LI OUTDOORSMAN

Drove up to the farm Tuesday night in a full blown snowstorm to hopefully scout some birds for a few days.Next morning dawns cold and cloudy with snow covering frozen ground. Didnt expect to hear much gobbling as I walked to my usual listening spot just above a hollow where I have a ladder stand.Turns out the birds where roosted right at the edge of the field and they all busted out of the tree and lit down towards my stand!.As soon as these birds hit the ground I'm hearing big booming gobbles and yelping like crazy.I was in full camo and just sat right down to avoid being spotted.All of a sudden a hen starts yelping to my left about 75 yds in the woods..thats it.. the gobblers went nuts trying to regroup and i knew they were gonna be on top of me very quickly.I just froze as I saw white heads moving through the woods.two huge longbeards stop in a clearing at perfect gun range maybe 25 yds and stare towards the direction of the hen..She yelps again and they are both double gobbling litterally in my face!..Awesome encounter!! and they never knew I was there.I let them walk off a good distance gobbling all the way and got the hell out of there and wont be back till opening morning. I sure hope they stick around.

I used to hunt a friends place in Roscoe/ Liberty in a mainly wooded area no agriculture some seasons they would be around and some not so much or not at all, depended on mast production.Now I lease 400 acres in Owego 7S.All ag in this area..PA border.Our place is a working farm with crops being rotated annually.Always high numbers of turkeys.This fall I saw so many birds it was crazy.I know we lost some during the harsh winter but we have a good amount of pine / hemlocks where the birds can get out of the snow and still find some feed.Going up tonight to do some scouting but from neighbor reports there should be good numbers. So I guess if a certain area doesnt have what they need to feed on they will travel to where its plentiful leaving an area barren of birds and others areas loaded up with big flocks. Im not so sure how DEC factors in the total numbers but I feel poaching is right up there as a big major factor probably more than what the coyotes take in my opinion.

BOTH SHOOTERS

last year I had a big looooong beard located and hunted him hard first 3/4 of season.Every morning he would approach different angle with a trio of jakes..could have taken a jake...but held out for the big guy..,one time had him close and needed just a few more steps to clear brush..no shot Nicknamed him "Moby Dick"..beard litterally dragging on the ground.Never did kill a spring bird.Never saw him in the fall..Got a nice jake that came in on the last day of fall season..Sure tasted good after waiting all year! Going up next week to scout....heard Moby was spotted!!..He lives!! Hopefully this season things play out differently.

it depends if I got a longbeard located... if not..... if it comes in gobbling and its got a beard its going home for dinner

its not official yet but when we can I will why not..pretty cool

Big bird down! New York style! NICE!!

Was thinking of hitting the Delaware on my way back from the farm next week. Anyone hear of any shad activity?

Make sure you have your license and turkey stamp Pattern your gun / choke / load combo You must have camo head to toe NO red, white or blue! Scout,scout,scout Call a little and listen ALOT If he's coming dont over call, ITS NOT LIKE IN THE VIDEOS,The pros call alot to look good on TV and sell calls If you only hear hens mimick what they say try to piss them off they might drag a longbeard to you Always try to be where the turkeys want to go not where theyve been NO matter what public or private land NEVER assume you are alone in the woods,Hard gobbling birds attract alot of attention good and bad! Join the National Wild Turkey Federation..they do alot Good luck be safe and have fun..its a long addicting learning curve

For guys looking to repaint their decoys you got some awesome reference pics there.

Awesome news that we've been waiting for..too bad for Suffolk and Westchester these areas seem like such a no brainer for crossbows...Can't figure that one out..

Got the Mossy Oak Limbhanger a few yrs back and love it..A place for everything and holding up very well considering all the hard use it gets.Dont think theyre made anymore.Its totally packed and ready for May 1st!

Saw one in the early am during muzzleloader season in 7S .Pretty cool.

They should let you hunt them year round here in NY..

Saw more turkeys than ever on our lease in 7S this past fall.The farmer planted the large fields with oats in the spring and we did some food plots which seemed to concentrate the birds.They also really hit the hemlocks hard early fall,never seen such deep scratchings for whatever type of seed drops from them they love them.I was actually able to sneak up on a flock during bow season they were so concentrated on digging under those trees they didnt even care to notice!

Jellyhead!

Remington 870 12ga 3" Magnum / factory rifle sighted barrel Drilled and tapped reciever with Weaver see thru rings Leupold NWTF Turkey scope Remington Super Extra full choke Federal Premium Turkey Load #6 Took more than a few NY turkeys and 2 Grand slams

We were up on our lease in Owego last week and were surprised at the number of new rubs we found..Alot of activity going on waaay after the season ended.

Listen if you got a chance to hunt Hawaii go for it whether its your honeymoon or not.Hawaii is an awesome place and not a destination youll go back to right away, if at all.You'll kick yourself later on if you dont. Got this nice cinnamon goat on the Parker Ranch on the big Island

From what I've read about the Axis in Hawaii is that are an invasive species and considered a pest to farmers and landowners you shouldnt have a problem getting permission to take one but it would probably be with bow..they might be against a gun being fired on the property. Then again they might not.. They even have a program to thin out the herds like whats going on out East in Long Island Let us know how you make out.Hawaii is an awesome place Good luck,

NICE!!! Already getting cabin fever

When we went to Quebec we stayed in cottages on the river with full kitchens and brought all the cooking fixins with us..we cooked all our own kills. We eat everything deer,turkeys,rabbits,pheasants,hogs,woodcock,ducks,geese,etc, its just that if I was hungry and all the game was prepared on a table the wild duck from here on our marshes would be the last plate I grab.Trust me I've eaten many a brant,blackduck or mallard..been at this game over 30 yrs of hunting...I was raised on the bay... As far as the 80% eelgrass diet of the brant...Here where we hunt on the West End there is not much eelgrass to speak of just seaweed / sea lettuce and as soon as they start getting heavily shot at they will switch to feeding on school fields and golf courses with all the fertilizer and what not...not a very good diet to produce a flavorful bird. I no longer shoot mergansers,buffleheads,broadbills,etc..Will not shoot anything I dont intend to eat. In hunting as in life I say to each his own!

By the time the ducks get to Long Island theyve been feeding on salt bays and snails and god knows what..It takes an aquired taste to keep them down.The best way we have found to justify killing a blackduck or brant is to brine the breasts overnight and put them up in a smoker for an hour or so.Somehow it makes them not taste like duck..sliced thin and eaten in a cold duck blind they actually are a real treat. Having said that the best eating ducks we ever had was when we took a trip to Quebec and hunted ducks on the St. Lawrence river and surrounding marshes.These birds were raised on freshwater and corn fields and by far were the best tastiing waterfowl! By the way I tried cooking the brant and feeding it to the dog...no go! He would much prefer to eat them raw when we aint looking!!!

I have a SBE2 for two years now that I use for waterfowling in tough Northeast conditions.and have no issues.I can say however if you put a shell in the chamber and do not press the button and let it slam home you can create a problem.Do not open the action...put a shell in..hold the charging handle.. and try to close the action.It MUST SLAM HOME and you will not experience any problems.press the little red button near the trigger....open action till it clicks open... and load your shell.Inertia guns are different than gas guns..I own many guns and I can say I much prefer the cleaner action and way less moving parts ..no rings,springs and wing a dings...

Honestly what did A&E really expect when they hired these guys for tv?.I liked them better when it was The duck Commander show which mostly revolved around duck hunting and a little family values thrown in for good measure.Once they went to Duck dynasty I kinda lost interest.But they are who they are and since when did it become a crime to speak your own mind?.Its not like he threatened to do harm to anyone.And now that they've gained so much fame its always the custom of the mass media to dig up stuff to discredit someone...build them up then tear them down.. If I was Phil I would be out on the marsh shooting ducks and let the kids make money and do interviews just send me a check!!!!!