RTGobbler

Haaa yea there is never enough time to hunt, scout, and roost that is for sure. Moog, we all start out terrible. But making mistakes and learning is part of the fun!! These birds make us all bang our heads against the wall when first starting . It is interesting to see everyone say mostly the same thing, waiting longer for quiet and henned up birds. This makes me want to ask a semi-religious question as a follow up.... .....are you generally an active/mobile turkey hunter or a sit, call, and wait hunter?

I wonder where exactly they are going to put it. There is not much land near the commons that is accessible without crossing the RR or 87. Maybe it wont be right with the outlets, might have to move it south towards Harriman or west down 17 a bit. Also how they are going to change the traffic patterns will be interesting, especially since they are trying to get a casino approved to build right in Harriman too.

So with another season in the books and under your belt, what did you learn this year? What will you change or try differently next year? For me I think I have a few things... 1) Evening scouting and finding new places is important. I have grown up hunting turkeys on semi-public land with almost no pressure other than me, my brother, and old man. They birds were usually in the same spots season after season (still hard to kill the big ones though, damn hens always taking them the other direction). This year I spent a lot more time hunting very public land with a lot of pressure (sterling forest). This forced me to cover more ground and spent a lot of time in the evening woods listening and hooting. Found myself a good spot and a nice bird because of it. Next year I will be doing more of the same 2) Patience! Patience! Patience! I still need to continue to work on this. I have always been a mobile turkey hunter, and this has been successful for me in the past. When the turkeys are gobbling and moving its easy to keep tabs on them to move around on them. This was a must because the hens would always move them the other direction, so you had to circle and pick the right spots. However when the bird aren't gobbling, like on some heavily hunted public land you need to adjust. I have always had a hard time sitting and calling past around 7 or 7:30 AM without getting up and moving, and then walking and calling for a few miles. I need to be more patient in spots and wait for the silent birds to come in. After hearing the number of birds that you guys have seen, spooked, or killed that came in silent this is a must for me. How about you folks? - RTGobbler

Had a great first time participating in this contest. Lots of fun and can't wait until next year! Thanks to WNY and all who helped put this together and hosting!

Awesome bird and a great story to boot!

One, maybe two gobbles. Heard to tell with these damn leaves. After the first one tried to cut the distance. We'll see how it goes. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Awesome bird and nice planning to get him.

Raining pretty good here with some thunder and lightning. Looks like I'm staying in bed... Sigh... Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Nice bird! The jake was in there trying to learn how to score!

Very nice!

Hey Two Track, sounds like you were back by Eagle Valley? There is a parking spot there and I believe that a lot of the left hand side of the road there (when heading towards the Tuxedo Park gates) is huntable. I don't have the map in front of me though. I was up that way on Sunday late AM, but there were two trucks parked already. Out of curiosity where in Sterling have you been trying out? I have been spending a few days back off Ironwood Dr/Hogsback. Got a nice bird there Sunday of opening weekend, and called in some jakes as well. Also have seen some sign behind the mulch plant but haven't done much hunting back there yet.

One thing we have done with dekes in the past is to put them behind you. So even if they see them they are 20 or 30 yard behind you and when the real birds hang up at 50 yards then they are only 20 yards from you. This works best when you know or have a good idea of what direction the bird will come from. If there are more than 2 people it works even better because you have the call setup behind you as well and pull the birds right past the shooter. But even if you don't you can try to throw your calls behind you, or muffle them with your hand. If you in a blind then just throw the calls out the back of the blind towards the dekes instead of the front of the blind towards the real birds.

Had no issues online, thought it was a pretty good experience...for a government site.

Not much today. A lone gobble early around 6:30 then nothing until 8:30ish. Got two hens going from different directions, but they met away from me and walked off. Got me to thinking that one of them might have had a gobbler with her and didn't want to walk over and share. All in all a good weekend in the woods. Now its time to roost them at night until Thursday AM.

Definitely the most satisfying hunt, love it when you work them all season and then it comes together. Nice job!

Called in 5 jakes. Didn't have any great shots because they were to the right. Came to about 25 yrds though. Not sure if I'd have taken one either way. They were all pretty young. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Good luck this morning folks. Hopefully the rain the last few days will get them talking on this nice sunny day.

Awesome video! Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I aim for 4:30 to 5 depending on the spot and if they were roosted the night before. The more I know about where the birds are the earlier I am out. Like everyone said, hearing the woods come alive and the birds waking up is a great morning.

Not a gobble trying to roost some bird the last two nights. Been super quiet.

No, its not too bad. I only carry the engine, no cars or caboose. It's nice because when I'm tried I can just drive it out. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Well I will have to keep at it. I have had a number of different calls over the years, but always the same results. I have had them gobble back to just about everything else in the vest, owl hooter, peacock, woodpecker, goose, dog whistle...not all the time but at least a few times. The crow call though, he's the odd call out....well the train whistle hasn't worked yet either but its only been half of a season.

Great bird man! Congrats! Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

This is something that baffles me to no end. Everyone claims the crow call is a great locator and is the daytime go to for gobblers. But in my whole turkey hunting career I have never ever ever had a bird gobble back to a crow call. Ever. So my question is....how the heck are you guys doing it!?!? What's the cadence and the volume? Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Not a peep this AM. Walked and talked a few miles of trails. Was so darn hot by mid morning too. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk