Pygmy

In order to get a turkey license in Ontario, you are required to take a training course. It is similar to turkey hunting seminars that I attended years ago here in NY.. It is largely saftey oriented... You MUST take it to be eligible to buy a permit , however, regardless of how much turkey hunting experience you have had. When I took mine in the late 90s, I had perhaps 75 gobblers under my belt, where the instructors of the course had perhaps 5 or 6 each. Most of the rest of the appx. 100 people in the room had never killed a turkey. However, those are thier rules. You must go up and take a scheduled seminar to buy the tag. Once you have passed the training course and recieved the certificate, it is just a matter of purchasing a small game license and the turkey tags. License is about $100 and the tags are about $25 each, two allowed per season.

Hehehehe..I'll bet you wouldn't tell him TWICE...<wink>...

VERY nice camp, CF...

Gator is a big ugly Canuck who happens to be my host in Ontario. He's a great guy and a good friend. He has killed 13 bears..11 with his bow. A few years back they opened the spring turkey season in southern Ontario, and he discovered that it was much more fun to hunt gobblers than to sit in a treestand over a stinking bear bait and get eaten alive by insects. He and I met online on a turkey hunting forum in the late 1990s and have been good friends ever since. His name is for real...Everybody calls him Gator... His given name is Gaylord...Wouldn't YOU rather be called GATOR than Gaylord ? Nuf sed...

Yeah....Many of us old farts remember Fast Eddie Felson and Minnesota Fats, who was played by the late, great, Jackie Gleason... Minnesota Fats was based on a real person..Was Fast Eddie ?

Good chance he'll be there unless some lowlife moron swats him out the truck window. You're probably not the only hunter seeing him..Might be a good idea to have a " Plan B", preferably somewhere out of sight of the road.

Thanks to you ALL for the well wishes. I may access the forum from my Gator's computer and give you a day by day. I do believe that Gator can post pictures, so if the turkey gods smile on us, perhaps we can send some hero pictures. Time to go pack the truck.

For those who have heard my story, please forgive the repeat. There are probably lots of fairly recent members who haven't heard it. I picked Pygmy because I am vertically challenged ( I used to be 5'6", but I think I've shrunk in my old age) AND the names Shorty, Midget, and Runt were already taken....

Come ON, Doe...That gun is one of my more recent aquisitions..I've only had it for 21 years ! It was the NWTF "Gun of the Year" in 1993. LOL... I don't believe you can pre-register a firearm. You can get a copy of the registration form and have it all filled out when you arrive at customs, but you MUST sign it in the presence of the issuing officer. While you are there they will run a little computer check on you to make sure not a terrorist, an ax murderer, or a mother raper. Do not take the gun into the customs office. The agent MAY want to come outside to confirm that the serial number is correct. Usually they don't, but I've had it happen 3 or 4 times over the years. Usually there is no hassle returning, but to make sure you are covered, stop at US Customs on your way up and fill out a Customs Form 4457 ( Certificate of registration for personal effects taken abroad) for your gun. That way if some Richard Headed Customs Officer is having a bad day, you can prove that the gun that you are taking OUT OF Canada is the same one that you took INTO Canada. Since the Canadian registration has been in effect they usually don't ask for the 4457, but it's a good idea just in case. I have had to produce mine a couple of times over the years. You only have to do that one once. The one I have for my 11-87 was issued in 1999, and it is still valid.

I hunt with a Canadian friend, whom I met on a turkey forum about 15 years ago. He has lived in the area most of his life and he gets permission for us to hunt on several private properties. I stay at his house. He comes down and hunts with me here in NY every spring and fall.

I'm taking my Rem 11-87 SP 12 gauge 3 inch mag, trebark camo, 21" barrel with a Kick's .665" Gobblin' Thunder tube. The short barrel is handy at cramped quarters, such as inside a pop up blind. I just mounted a Leupold Vari X II 1x4x20MM on it and sighted it in a couple of days ago. I have to stop at Canadian customs and register my gun. It takes about 1/2 hour and costs $30. The registry is only good for 60 days, so I have to renew the registry every year when I go up. Not too bad a hassle, unless they happen to be real busy at Customs.

Spring gobbler season in Ontario opens this Friday, April 25th. I'll be loading up the truck for my annual pilgrimage in Prince Edward County, near Picton, Ontario this afternoon and driving up tomorrow. My plans are to arrive early tomorrow afternoon in time to get a blind or two set up in time for the opener Friday.

My biggest rack was a 10 point. Never scored it but I would guess it at no higher than 120. My heaviest buck weighed 175 pounds dressed. Never shot no stinkin' BEARS...!....<hehehehe>... Heaviest turkey weighed 24 pounds..Shot in Kentucky. My heaviest NY gobbler weighed 22.5. The heaviest turkey that I ever saw weighed from NY weighed 25 pounds, and I've seen at least a couple hundred of them weighed. That bird was killed by a friend of mine and had twin 10" beards and 1 5/8 " spurs.

Let 'em pick....Meanwhile you keep having fun and enjoying those succulent bluegill filets ! I'm in my 60s and love all kinds of fishing, but the older I get the more I enjoy catching panfish. Bluegills and pumpkinseeds in May and June, and yellow perch the rest of the summer.

Awesome pattern.. However, at 30 yards, most 2 3/4" 12 gauge guns with a modified choke and #6 shot will kill a gobbler just as dead. I have never felt the need to take the punishment of 3.5" loads (especially in a fixed breech gun). 3 inch loads in a gas auto are plenty for this old fart.. They kill turkeys at 40-45 yards, and that's as far as I feel the need to shoot.

Gotcha covered, Doc...I especially like the FRUIT flavored jelly beans and those little malted milk chocolate eggs.

Save your pennies and get what you want. A Browning is NEVER a bad investment. Quality firearms..My first 3 inch mag 12 was a Browning A-5.. I wish I had never sold it. Killed a lot of ducks, geese and turkeys with that shotgun. I bought it used, shot the hell out of it and sold it several years later for more than I paid for it. I still have a couple of Brownings, an A-5 Light Twenty and a Citori 12 gauge. They would be among the last of my guns that I would part with.

I literally wore one of those Dick Kirby Grand Slam vests out. I got tired of sewing..When the fabric wore through on the back side of the shell loops I gave up..I truly loved that vest, and it traveled lots of miles on my back in the days when I used to hunt gobblers in several states each spring. I bought a replacement from Bucklick Creek about 12 years ago...I don't like it NEARLY as well as I liked the old Kirby vest..<<sigh>>....

Pleasant Valley Inn on Rt 54 south of Hammondsport. They open around Mother's Day and close in October. It ain't cheap, but the service is excellent and the food is superb. The Mermaid and I go there 2-3 times per season on special occasions.

Bluegills are a great way to introduce kids to fishing.. Ready biters and LOTS of action, which is what the youngsters need. They are also one of the VERY best eating fish.

Great pictures, Wooly.. Looks like a 3 year old with appx 1" spurs. Did you notice he is a double beard ? He'd be a shooter anywhere I hunt.

I have bought Voss Signs when I was treasurer for a hunting co-op I used to belong to. They aren't cheap, but they are a quality product. They last a LONG time.

For an all around rifle, the 30-06 is never a bad choice. There are literally dozens of factory loads to choose from, and if you happen to handload, there are many powder/bullet combinations that perform well.

God bless him ! I'll bet he still has a glass of vino with his dinner....<<smile>>..

I'll probably never know for sure. Everyone associated with the old Addison Rifle & Pistol Club is dead...<<RIP>>...