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Finally my 13 year drought of not a single bird taken I have finally broken my drought! 7:20am this morning 5/25/2020 I finally slammed a monster! While I admit I haven't gone nearly as hard on all of those 13 years or so the past 6/7 have definitely been out as many weekends as I possibly could have trying to get a bird. The season started strong with some great noise from the birds in the begging stages, then they would shut up and never make their presence known. Today all that changed!!! Was calling earlier in the day finally decided to use my box call to try to call the birds from the lower part of the property up towards me. The peacocks on the property were going wild with their usual other worldly noises. As soon as a peacock would sound off then the turkeys would start really hammering it. Around 5:44am I was texting with[mention=4567]turkeyfeathers[/mention] and he suggested some sexy clucks and purrs. I had been trying some yelps to get the turkeys to know where my sexy self was seemingly to no avail. Finally around 6:20am things started to get real exciting with the Toms really starting to go crazy as the peacocks squaked. I texted Jay that I heard one coming up the property to my right. I hit my box call for some luscious yelps and then got an extremely aggressive response from the toms. I was thinking to myself oh man this guy is aggressive, like wanting to fight aggressive. Luckily I was armed with my trusty 12 gauge so don't think I really had much to worry about from a bird. 6:44am I hear another gobbler going off around 60 yards ahead of me behind a hill. GAME ON! Then I heard a hen yelping from behind the hill too! I started to relax a bit and around 6:56am the birds went quiet again. I thought to myself well shit this seems to be another strike out skunking for me. I figured the birds must have been gobbling at a hot hen and figured I wasn't worth it. Around 7:10am I turn and saw a massive hawk but as soon as I looked at it, it decided to fly away bumming me out. Apparently my gaze can kill if I look at something of the avian variety for long enough and the hawk must have known that and decided Not Today! 7:13am things are really heating up now! I have hot hens yelping at my 1:30 or so and then I also am hearing birds hammering behind the hill to my 11:30! At this point my heart is starting to quicken and my taste starting to disappear as my focus becomes hyper vigilant and my adrenaline really starting to pump! 7:14am I text[mention=4567]turkeyfeathers[/mention] "My calling must suck because I hear that one yelp they go crazy I try it they do nothing...I see a big TOM!!!" 7:15am "In yard hes looking. cant see me I'm behind a massive rock. Hopefully he finds my hen and I blastcoming to me". It was a rush text job making multiple thoughts into one as things were really heating up! 7:16am HENS COMING IN! They came up the property and entered into the woods in a break in the stone wall. The hens were looking all over and less than 6 feet away from me as they were coming in looking in the stone and log blind. They were looking me right in the eye as I was trying to do my best impression of a statue of leaves holding a shotgun on my knee. They must have been trying to figure out why there was a big pile of leaves holding a shotgun with eyes looking out at them sitting in front of a giant rock. Apparently they seemed to approve of my stealth. All the while these two hens are within grabbing distance there is an old school wagon caravan worth of birds making their way to my set. There had to be 15-20+ birds all mixed between probably 10+ toms and jakes along with hens as well. It's as if all the birds I was supposed to see all season long decided that today was the day they would finally make their presence known. The lead long beard the guy pictured below with a posterior lobotomy seemed to be the dominant Tom of the flock. (those with more turkey experience may be able to confirm this for me) I'm looking at you[mention=5029]blackbeltbill[/mention] At any rate the time is now near 7:20am and the big boy is attacking my jake decoy who at least in his head must be trying to invade on his harem. Well let me tell ya that was a bad move big boy! Once the two hens finally determined I wasn't a threat I only had to contend with 40+ other eyeballs. Luckily I had no trouble getting my sights on the overly aggressive Tom. He is no more than 15 yards away at this point. The Shot rang out! He Flopped! My left ear is ringing as the blast echoed right off the big rock behind me and seemingly directed it back into my ear even louder. Oddly enough my right ear was perfect normal hearing; the jury is still out if that was a good or a bad thing. He is still flopping as I jump out of the blind and start pumping my fist. He winds up flopping damn near 25 yards which I have no idea how the hell that is even possible when you just had your brains turned into a pink mist. All the birds scattered at the shot and as I walk up to my Toms final resting spot I hear the hens start up again around 80 yards further down the property and gobbling continues. How dumb are these birds really? And now for the moment we all have been waiting for. The ever important stats! He weighed in at a hefty 19lbs with a luscious 10.5in beard(almost as glorious as mine, but not quite) and 3/4 inch spurs which was pretty odd given all his other stats leading to believe he was an older bird. His beard is a thick dark color all the way through. Currently he is sitting in my fridge awaiting his trip to the taxidermist tomorrow and possibly this weekend a trip to my dinner plate! After all these years finally connecting on my first solo bird and a tom of his quality makes all the long sits so worth it! It was a hunt I definitely will not soon forget! Hope you enjoy the pictures and sorry ladies of the forum, this guy is already taken. More pictures in the next post Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

Few critters around this week.

Wow my drunk posts generally don’t start till 9PM or so .

Last 2 I promise his head was like a freaking softball! Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

It was fun and to have a partner who know his stuff helps alot . Also knowing the public area like we do helps to. Next year when I try on my own . Well be a different story maybe . But it did help having someone there . . I cant wait to try it on my own . But I will hunt a couple of days out with bill . Because the awesome time we had was great . If i didnt getthrown back into full time at work i would still be going out with you ,bill just to sit and learn more from you. And I will get you out with me deer hunting this year. Belo I'll be the bigger person and say sorry. I did not take it as a joke and if that is what it was . Then I am sorry .

Additional pictures Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

if 10 of us hug, we don't need a mask. if we meet in NJ, 25 of us can hug together without a mask

Is there a way to have a group hug, while social distancing?

Wow...Mr. cranky pants has a potty mouth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No pictures but my neighbors came over and dropped off lamb chops, strip steak, and cornbread. New neighbors, we bought our houses within the last six months, how cool is that? Unbelievable how nice it was of them. They saw my wife and I working outside all day after we got home and knew we were hungry. Made my freaking day.

Homemade strawberry shortcake with homemade whoop cream. And big glass of moo juice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Snuck up and pulled the card that’s 15 feet from the den. They all scurried in the den as soon as I stepped into the woods at 40 yds. 3600 pics and the card filled up last Thursday. Four kits, one runt (not in these pics) that’s much smaller than the others and mostly stays in one of the holes. The last pic is a different cam watching the coop. The eyes are our cat standing guard. Bummer, found a torn apart fawn next to the den. Also looks like Mommy brought back a small dead fisher. Circle of life. That middle pic has one gnawing on the fisher. We’ve been hanging on the deck this evening cooking and enjoying a couple of cold ones watching them alternately sleep in the sun or get up and have small bursts of playing. 70 yds away.

To quote a friend who. Has worked under several administrations and meets with the president on occasion. " trump is not perfect he rides an edge but on whole has done more good than bad. He is not dumb as he knows exactly what he is doing and says many tweets just to push buttons of his rivals who then rush in and throw themselves on the sword he created and he looks better because of it. Anyone who thinks him dumb is simply falling into a well laid trap. Loyalty above all is what he wants from those he surrounds himself with."

Taco Tuesday, so I used Bionic’s Cow Massage dry rub on steak, then thinly sliced it on a harsh angle, and made steak burritos out of it. Melted cheddarjack, tomato, red onion, avocado, jalapeños, and taco ranch drizzle

I'll be on the property before daylight tomorrow....If I hear any gobbling, I'll take my buddy Mort up there the next morning... If I DON'T hear anything, I'm going to pull my blinds and call it a season... Time to concentrate on fishing , PLUS trying to keep The Mermaid happy, which is practically a full time job in itself...<<sigh>>….

Exactly, they tolerate nothing. If the tiniest little Thing seems seem awry they are GONE lol. A deer will hang around and try and figure out what you are, a turkey is in the next area code Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hey it was a holiday! I actually bought some London broils, marinaded half the day and grilled them. As usual they were tough. I just hate that cut! But the best part was the mushrooms sautéed in butter with@Bionic cow rub they were great Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

If this was a poker game ,you would be the guy headed for the door after winning a big pot ! Give the turkeys a chance to win back their money !

After a light gobbling morning yesterday while scouting this morning they are hammering every sound. 6 different birds hammering in the big hollow below my listening spot. Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

Spinach and mushroom lasagna Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got this little one on camera this week.

This is 60 yards from our bedroom window. It’s almost an annual event since before we moved here in ‘08. They weren’t born there as I put a cam on the den site over the winter, and as of a week ago, there was no activity. So momma moved them there which they will do. Pics are from my Nikon but it was hard to get a crisp focus with all the clutter near the den, especially at full zoom. I’ll pull the t-cam card when I can do it without disturbing them.

Were there any white turkey in the flock? A farmer could have had a fence come down and they were all domestic birds......that could explain a lot of it.

It’s your past performance and delivery.

The flu kills up to 80k people a year and that's with 162 - 169 million people receiving the vaccine yearly . Not a single person recieved a vaccination for covid (obviously) something that most people leave out of the argument when comparing this to the flu.

Roasted asparagus with parm shavings and lemon olive oil sauce sprinkled with mint and arugula,baked sweet potatoes with jalapeno lemon dressing and grilled deer loin with sage salt and pepper for me and wild salmon with lemon peel and ginger and salt pepper for the missus. She made the cocktails.

Mixed grill!

Finally got a shotgun that will reach out there ..........

I did 10 minutes ago. I noticed that the recoil was frayed and it needed a new rope ($ 13.25 on E-Bay). He offered me $ 500 and said that he did not need the fuel tank. I had no use for the tank because my 1956 kicker runs a two-hose setup with a pressurized tank and my 70 hp feeds from a built-in tank. I let him have it with the tank for $ 525. He seemed like a nice guy and he is an Army veteran who was stationed up at Ft Drum for a while. Now I can "splurge" on a new depthfinder for the bow of my boat (the old Humminbird flasher took a crap last Sunday). The 1981 Eagle "silent 60" on the dash is still going strong however. I originally bought that one for my rowboat when I was in high school. I like to run one from each brand because they run different frequencies and do not interfere with each other.

Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya.....

Beard is looking solid! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Idk why I wrote that lol. Fried shrimp is correct. Bionic will hate me now Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

My buddy had a blast yesterday, 12 big browns on the hopper/dropper with a size 18 perdigon on the bottom. I’m going tonight even though it’s 93, not sure how the fishing will be Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

If you haven't heard from him shortly after the possibility of eating an unidentified mushroom... just sayin'.

Sunday was probably the perfect example of my hunting history... or maybe my life in general. lol I got up an hour early and drove to a state forrest I'd never been in, just to do something different. In the woods well before light. Sun up brought little change. A fox screaming, bumped a big doe, but no turkey sounds. My calls brought no replies. After two hours I got back in my ride and headed to my usual stopping grounds, public & private land. I stopped at the first spot, killed the engine then sat there for 15 - 20 minutes. Then got out quiet and made some calls. 10-15 minutes, no replies. I repeated this in three more locations on my route back. (internally displeased with myself for doing what I would frown on someone else doing, not quite "road hunting", but dang close.) Four spots, no joy. Time to head back to camp and take a nap. Down the mountain and up the hill, I pull into the "driveway" to camp and sonofabitch if there aren't three birds in the yard! Ahhhh! Yup, story of my life. lmao Monday was overcast, breezy and just a beautiful day in the woods, the lack of bugs due to the breezy made it so. I decided to wrap in up on high note and call the season done.

I've been hesitating to comment on this, but I'll throw a few out. I will say I don't think Trump is stupid, however, I don't like him, and I don't support most of his agenda. I know many on here will disagree with me, and that is fine, I have no issues. 1. The biggest thing against Trump for me is that I don't like him. I don't like how he treats people. I don't like how he sells his ideas. I don't see him as a leader, I don't see him as a positive representation of the best of our country on the world stage. He talks too much, and most of what he says is false, misleading or plain preposterous. 2. I think the tax cuts were short sighted and slanted towards the wealthy. The individual tax cuts end in 2025, while business cuts are perpetual. The cuts have exploded the national debt. 3. I didn't care for his supreme court picks. Being left on many social issues, I did not support either Gorsuch or Kavanaugh because of their hard conservative records. Not knocking anyone for being on the other side, but it's where I stand. 4. I think the wall was a stupid piece of red meat to fire up his base. It's a lot of money for something that is pretty widely regarded as ineffective. 5. Our country is more divided on politics now than it has ever been. Need proof, just cruise through this sub-forum. I miss the days when people could accept differences and work on commonalities. Trump is a product of this division, and he knows it. It got him elected in 2016, and it is his primary driver for 2020. I would really like to get past the "us vs. them" mentality and back to sense of normalcy. Now, I understand that this division is driven hard from both sides, but Trump plays the game as well as anyone. 6. I think his response to the Corona Virus, early on was terrible. Sure they lean hard on the "he shut down travel", but he also went on TV saying that we were safe, we are at 15 cases headed to 0, that the virus would disappear, promoted unproven and dangerous treatments. I really thought at one point he was backing off and letting the experts kind of take control, but he's back out there refusing to demonstrate good leadership, not wearing a mask and pushing dangerous ideas. This is just a short list, I'm sure there are more reasons that I could list if I thought about it, but it really all boils down to the fact that I don't like him, and I will not be voting for him in 2020. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, and I respect the opinions of those of you who support him. I'm sure my 6 points will be ripped to shreds by those who like to "debate" on here, but I really don't care to respond, so type away you keyboard patriots Take care everyone!

They demand more respect than that.......it's not that they're dumb, more the fact they are wary and always on alert.

Happy Memorial day

lots of big pike waters in NY . But like anything else they ebb and flow. Gotta hit the spots that have the huge pike while they have them. Big ones take a long time to grow and it seems it only lasts a while on any water. Then its a lot of hammer handles for a while. Best pike bite ive ever had was on a buzzbait he came full out of the water and did a complete flip - 40" in the barge canal. This one in pic is my biggest NY pike - dont really fish for them anymore these days. But the Dacks have several good pike lakes that get overlooked. (this is the only big un i ever kept - had it mounted. Plenty of perch and panfish around for fish fry)

This is a picture dependent thread. I think we I can speak for the majority and say that we would like to see this masterful dish.

Do you have a lot of rocks where you hunt ?? Those spurs look rounded off, like many Catskill birds, from all the rocks... I am guessing that he is a 3 year old, and if taken in less rocky terrain, he'd have sharp spurs perhaps an 1/8 " longer... Nice bird in any case...

Still, just because Momma brought it home, doesn't mean that she killed it....

They are fun. My favorite part is the strike. There is no missing that, and sometimes it is so violent that they just about tear the rod out of your hand. I used to fish for them a lot more but my wife is troubled by the bones in the meat. I tried to get most of them out when filleting but it seems that she always manages to find a few.

Well im just about done, yesterday we put down 1500 lb of lime then went to work on a smaller spot. This am we got the disc mounted to the tractor and got disking. We ended up disking both directions of the plot then spread the seed and then a lite disc over that followed by then driving the 4wheeler over it to compact and flatten the area. Were 3/4 done, the one end was still wet so were gonna hit that this coming weekend. We were about most the way thru the first round of discing when a fawn jumped up right in front of the tractor and let out a long bbbaaaaahhhhhhhhh. Luckily it moved and i had walked most of the plot while my dad was disking, picking up rocks and sticks, so after that i walked the rest to make sure nothing else was in it and i found mu first plot shed.

Checkmate Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Chicken kabobs...psalad, cukes, hummus and some naan bread Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Risotto with wild leeks and lemon pepper chicken Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, as foodies as we are we haven’t owned a grill in 8-10 years. Cheap grills don’t last long and finally bought a great one. Don’t know how but convinced wife to suit up and go to valu for paint to paint 2 plastic ADK chairs just given to us to sit in yard and relax. Those 2 cans of paint turned into this . I opted to say I’d pay $50 to have it delivered within 4 hours. Guy ( Mark ) chimes in in line behind us. Local ? I said yes , he says how far I’ll follow you. Cancel that delivery I said I rarely carry cash but I’ll pay you. No money he said. You like beer ? Of course he says. Well Mark followed us home with grill secured in his truck. I ran into house , grabbed him 2 icy cold great beers and a Goose Island 2018 bourbon county stout almost impossible to get . Thank you Mark , I don’t know you but we got tears for your quick generosity. Made me realize again how great people can really be. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk