WNY Bowhunter

Probably not. I really not too worried about it... Nope. I'll cut his spurs off and display them with the band right along the rest of the collection. The northeast corner.

Update: Just got off of the phone with the lady from Penn State. My gobbler had 30 mm spurs (1 3/16") and had a little over a 10" beard when banded in February of 2007. Based on this, she said that he was probably 8 years old and is now the oldest reported bird in the banding study!!!

I lost the paper that they sent me reguarding my 2008 bird but they told me that he was a 2 year old when banded in 2007 and how many toms/jakes were banded at this location. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what I can find out. I figure that if he was a jake when banded in '07 that would have made him a minimum of 6 years old this spring.

Thanks guys. I'm still in shock a little bit over the whole band thing. I feel truely fortunate to have tagged such an old veteran gobbler. He'll probably be the oldest bird that I ever kill. I can't wait to get back out after them in the morning!!!

I don't typically use them unless I'm set-up overlooking a field. The bird I killed yesterday left a hen and came strutting in to check out my hen and jake decoys. The day before I had two hens come by my hen decoy and they kept picking around the field like it wasn't even there. Last weds. I had a gobbler come out into the field right off of the roost and strut back and forth for 10 minutes drumming like crazy just waiting for the hen that he heard calling to come to him. I really believe that if he had seen my dekes he would have come in and I would have tagged him. Turkeys all react differently and no two situations are ever the same in the spring turkey woods. Just when you think you have then figured out they'll throw you a curveball. That's what makes it so much fun to hunt them.

What "beard rot" actually is is a melanin deficiency in the beard strands which results in weakening/breakage. Typically, the broken tips will be orange-amber colored. The beard itself is just a set of modified feathers that don't get molted like the rest of the feathers do.

There's a phone number on the band that will put me in touch with the wildlife research dept. @ Penn State University. When I killed the first banded bird back in 2008 I called them up and they sent me a paper that stated when and where the bird was captured and how old it was when tagged. A percentage of the birds that were released had $100 reward bands which is just an little extra incentive to report the kill. Both of my banded toms were reward birds and I did recieve a $100 check for the first one. The reward on the one from yesterday expired back in July 2009 when they study ended. I will call them tomorrow and see what they can tell me. I do know that both gobblers were banded in 2007 on the farm where my buddy killed his bird this morning. Both of mine were taken on a neighboring farm 1.5 miles from the capture site. Actually, they where shot only a hundred yards or so apart...

Took a couple of buddies out this morning on their father-in-laws farm that is absolutely covered up in birds. It's the first time that they've been able to hunt this season with their hectic farming schedule. To make a long story short...we were completely surrounded by turkeys and gobblers sounding off everywhere. The only time that I've ever heard so much turkey talk is on TV!!! My Halloran Twisted Sister coaxed this mouthy 2 year old and a jake out into the field @ 6:10 and my buddy was able to bust his head. He was super excited as it was his first turkey...20 lbs, 8 3/4" beard and 7/8" spurs. My uncle killed this bruiser about a half hour later a couple hundred yards up the field...21.5 lbs, 10" beard and 1 5/16 & 1 3/8" spurs. I called another one in later in the morning across the road but the foliage was too thick to get a shot and he went around us and headed the other way. Seems like the hunting is getting better and the gobblers are really responding to the calls.

I was finally able to put a tag on an old warrior gobbler yesterday... 22 lb, 6 oz 9" beard (3/4 of it was "froze off") 1 1/4" spur (other was broken off @ 3/4") He's the second banded bird of my hunting career. Unbelievably, I killed a gobbler with band #N2280 back in 2008 and now band #N2281 today on the same farm. These turkeys were banded on a neighboring farm during the winter of 2007. That means that this dude was banded 5 years ago making him at least 6 years old!!! A true legend of the turkey woods!!! The 2008 banded bird... What was left of his beard... The mag blends tore him up @ 40 yds...

It's been a strange year for turkeys. A lot of the gobblers are still henned up big time...even through late morning. I've seen a bunch of strutters courting hens out in fields over the past few days. At the same time, a lot of birds are still flocked up. My dad saw a bachelor group of 22 jakes/toms feeding out in a cornfield on a local farm monday afternoon. What the heck are they all together like that for this time of the year? Pretty odd. I might get to hunt this spot on sunday if my buddy (who's father-in-law owns the place) can get the morning off to go out. I talked to the guy who's hunting the same birds that I've been after all week and he said there are 9 toms that are together in this group. You don't typically see multiple gobblers hanging out in the spring like this in these parts. Usually, you'll see a lone gobbler or maybe two with hens but not this many. I haven't punched a tag yet but have had action every day and heard at least 600 gobbles since last tuesday (400 plus on 5/2 and 5/3 alone).

One things for certain...the breeding season is far from being over. In fact, the gobblers are henned up big time right now!!!

Don't know what the heck is up with that stupid smiley face in my last post? It was supposed to say Region 8... Anyhow, here's some perrmethrin info: I used the 10% stuff and mixed one cup of permethrin to 20 cups of water. http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,3417.0.html http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1466835

Not quite that west...I'm in Steuben County (Region . I can vouch for the permethrin. Me, my father and 3 buddies hunted KY a few weeks back. Last year the other 3 guys pulled ticks off after every hunt. This year we all treated our clothing and no one found a tick the entire 5 days we hunted. It's far cheaper and just as effective to mix up your own rather than buying the Sawyer's brand stuff. You can make almost 5 gallons of tick spray from a 32 oz. bottle or 10% permethrin at a price of a round $20.

Same here. I've never had one on me.

I work from 4:00 PM - midnight...so I can get a few hours in every morning. It works out great for turkey season but sucks for bowhunting!!!

My plan is to hunt every morning until I fill both tags or season ends...

This spring has been very strange so far here in my hunting area (8R) as far as turkey sightings go. You'll see the birds out in one of the traditional fields where they always are and then you won't see them again for days? They really seem to be hanging out in the woods a lot more this year. I don't know what to make of it? Typically, they'll be out in the same fields every morning/evening from April all through season. I guess the good news is that I know that they are there and if I'm not seeing them then hopefully no one else is either. There certainly isn't a lack of turkeys around here. I'm still hoping for a great season as there were a ton of jakes around last spring and there seems to be a bunch this year too. There has been no shortage of hens to compete with for the past several seasons either. In fact, they have been quite a nuisance! Just got in from scouting a new little piece of ground that I jrecently picked up and easily heard 150+ gobbles from the 8-10 birds that were hammering around me. They went nonstop from 5:20 until they flew down @ 6:00 when the hens showed up on the scene and things quited down. It really has got me fired up for tuesday. Me and my buddy B-Mobile will be waiting for them!!!

Nice. I might have to bring my old b-mobile deke out of retirement for next tuesday's hunt...

Thanks guys. I actually don't hunt this area but I do shed hunt some of the local farms. I guess this explains why I wasn't having any luck finding big sheds there this spring. My uncle does hunt here and had never seen this buck before. At least he didn't go unrecovered.

Dude, I think that's a domestic turkey. Our easterns don't have the white bars on the tail feathers like that one does...it looks like a merriams sub-sepcies bird that got tossed through a barn fan.

I guess its interesting to note that there were 5 bucks last year (including this one) that scored over 140 that came from this square mile block of creekbottom. A neighbor found a 155" 8-pt. laying dead under an apple tree while mowing his yard a couple of weeks ago, there was a 150" 8-pt. killed by his neighbor during gun season, another neighbor killed a 141" main-frame 8-pt., and another neighbor killed a 150 class 11-pt. with a 25.5" inside spread on the opening day of gun season.

Just a little update: I realized that I found one of this deer's broken mainbeams last spring about a mile from where he died. He really put on some serious inches between '10 and '11,

I recognize the buck on the right here... I also know this guy in the front...

I killed one but it sucks that season doesn't open here in Region 8 until the weekend after bow season opens. Wish it would start on October 1st like the rest of the state. In actuality, I guess it doesn't really matter now that the archery season will start on 10/1.

I scored him at 148. I'd guess he was 4.5 or 5.5 years old.