dbHunterNY

She's my hero. I mean i haven't met her, but i hear her gun collection is the equivalent to at least half of Pygmy's. Congrats Dan!

old spring noose traps i've heard work well. always wanted to make one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvWD-E-gbkk

mice pissed me off this past winter. still not through everything but i pulled incisors from a buck the neighbor took. his biggest to date and possibly the biggest we've seen around to date. had lots of history hunting the deer each season. mice passed up all the younger other buck teeth and then singled those out. chewed thru the packaging and took the two teeth. mouse turd was all over next to all the packages. working on getting out the mower next hopefully they didn't get into that.

glad to see this post is getting somewhat back on track. carry on.

maybe the mouse ate his food? lol

cool pictures.

driving to work and right on the side of I-87 there was a tom mounting a hen. in the burbs where nobody shoots at them they really don't seem to care. soon as it's an area they're hunted, totally different. same as deer i suppose.

eventually after i get into reloading for rifles then i might look into shotguns. i've got a 20ga Mossberg setup to kill a turkey under 40 yards with older Rem HD #4's and it's a bit lighter to carry. this was originally intended to be my tinkering gun with bells and whistles. i started doing stuff to it but ran out of time and justification to spend more money. we'll see. until i'll kill turkeys and call them dead enough. i thought about getting a barrel for my TC Encore ProHunter but they're expensive, it's a single shot, and then i'd need to get more chokes.

whenever I've used a tom or jake decoy I put a submissive/laying hen with it. seems to work. I often get sick of toting the decoys around though. the foam cheap ones are horrible. mine are rubber. as they're out in the sun they soften up and any crease from stowing them is gone.

there was a time when parents weren't children and we would have both scout groups get together or scouts bring family members without the label. groups that had both boys and girls up through highschool where what's called 4-H (did that after i quit boy scouts). camping at night was filled with adults with little sleep, walkies, and flashlights. all had a blast though and learned a great deal. still carry with me skills, knowledge, and memories i learned to this day. ask me what i ate for breakfast or what adult thing i did this week and i won't remember to save my life.

you could've just said you respect and fear her. we'd understand. i'd ask where i sign my daughter up but the distance is a deal breaker. lol

she should just act more like a boy and understand. obviously she should've been a modern day "scout"

i used to be a Boy Scout.. i quit because of stuff like this, as in everybody had a complaint about something and we just had meetings instead of doing actual scouting activities. I won't loose sleep over the decision. i do think it's a crock of *&^% though given the reasons i've largely been hearing. it's been discussed a lot lately. parent's claimed their girls wanted to do more things the boy scouts did that girl scouts didn't or wouldn't. so instead of both scout groups working together or girl scouts giving them what their membership wanted those parents went to the boy scouts and said change your sh*t to meet my needs or else. other reasons were that parent's now both work and have no time to send one to boy scouts and another kid to girl scouts. i'm sorry if i didn't think we were all living in 1950 up until just recently, also sorry your burdened to give your kids differing opportunities and life skills versus a "kill two birds with one stone" activity.

i had to pick one or the other. if he asked why i hunt, both would be toward the bottom of a very long list. all of it is intertwined and relative to one another though. not sure why the need to segregate us into different groups based on some kind of subjective worth. each morning we all hope to hunt during some season that year and would like to ensure we can in the future years to come. that's about as simplified as you could make it regarding what's important as a hunter. antlers will be there in some degree that part of a bigger picture.

for social events or get togethers i'm always drinking beer knowing i'd drink more throughout the night or i could drink one in the beginning and still drive home at the end of the night completely sober. if it's a quiet day though or unwinding by a fire or on a deck or porch it's favored moonshine. haven't settled on a favorite but bourbon ends up being more often and is a close second too. anyone try Wild Turkey LongBranch?

not as Wolc would simply understand it but my answer is antlers. i've never gone a season without harvesting deer and putting meat in the freezer, but if i don't take a good buck i feel the season was a bit unfulfilled. i won't take a small buck just for meat. there's somewhere in this state that doe need to be taken. I've gone some years without any antlers and can still be happy and call it a success. still, more would be left to desire i guess. if it weren't for antlers i wouldn't be driven to fill the freezer so soon. i also probably wouldn't be as proficient as i am at filling the freezer if i didn't hunt for antlers, but instead took advantage of the easiest opportunity for meat that presents itself. also our hunting industry, that i'm thankful for to give me abundant options, is largely driven by antlers. also antlers give me time shared with others in the form of camp fire stories to tell and to listen to. tag me with whatever label you'd like, but those are reasons that come to mind.

if you get busted have your buddy go to where the turkey was to check out what your setup looks like. certain things might make you stand out that you wouldn't think of or realize. glass fields or open valleys or be on the move calling during late mornings. with our late season toms are usually henned up but loud and looking for more once they go to nest. don't expect them to change course much but just get ahead of them. birds just like anything else take the path of least resistance. they fly and everything else but don't expect them not to hang up from anything more than large mud puddle. use terrain (knolls, ridge tops, etc.) or cover as a visual barrier to setup so birds have to come into your setup blind and then assess the situation. if you get a tom to answer but he continues onto where ever he's headed early AM there's a reason but he knows you're there. at least go back to that area late morning if you still haven't flopped one. just because one flops doesn't mean it can't get back up and run off. keep gun ready and with you. ever see a hunter run after a turkey that got a second wind? it's hilarious.

i think my struggle is i'm an engineer, i'm curious, and like to tinker. turkey loads are expensive to test, i have probably just over half a dozen different kinds in the safe now without making much effort. just chewing on the idea to pursue trying other chokes or shells out any further. i don't think i'm necessarily looking to get tighter or "better" in any specific way. just open and curious to see what it brings. i understand it was subjective opinions but i suppose i wasn't expecting such poor feedback which lit my curiosity. i've also been contemplating if a turkey barrel needs to be 22+". Carlson makes a chrome lined 18.5" barrel for my gun. I doubt it'd lose enough velocity to matter but i bet it'd handle nice in a thick hedgerow waiting for birds to strut on in. i'm not $200 worth of curious though.

I was kinda kidding with the 4" statement. I patterned the 3.5" before on large paper with 10" circle. Don't remember what the percentage of 366 pellets was in there. I remember it being even enough but signs it was a maybe blown a little. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

That black shell is actually a Winchester long beard XR 3" #6. In fairness I didn't put it on patterning board. It may have slightly different POI. Figured I'd try it anyway. I bought a couple boxes to try. Couldn't justify fed tss #9 expensive and technically not legal. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Pic for reference. Despite I posted it elsewhere. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Seems in today's world of TSS shot, shotshell designs, super tight expensive chokes, and smithed barrels with lengthened forcing cones everyone cares about what their guns can do at 40 yards or more. honestly, for a second i started to second guess my setup i've put minimal work into. 23 or so #6 hevi-13 pellets through a 12oz beverage can at 45 yards wasn't sufficient for a couple people apparently. seems like you only hear about the above average patterns. I grounded myself and called it good enough as i know it works. That said equipment has improved from what was available yesterday. so my question, are these results sub-par for what you'd expect out of what's overall currently available? Would it be worth it to look into improving/tightening my pattern?

due to numbers/opportunity of each and time constraints of only hunting turkey in the mornings any legal deer is easier to take than legal turkey ....here.

yea i saw it after i posted.. getting up to speed sitting here in the office. some of us have to go to work. lol

If you can copy every sound she makes. Usually pisses her and makes her curious. He comes in tow. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk