518BowSlayer

been a rough season so far over here in 4b. tons of gobbling from the roost then gets real quiet every morning. my dekes keep scaring them away so I retired them for the season. haven't been responding to calls either until this morning. had to switch it up today and go run and gun through the woods. finally induced a gobble with some soft clucks around 10am. problem was he was across the creek which is the property line that I'm not suppose to cross. called him in from at least 200yrds away across the neighbor's field. came right up to the creek but there was no place for him to cross. had him strutting and gobbling like crazy but he wasn't getting his feet wet. really wish I had ran upstream before calling him in where there is a big tree that fell across the creek but he came in so fast that I didn't have the chance. nice bird too, probably a 8 or 9 inch beard. it's too bad that I actually respect the neighbor's property and didn't just trespass on his land like some other d-bags in the area. wouldn't have been legal but I would have a bird in my freezer.

real nice!!! you should do a fan mount, looks like he has all his tail feathers. real easy to do too! sweet looking bird!

your absolutely right, this was his last warning. next time im calling dec

crazy gobbling in 4b from the roost this morning. then some a-hole and his kid try to set up 10 yds next to me. pretty sure the birds heard me yelling at this d-bag because they stopped gobbling and never came out to the field. not to mention this is the 3rd time I had to kick this moron off the property in the past 3 years. he tried to justify it by saying he's hunted there for 20 years yet he's been told not to hunt there by me, my father in-law, and the land owner. I had to go through so much BS just to get today off from work and this piece of trash ruins my hunt in a matter of minutes. had to run and gun the rest of the day, had some gobble back but nothing came in close enough. it's too bad because I would have had at least 4 gobblers in front of me if it weren't for that no good trespassing jerk.

you pluck the feathers or just skin him???

I just wear my regular hunting clothes with a cheap plastic oversized camo rain coat from walmart. works for me. if it's pouring rain your not gonna wanna be out no matter what your wearing

I usually get a little impatient around 9:30-10 if I'm not getting too much action, that's usually when I switch to a run and gun approach. try to walk through to woods quietly and then stop and give a couple soft clucks or purrs. is that creek in a valley or is it pretty flat ground? if there's a valley then you can use it as a natural amplifier for your calls and they will travel further. But sometimes impatience can get the best of you. on several occasions I've started to pack up to move somewhere else and that's when they would show up. maybe stay in your spot all morning one day and try running and gunning the next. I think the more you hunt turkeys, the more you realize how unpredictable they can be.

best of luck to you!!! but don't always judge success by getting a kill. just enjoy your time in the woods and if you see birds or hear some gobbling, count that as a victory. if you do get to harvest one than that is a grand slam!!! I hope you do get one but don't be discouraged if you don't. just enjoy the ride!!!

awesome pics man!! this is really getting me excited for the 1st!!!

Definitely look impressive, kinda regret buying a bunch of Remington premier high velocity loads a few months back but they should get the job done. might be trying these next year, of coarse by then they will probably have something even better out. I don't care much about the super long distance, I just want something really really tight at 30yds

Haven't found a good way to cook tender shotgun pellets yet, until then I'm gonna wait for a good shot before pulling the trigger. Last year I got lucky though. I was in some hardwoods and waited for him to walk on the other side of a tree that was about 20yds in front of me. As soon as he poked his head on the other side I blasted him and the tree blocked some of the pattern. Only found 2 pellets in one of the breasts and 0 in the other. It was kind of like shooting at a turkey target, all I saw was head!

I'm in!!!!

I've been to the Postenkill a few times so far and caught a bunch of small stockies but nothing over 10 inches yet. Probably hit the Kinderhook in a few days and me and my dad are gonna go up to the Mettawee in the next few weeks or so. Anyone else having any luck??

Nice buck, nice mount and a really cool story about tracking him! that must have been exciting!

Been a long winter, I've had cabin fever since the end of muzzleloader season! Trout fishing helps but I'm dying over here waiting for May 1st!

i'll be honest, I'm jealous. that thing looks awesome!!!

would definitely shoot it and mount it! cool looking trophy to me

I would definitely shoot a jake this year. actually I'm hoping to bag one, not just cause their good eatin, but I also want the fan for my full strut decoy. always prefer a longbeard but any legal bird will do for me

haven't heard anything yet but I did see about 10 birds out in a field yesterday with one big gobbler strutting around

well thanks for all the info everyone! think we're gonna go with a .243 bolt action. now I just gotta find one in my price range. think I'll start a new topic for that.

never had a chance to sight in my scope this year on my rifled shotgun barrel so I went out with the smooth bore with rifled slugs and just a truglo fiber optic sight. double lunged an 8 pointer with it (only a 15 yd shot though). never did any traditional archery though. maybe next year

Selkirk in Albany County

came out pretty good. real good price too. 8 point 165lbs dressed, shot on Nov 21 with a 3" slug

Mossberg 500 12 gauge, Truglo Strut Stopper Xtreme choke, Remington Premier High-Velocity Copper-Plated Buffered Turkey Loads #5. And... PSE Fire Flight with 100 grain Magnus Bullheads. All Head Shots!!!

just store the guns at your girlfriends house and your wife will never know!!!