Five Seasons

it's worth an estimate is how I look at. Just ask what it would cost to fell it. You can chop it up when it's down. Could be <$100 and money well spent. On the other hand, redbuds aren't huge but still can do some damage if it hits the house.

I'm thinking off how brown, dead and dry everything was last August and now upstate NY looks and feels like Ireland.

yeah on opening day it was raining and the field was full. Interesting, you'd think the opposite but the sound/visibility point does make sense. I like my turkey hunting when it's warm, haha. cold is for deer.

I will like your bird, but not you rubbing it in

I'm sure this has been asked before, maybe even by me. But I'm a novice turkey hunter and interested in what you pros see with the turkeys when it's cold, cloudy our rainy. We don't have a great stretch of weather coming up and curious how much effort I should put in this weekend with the early morning rise and all.

that is an old, old deer me thinks. The kind that I almost would let live out his years.

This morning traffic was moving slow on ridgeway and I paused to let a nice guy in a Ford F150 out in front of me. I figured that's good karma right? I mean, he could break down at any moment and need a ride!

that was the logic I used to fix some fascia siding that peeled free during the wind storm. Don't have a ladder to reach the 30' peak of the house and climbing a very steep pitch made me question if it was worth it. An ad on craigslist and $80 ladder somebody else who doesn't have 3 little kids did it. No pride wounded for being smart sometimes.

those are the same loads I used on my target on the right above. not bad for the cost.

wtf was the plan there? was there even a rope I couldn't see?

no disagreement there. It is also what makes the highs of this sport so high and lows, so low. But "it's hard" is not the only factor. We've touched on at least 3 or 4 that contribute. Also don't discount the strain we all feel on our free time. Maybe I'm sensitive as a father of 3 under the age of 5 which includes a newborn, but I relish a morning in the woods. And getting up that early wipes me out for the rest of the day. There's a job, house to maintain, kids to take care of during the day and pressure to be a good dad there with them. Going to the gym to maintain my health, sports, school, the few friends I have left and family obligations. And of course don't forget your lady. Yeah excuses, excuses. And I'm not sure I can't answer this as I'm 33, but I just don't feel like the pressures were as high as they are today on the modern father/husband. Things have to give and hunting is a hobby. Recent reports show golf course memberships and traffic is declining. Same deal there.

what we do have going for us with the younger generation is a push towards organic food and increased desire to DIY. I read an article the other day discussing how many more people are into DIY around the house and the pros and cons. I see this occasionally with new hunters who have decided they want to take another step after mushroom picking and home gardening. There is a desire to take the control away from the corporations and fend for themselves. You can't get anymore primal and DIY than hunting and processing your own game.

I don't think hunting was ever an easy hobby. I think trophy hunting just wasn't a big deal back in the day. So guys were happy with a doe. My dad has told me stories about them throwing a party just for shooting something with horns. If anything with the boom of crops and hunter education and gear it's easier now in some places where deer numbers have spiked. I don't see how you can plant the seed if you don't have the land to hunt. The youth hunt doesn't give access to private land. I used to be able to hunt neighboring fields during turkey season that were off limits for deer (that's fine, field hunting deer isn't my thing). Just in the last 2 years they have become off limits. So I can glass big toms in a field and just sit back inside the rock fence and try and call them in. It's disheartening and I could easily see stuff like this drive some hunters away.

nothing will fix dwindling hunter numbers more than access. It's funny that hunters have become selfish, but it's the result of every existing hunter having less places to hunt. Where I hunt used to have moderate pressure. It's now severe as the woods and farms shrink to make room for more houses. So now we become defensive of our leased land. Posting the shit out of our own property. We attack eachother. Heck, a lot of us want ARs or OBR to allow for more deer and better deer for ourselves because of our "neighbors". Just yesterday I had 2 shots closer than I've ever heard during a relatively free and open turkey woods where I could wander all over. You know what my honest reaction was? Crap, more hunters and pressure. Not "great more hunters for the sport". Less land = less success. less success = less hunters simple as that. yes I know I provided no solution.

Funny you mention this. Just bought a house last August with a huge redbud too close to the house. The prior owner never trimmed anything so I couldn't mow around it easily and the branches hit the house during wind. Not to mention it grew funny because neighboring trees were never trimmed. Very pretty tree but after I was done with it, it's now tall and skinny as opposed to fat and short. I will give mine a few years hoping my trimming job will help it grow "better". good luck with the job. You missed your window for cutting down trees without leaves and with a hard ground.

I know what your point is, but iirc you're a bowhunter too. There is no comparison is season and deer activity and alertness. They're different levels of alertness and weather. Don't discount the weather.

A few years ago and last year on a couple sits I didn't have birds fly down till around 7:30. It almost scared me because I had no idea they were still up there. This was about 90 minutes after official sunrise. It's rare but it seems to happen and maybe it's from me being a rookie turkey hunter and calling while they're up there. idk...

adds weight though

An interesting morning for me yesterday. Took the day off work, was about 45 minutes too late into the woods. Trouble getting up that early and first day fumblings. Busted 2 birds from the roost which sucked. Sat till around 8:30 with only a few gobbles and no sightings. Then got up and headed towards the fields. On my way over I heard some gobbles, got all excited. They stop. I get near the field and my jaw drops. about 10 birds in the field including 2 monster toms strutting and fanning. They're about 150 yards away and I'm going to setup on the edge and see if I can call them over, but they bust me and head down into a little creek area. I started walking the hedgerow to see if I could stalk them and get a shot when I hear gobbles just north. So I sit back down and catch 2 birds on the other side of the field headed towards the flock I just busted. They were interested in me, but then some real hens started calling and I was no match. I made my way back down the hedgerow towards the birds and when I jumped them they were just moving too fast for me to feel comfortable to take a shot. Probably should have crept in slower or setup on top of the hill overlooking where they went, but it was starting to rain pretty good and had been for an hour or so. On a positive note, found a real nice 8 point rack that we weren't sure if he survived.

I'm not sure I really care one way or the other. I don't believe a youth turkey hunt has any kind of impact on the birds the way a youth deer hunt does. Yes, I am not a fan of the youth deer but it's mostly because I don't like booms during my elitest bow hunting time. That and I think there are grown men out there being a-holes. but turkey? idk... don't see it hurting.

I have no problem shooting just about anything. something about trapping that is rough on my soul.

i always put a cinder block on the top too. I think that helps.

little bunny foo foo. Hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and boppin them on the head. yep, 3 boys ages 4, 2 and 1 month. lol

I caught and capped 4 coons and 2 opossum in my trap when I lived down south before I just gave up and accepted them as residents. I feel bad sort of for taking out whole families. And that's in addition to the ground hogs the .22 took out without the traps.

I use this too. Just remember all it's not for your skin, but for your clothes!