LI OUTDOORSMAN

Awesome! Thats one happy little girl

Called one in for my son opening week,,,awesome hunt... as far as leaving the field at 9,,at my place they've been cranking up again around 9:30 10:00 really good. Hang in there if he can! Good luck and good times

Took him on his first turkey hunt heh?..You know you now ruined a perfectly good human being!!! Welcome to the club... Hope u get the butterball

May 1-31 1/2 hour before sunrise till sunset 1 bearded bird Fall season 1 bearded bird no hens

NICE!!

Thanks guys and on a side note my son was wearing a GoPro cam and we got it all on video. He also went walking with his buddy and called up another gobbler for him which his friend promptly missed!! We almost took 2 nice birds off that hill that morning..

After hunting opening day on our place and having birds gobble but clam up after fly down, that afternoon I took my son and our friend to a private spot i recently was given permission to hunt to scout and see what we could find. Upon entering the big field from the access road we noticed birds loafing under a big pine.3 gobblers alone! This was about 4:30 in the afternoon. We just put the truck in reverse and backed out quietly so as to not spook anything.Next morning all 3 of us are in there early hoping to pull off a triple.The birds actually gobbled pretty late and not knowing the property that well we really didnt know the roosting areas,We had a good close bird gobbling from a low ridge above us in the tree line.We setup across the field in a blowdown with a good view of the ridge and I started calling on a mouth call.I was getting good responses from this bird just gobbling to every call as he strutted back and forth on the ridge waiting for his lady caller.I said ok guys I'm gonna give him a healthy dose of nothing and see what happens.The time ticked by and i could just imagine this bird up there hidden in the tree line wondering where the heck is this hen?.finally after much silence I switched to a slate call with a few soft purrs and low clucks..that was it!... he gobbled hard and then we heard footsteps in the leaves ...He stepped out in full view with sun beating on him and he saw the decoys we had out and started towards us in what seemed like forever he made his way fanning,strutting and drumming in full view 150 yds all the way across that wide open green field. My son inched up his gun barrel and boom!! What a great morning..7:20am nice bird down..typical 2 year old 8.5" beard nice spurs...We all agreed that was a moment that will last forever!

This is such an obvious case of locals helping themselves to your game before the season opens. Unfortunately this happens all the time..Game is heard or spotted on your property and someone feels the need to get them before the season opens and the rightful owner has a chance at it .As far as posted signs go although its the law you definitely know when your off your land and on someone else's!! I hope you get these guys. Decoys,calls and guns at 6am?...come on..poaching plain and simple

Remington 870 12ga Magnum drilled and tapped with Leupold Turkey scope. Remington factory extra full extended choke / Federal Premium 3" magnums #6

If your experienced enough and feel safe on the lands you hunt it can be done especially after a downpour and the leaves are soft and quiet. Best bird I ever got on my lease..20lbs 9" beard....wouldnt come to the call but gobbled incessantly to everything I threw at him..I finally got tired of waiting and stalked on my hands and knees to the edge of the clearing where he was strutting for a hen (the reason he wouldnt commit) and bushwacked him..legal?..yes..ethical? to me yes...dangerous?..you bet ya!

On our lease we setup a few double bull blinds in strategic places where we have observed turkey activity near field edges and in the woods. Most of the times I like to hunt a roosted bird from in the woods but on those drizzly quiet mornings when not much is happening its nice to have those blinds setup and ready and alot of times we'll see action. Carrying them around is a pain..its nice to have a plan b when your getting soaked or its real windy / cold.

"The Hooter" Owl Call (06898)

In my opinion you have found a great looking area holding birds and at least one nice gobbler. STAY out of there until opening morning and get in early in the vicinity of where u last saw activity and let the woods and birds talk to you....it will play out one way or another. and of course dont tell anyone where they are....no one..

Most of the time I dont use decoys..I dont like carrying them and honestly most of the time they seem to do more harm than good..birds seeing them from across the field and hanging up or acting squirrelly...closing day last year I worked a bird off the roost and finally had him coming to almost the "kill zone"..he stood there gobbling in thick brush and was craning his neck looking for the hen making all that racket..After a good standoff where i couldnt get a clear shot he walked off...I'm pretty certain if I had a decoy out he would have stomped right in....go figure...

Sounds like it was done very unprofessionally...too bad...but on the flip side the deer and grouse will love the cover provided by the tree tops and such..Turkeys will find better roosting but on our property after it was logged they didnt leave because of the farm fields.If you have a good food source they might stick around.We also had to do some cleaning and rearranging after the job was done but the hunting stayed good.

I like to hunt...anytime of the season it doesnt matter... I usually am fortunate enough to hunt a few times through the whole season from bow to muzzleloader..But late bow season is the best as far as I'm concerned as far as activity and sightings of game."Challenge" really has nothing to do with it..If I wanted a challenge I'de cut off an arm or go blindfolded...

The farmer always rotates crops on our lease in Owego. When he puts in oats its like a magnet..it pulls in everything from seeding on up to whatever is left in late winter..especially turkeys..I highly recommend it.

Generally owl calls are used in the early morning as a locator call although I prefer to let them gobble on their own and will only use it on unfamiliar lands. The crow call is effective later in the morning and midday..The crow call is also good to locate a bird thats call shy and once you pinpoint his location you can use the terrain to swing out in front and intercept him without ever using a hen call that might spook a savvy tom.

Although I am in favor of crossbows I would not like to see the season open and you choose your weapon..Much rather prefer to see archery season (including crossbows) and gun season seperate.I like to be in the woods when deer are active and moving freely about their day. Not hiding and acting like ghosts like they do as soon as the gun season starts.

your bow of choice should be a fairly recent model that fits you well and your budget and that you shoot often enough to be deadly at 30 yds and under out of a treestand or a ground blind...

Road trippin' and turkey huntin'...nothing like it. I did a road trip already to Alabama this year..I got a nice bird self guided. Chasing different turkeys in new habitats its awesome. They sure do love those burns! when I was in Alabama one of the local guys was like "Dem damn tuckeys love them charred bugs!..of course they way he said it was just much more cooler than I can describe.. You see such great sights while driving...and meet great people..all the good stuff you pass over if you fly.Again...congrats on a great hunt

Awesome story and great pics!

Within 5 years crossbows will be a non issue in NY...use em whenever...

You definitely the man... Awesome stuff!!!

I host on average a dozen DEC hunter safety classes at my shop a year. This spring my son and I are both each taking a young hunter on their first spring youth turkey hunt .I took my kids on youth hunts until they grew out of it and always pick a youngster every year for a duck or turkey hunt.