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VnHad a good morning snuck into a natural ground blind at 445 am as it lightens up I can see 6 birds roosted 20 to 40 yards from us. At 545 bird let's out gobble 40 yard behind us, a second let out a single gobble, they both flew down 40 yards out in a small meadow , the birds below us were dropping from their roosts as well. The 2 Tom's walked to my right while my friend watched them unable to shoot past me as i had back to them. They dropped over the edge of ridge and disappeared from sight. I was able to shift and got gun up clicked 2x on my favorite slate and they popped up enough for a shot at 35 yards for me. My friend wasnt able to shoot past me to get second bird, but it was an almost double.

Had a fantastic morning. It was Aaron's (Liquidonyx) first turkey hunt. Heard first gobbles several hundred yards out at 5:02. Finally had one sound off 75 yrds below us at 5:10. Couple of soft tree yelps, and a fly down cackle few min after that was the only calling I did while he was on roost. Once he hit the ground he double gobbled, and I gave another series of calls. He came in fast. Gobbling several times. At 30 yrds Aaron shot. Tommy took to the air, but only made it 30 yrds before he fell out of the air. No weight, but nice 2 yr old. 10 1/2” beard 7/8 spur. We spotted 2 more in a field down the road. They gobbled frequently while we made a big loop to get around them. Think I alerted them when we ungracefully crossed a creek. Ok, Aaron did good, I didn't. Never heard another peep out of them. Hoping they were still in the field, and knowing the field has some low spots, we carefully moved forward. Eased up and there was a white head 40 yrds out. Somehow I missed. As he sprints into the woods, the second one pops up 15 yrs closer. Didn't miss. 11 1/4 beard, 1 1/8 spurs.

Well I took me an extra day but I got my bday present today! Posted this in the live thread..... Oh man...my setup worked but I didn't. Had a hen and a gobbler come out to the field. The hen came straight to the decoys, stopped and froze about 10 feet from them directly in front of the blind. She basically spent the last 45 minutes almost completely frozen in front of me. The gobbler strutted and gobbled 30 yds from me but completely on my right and I was afraid to move with the hen right in front of me. I am trying to be patient because I figured the Tom wouldn't leave the hen. As I am thinking about trying a left hand shot he walks into the woods and out of my life. I decided to see what I could get away with with the hen right in front of me and I easily got turned so I could have made a shot. Guess I really have learned some patience. Maybe to much. Oh well, it was super exciting and I am learning! Well after that I had a snack and was enjoying the morning. Tried some terrible yelps and nothing. All that goes through my head now is don't call to much. Wait a bit and yelp again and get a gobble which is now since I moved behind me (east). I closed this window from someones recommendation on the forum so the sun couldn't get in the blind. ( I think pygmy). I crack the zipper open and look out a little slit and there is a gobbled. I open it a little more and get the range finder on him...94 yds. I decide to get myself as set as possible instead of waiting. I move my chair. Get my shotgun on rhe shooting stick, barrel out small hole and wait. He is coming, slowly but surely. I wait an eternity plus eternity... He seems like he is now well within range. I range him again...54 yds. Ugh, I told myself 50 was going to be my absolute max. I got the vortex venom sited in yesterday and at 40 yds I felt like I could remove a gobblers head. I waited, no need to rush I kept telling myself. I felt like he came another 15 yds but he would not break strut. I had that red dot on the base of his neck forever. Finally he raises his head and I squeeze the trigger, I say squeeze but I pulled it...bang flop...no flapping or anything. I ranged him laying on the ground. 39 yds and my first ever is on the ground. 20.5 lbs according to my bathroom scale, 9.5" double beard and 1" spurs. It was a great day!

Opening day was a drag. Rain and wind and only saw hens. Heard 8 shots on neighboring properties. Roosted a whole flock before dark. Set up this morning across the field from them at 80 yards. 2 hen decoys. At 5:15 one of the toms is strutting and eyeballing the decoy. He drops down on the far side of the field and struts. The whole flock came down. An hour later 2 tiny jakes broke off from the flock and came through the decoys at 5 yards. I was in a brush blind behind a stonewall, so they never had a clue. After 2+ hours they wandered off into the hardwoods. It's too open to make a move, so I went back to the cabin for a coffee and a donut. Checked another property. I went up to the neighbor's posters and worked up from soft yelping to full-on cutting. No response. I backed off 60 yards and was texting my buddy. I look up and there are 2 toms running across the neigbor's hay field. They wouldn't from the green hay field to the brown overgrown pasture, so I dropped down into a brook and moved up tight to the posters. I cut at them and got them fired up, then backed up into a strip of mature softwoods. I laid down next to a big hemlock and they were there in a couple minutes. They crossed the posters and I let them weave through the trees until they got to 25 and let the first one have it. 18lbs. 9" beard. 7/8" spurs. After the frustration of watching 9 birds for 2+ hours, it was nice to have birds gobble to my calling. Now I'm back home. I will probably drink my coffee in the back pasture in the morning, as long as it isn't raining. If something gobbles I will hunt. If not, I'll get some work done.

I got a last minute invite to hunt with a friend on his lease, which is PRIME turkey ground....It used to belong to my brother in law years ago... He had a blind set up on the end of a corn stubble field... ZERO roost gobbling, from a spot where on a decent morning you might hear 5 or six gobblers... After flydown, we started to hear a faint gobble now and then but distant enough that it was hard to tell even what direction it was in...I let my friend do all the calling, since it was his ground, and he was very good with mouth calls, pots and a box... Finally, we heard a gobble that sounded close enough to do business with.... Three longboards came in, and they all looked about the same size to me...He was busy filming the hunt, and when I dropped one, he could have easily killed another one, if he had his gun in his hand rather than the camera... 19 pounds, 10 inch beard, 1" spurs..A solid 3 year old and a nice way to get the pressure off early in the season.. 7:45 AM... I'm looking VERY much forward to hunting with Moog on MY ground in the morning, hoping to help him get his first gobbler..

2nd bird down.

Nice bird down at 5:49 this morning. 9.5 inch beard...1” spurs..They were hot. Group of 8 2 yr olds. Came in so hot nephew couldn't get to his off side for a double. There had to be 12 different gobblers going within 75 yards at one time. Fog was heavy. It was neat seeing them run in through the fog.

Tale of the tape : 21 pounds , 11” beard and only 3/4” spurs.

Daughter n I just watched coyote put the sneak on my decoys. Crouching , belly crawled and jumped on one. I should have tactacam video. Pretty neat. I know a lot of people would wack him but I won’t. Decoys are 20 yards from us. Neat !

Saw this little guy in the driveway today, relocated him a big puddle next to the stream here.

A friend of mine that lives in Walworth got a nice bird this am . He said that after dinner last night his 7 year old son was playing with his box call . He said his son came in the house and told him a turkey was answering him . His dad checked it out and set up in that area this am . Got his bird . I asked if I could rent his son to help me out .

Lol, forgot to post pic of Aaron caring his bird. I'm sure many have had the same experience. Turkey vest needed.

No luck today but fun hunting with Pygmy as always. We did have a live hen in the decoy mix for a while. Thanks again Dan.

Think it is the other way around but I am not kissing that frog . I don't know where his lips have been lll

I set up in a little finger of trees and brush above where I figured the birds were roosted. My brother set up on the big ridge across an open field at my back. It was cold and foggy. Birds started gobbling below me about 5:30 and then the ones up top where my brother was started up. I just sat there until I heard a bird fly down. Then I made a couple soft yelps and waited. I heard more birds flying down, but just stayed quiet even though at least two toms were gobbling below me. Then I hear spitting and drumming behind me in the open field. I turned my head and see a full fan damn near in my lap. I just waited for the fan to be facing me, turned quickly, and got my gun pointed. Then it was just a matter of waiting a couple minutes for the shot. He was sideways to me and stuck his neck out to gobble and I shot him at under 20 yards. About as easy a hunt as a person can get. Then I went down and grabbed a bag full of leeks. While I was doing that, I heard a shot up on top. I got back up to my set up and could see my brother coming across the field with his own bird. I didn't realize it, but it was my brother's first solo tom, so it is a pretty exciting day. He said he saw the tom I shot fly off its roost and glide into the fog right down across the field towards me, and heard me shoot about 10 minutes later.

Made some sushi for myself and the wife today, can’t wait till next week I have 3lbs Of Ahi being flown in from Hawaii On Wednesday Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Unknowly set up by a fox den this morning. Little tough on the turkey sightings but, sure was fun watching the pups playing in the sunshine.

Tried making beef short ribs for the first time in about 20 years. 6 hours in the slow cooker (I think 8-9 hrs next time). Mashers with homemade gravy and green beans. It fell off the bones and the family loved it

Made chicken Marsala tonight with roasted potatoes and spinach. I have serious food issues my food delivery today was more than some of my clients purchased this week... and for those of you who don’t know I sell food to restaurants Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Biz Buck Dinner Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I went to work like that once lol, I used to put a rain suit on over my kakhis and hunt before work and the blood went into the pants. I didn’t notice until I went to the bathroom at like 9:30 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

It’s 1230pm somewhere Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Prob my best day turkey hunting ever without getting one. Set up in spot I had planned. Had a lone hen come out and walk around in front of me for 35 minutes then she went into the woods. 1/2 hour later one comes out on my left in brush at 10 yards to my left. Then I see movement to my right and there is another hen at 10 yards on that side. They go out and wander around field for a 1/2 hour then up over the top of field. Heard a couple of close shots figure Tom's must be in other areas. About to think about leaving and another hen comes out .. and I hear a gobble a ways in the woods. Hen goes up to top of field and gone then a big Godzilla gobbler comes out about 250 yards up field. He's tailing a hen . Gobbling and fanning and putting on a show. I try to piss off the hen and bring her down but no luck. They go across field and I can't see them. So figured I better wait a little while so I don't spooky them. About 20 min and out steps another gobbler and a Jake. Smaller Tom maybe a 6" beard. I Yelp at them and they keep milling around. They come out farther in the field and I Yelp and they look and see my dekes. So they start coming a little. Wind blows and dekes move and that's it they are committed, here they come. Gobbler keeps stopping and fanning and gobbles. Jake just keeps looking. They get to about 40 and hang up and heads start bobbing a little and they start to move left and away. Figure this is my only shot. Swing and a miss. Gobbler and Jake off and running. Paced it off and it was more like 49 yards. Def farther than I have shot. But I have taken gobblers out to 30 and have patterned shot out to 35. So 40 is my tops but it was a little farther. Anyway great day of turkey hunting. I saw 7 turkeys - 2 were Tom's, one Jake and a then hens. Awesome. Gonna try tomorrow but going to setup at top of field for the big boy as they all seem to head that way.

5/2/20: tried turkey hunting for 2nd time JBJ career. Started hearing gobbles at 528am. Realized it was 2 Tom’s. Same General direction but different angles. I tried calling a few times and we back and forth till 6am. Or they were just talking to each other? Nothing after 6am. At 730am I took a slow walk in that direction, where is where I deer hunt a lot and killed my 2019 buck on acorn flat near Stateland border. Just as I got there and checked cam (bobcat, yote, deer), I heard gobbles much closer. As I started to look for a spot to sit quick, I saw a turkey fly away. Then I saw 3 deer right after that. One had nubs so definite buck. The other two were too hard to see if they had nubs or not. I then crossed onto Stateland and was about to sit when I kicked up a different turkey which flew away. Those had to be the two i heard. I then saw 2 hunters on Stateland, so they had to be even closer than me. I was calling from 300yds away at initial spot and they were only like 175yds away. Maybe the toms Were confused? If I try again this year I’ll sit in my deer spot and maybe they’ll be right in my lap Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh man...my setup worked but I didn't. Had a hen and a gobbler come out to the field. The hen came straight to the decoys, stopped and froze about 10 feet from them directly in front of the blind. She basically spent the last 45 minutes almost completely frozen in front of me. The gobbler strutted and gobbled 30 yds from me but completely on my right and I was afraid to move with the hen right in front of me. I am trying to be patient because I figured the Tom wouldn't leave the hen. As I am thinking about trying a left hand shot he walks into the woods and out of my life. I decided to see what I could get away with with the hen right in front of me and I easily got turned so I could have made a shot. Guess I really have learned some patience. Maybe to much. Oh well, it was super exciting and I am learning!

We have had one gobbling behind us. Dan has been yelping and cutting with some response. We shall see. Sitting quiet now.

First gobble. 5:02. Last gobble 5:40. Liquidonyx got his first bird. Pics to follow.

Up and at ‘em. Like Epstein, those gobblers aren’t going to kill themselves!

Perfect grilling weather so we made homemade pork fried rice and pork stir fry!!! Not even the weather messes with Mama Crappy’s weekly menu!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha They are dumb! Sometimes I feel dumb for getting up at 4AM to chase the oversized dodo birds. Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

I fiddled with the pictures from this morning to get a picture lightened up enough to be able to even see the bird. For some reason my phone pics were coming out really dark for being g taken at 730 am. Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

Take out from Prison City Brewery Pork Belly Tacos and Poutine With a Riot in ‘29 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I finally made it over to my folks place (maintaining 6 ft social distance), to get a photo of this one today. It certainly appears to be from the big 8 that I saw over there last fall and it does look like he was 3.5 (The base diameter and antler mass is nearly identical to the 3.5 that I killed over there in 2018). I spent a half hour or so looking for the other side but no signs of it.

Lawn cut for first time this year.time for a genny

Prepped the herb garden this morning (garlic chives, thyme and oregano survived the winter). The rest will get planted next weekend. Then knocked out a 5 mile hike with the fam. What a day. Sunny and 60s!

Me last year lol

Today was weird for me. Got up at 2:30 and got to my spot at 4:30. Perfectly quiet walk in and I went in close to where they roost. I didnt hear one gobble from the roost at all. Ive never seen this before at this property. Usually theres at least 3-4 gobblers going every morning. I ended up being 60 yards from 2 hens I think (they flew down to some thick stuff 30 yards so I couldnt tell if they were both hens (one definitely was). I did find my first shed from an 8 pount or maybe a 7 point. It was 10 feet from the tree I sat at first. Around 8 I went to the place where I shot both birds last year. I couldnt get my crystal pot call to work so im using a mouth call till mine comes in the mail. Its not nearly as loud so I couldnt get much volume due to the small creek rushing with water. I went close to the place I thought they might be and called. Made the mistake of breaking my rule that I never call with out having a pre determined spot to sit. 2 gobblers hammered back at 40 yards in the bushes. While trying to get set up, they must have come running in or saw me. Rookie mistake, but I decided to scout the area a bit, since ive never been to that part. I found a 30 yard by 30 yard area just tore up with scratchings from today. I know where Ill be going during the week if I can get out. Even the land owner and neighbors said they havent seen a turkey this spring, which is really weird. Might be a tough one for me this year, but Ill still be getting out there!

The hen took him over the ridge and gone. Then another smaller Tom came out with a Jake. Got them to commit. Swing and a miss though. They held up at what I thought was 40. Paced it off and it was more like 49. Still running awesome day though. Turkeys everywhere.

Doesn't the prince kiss the frog to reveal the princess??

"Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the integrity of your personal and confidential information" I got the email. Yeah right. Thanks a friggin lot. When I get hacked in the next 6-12-18 months, who do I call at NYS Labor to help me repair my finances? Unacceptable incompetence on the part of NYS. Again.

Being the dedicated turkey hunter I am I set the alarm for 6am [emoji16] Hit snooze till 6:30, was walking in around 7:15. Saw 2 deer on way in. I’m sitting about 25 yards from where the nice 8 point was standing when I dropped him this past fall. I’m about 50 yards in from field edge. Did a little yelping see if I could make anything speak up. About 10 minutes later had a hen off to my side 60 yards putt by. Just hanging out now. Enjoying the nice morning waiting for the absolute dumbest Tom turkey in the world. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Guess who picked the exact tree to sit under that had gobbler roosted. He booted.

3N: Gonna be 67 today and 75 toMorrow but only 48 right now and strong winds. 550am sunrise, 520am shooting time. LFG!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Moog is due in about 50 minutes..... Plucked a tick off my belly last night....The one thing I didn't get around to doing was to douche up my clothes with peremethrine…. Good luck to all this morning !!.. I'm hoping to get some action for the Big Chooch !!….

One honest and factual statement Governor Andrew Cuomo said during his COVID-19 speeches is that New York State is BROKE. Useless and wasteful spending like "deer sterilization" programs is the reason why NYS is broke. Still programs like this are embraced by anti-hunters who vote Democrat so Cuomo and his fellow politicians buy votes with such programs even though it wastes taxpayer money and does not improve the lives of New Yorkers. These politicians are too incompetent to use the money to prepare for disasters and mass casualties. With so many hungry people in need of food, why not mass harvest the surplus deer and use the meat to feed the hungry? Who would oppose that act of kindness to feed people?

With the nonstop rain yesterday we went out for a drive to a local spot that we’ve known about for a year, but hadn’t gotten around to checking out yet. Mud Creek Bison Ranch is about 5 miles from our house in the village of Savona. Cool place, they have a road that winds around the farm and you can drive through for free (donations are encouraged) and check out the Bison - being a Bills fan, I’d rather call them Buffalo. At the end of the drive you can purchase meats. We bought a pack of Mesquite snack sticks and a pound of ground for lunch burgers. Good stuff!