first second reed saw him was at about 40 yards reed folded him with one shot.....then another because he was flopping and I am pretty sure he thought he was getting away!!!!LOL I told "him he's down safety on". The next thing I see was a cross between a hydrofoil jet boat and a clydesdale running through the swamp to get to his bird!!!! His tom had a 8 inch beard,1 inch spurs on one leg and the other was 3/4,around 20 -21 pounds.The smile says it all.One of the best things in the last few years is to be able to take this young man out and teach him all I can about hunting,he is always game for whatever and most days he is pushing me as I am dog tired but I do my best not to give up.The felling is actually better than getting one myself!!!!

See, there is specifically the point I was making. The NRA is (and has been for years) the primary reason that we still have gun rights today that are more liberal than some of the European and even Canadian versions of gun control. No other organization has worked so tirelessly and so effectively for gun owner's rights. But because we can nit-pick and pull out one issue or another that we don't agree with we are in a hurry to throw out the baby with the bathwater. We know from this forum that sportsmen and women find very little that they can universally agree on. And there are no advocacy groups that can exist that do not have to occasionally take some controversial positions. That kind of comes along with the territory of being an outspoken, effective organization. But what really irritates me is when people will seize one or two items and use them as a reason for not supporting good organizations that work for our rights and keep the antis from over-running our rights. The old saying of "cutting off your nose to spite your face" comes to mind. Unfortunately sportsmen seem to always be looking for reasons or excuses not to join. And yes, if you take any organization and demand that they align exactly in lockstep with all of your views, you will have all the excuses you need to never join or to ignore and even to badmouth them and do the anti's work for them. It never seems to occur to people to try to change policies from within an organization. How much easier it is to stand outside and take potshots. The antis love it!

Well said doc I forgot one more thing it’s something I hate but we are not doing are part. The DEC at lease for a few years have MANDTORY REPORTING ON ALL DEER TAGS USED AND UNUSED. With the fine being you don’t receive the tag or tags you didn’t report on the next season and the fine is not assess till after you have paid for the tag or tags. At the very lease this would validate how well their harvest estimates are, and force us to do what we should have been doing all along.

We do tend to demand an awful large say in what the goals, attitudes, and motives of other hunters are, don't we? We want to tell others why they should be hunting, what kind of animals they should be taking, how big, how old, what gender... We also want to tell them what they must feel about the animals that they take, what ones should go on the wall, or even if any should be displayed at all. So, we have assigned names to the different styles and attitudes of hunters. There are those who despise the "trophy hunters" who tend to be a bit arrogant and judgmental. And we have assigned the term "meat hunters" to those who forsake antlers and are simply out there like going to the grocery store to bring home some meat. They too have been accused of arrogance and judgementalism. Each camp seems to view the other as some kind of inferior. It's funny how it all works. There doesn't seem to be a lot of room left for the rest of us who appreciate a good rack, but will cash in on opportunities for a bit of meat gathering as well without a whole lot of strings attached.