WNY Bowhunter

I hunt near Bully Hill winery in Hammondsport but have never seen a deer like this over there. This guy is more near Branchport.

Just up the hill from Keuka Lake...

No, what you see is a hayfield that was just cut through a thin hedgerow...

Here are a few grainy still shots from the video footage of a stud of a buck that I came across while driving around doing some deer scouting tonight. He's gotta be one of the widest bucks that I've ever seen on the hoof...can't wait to see what he looks like in another month!!!

Yes, both genetics and age are factored into beard length on a turkey. Turkey beards grow around 5-6 inches every year. Generally, jakes will have a beard that is 3-5" long, two year olds will be from 7 to 10. After that you will not notice significantly longer beards on birds that are older because the tips continue to wear off through out it's life...meaning that a tom that lives to be 4 years old has grown around 2 ft of beard in it's life!!! Multiple beards are controlled by genetics, but the trait will never become prominant enough in the population that it is common. My uncle was fortunate enough to killed back-to-back triple bearded toms on the same farm in 2012 and 2013... I killed this double bearded gobbler on a neighboring farm this past season. He was my first multiple bearded longbeard...

Nice birds. That is an big early hatch jake from last year. His juvenile wing feathers are a give a way...

Dang he's gonna be a nice one. Only 7 more more months or so and those sheds will be on the ground...

I aided a painted turtle today in her road crossing efforts. I hate seeing them smashed in the road...

Awesome way to end the season. Gotta love those 1.25" hooks!!!

Yes, Indian Creek make a great choke. I used one for a couple of seasons with my Browning BPS but have since switched to a Pure Gold. Both chokes patterned about the same but the IC was a pain to clean. What brand/model gun are you using?

I plan on given the Win. Longbeard XR shells a try after season to see if they live up to their hype...

I meant that I have used (and still use) the regular mag blends. Prior to that I also used hevi 6s and even straight 7s.

No. But, I've used the regular ones since they first came out 4 or 5 seasons ago. IMHO hevishot is worth the price tag!!!

That was a unique turkey story. Congrats on putting the demon bird down!!!

Congrats man...pics???!!!

It'll work. I rig my gobbler deke up with a real fan and wings too...

I wish I had a couple of farms like they do just to shed hunt!!!

Well, my wife and I hit the turkey woods once again this morning looking for a lonely gobbler. Our last hunt together was back on the 12th and we were fortunate enough to bring a fine longbeard home with us that morning. The first farm that we checked out was a dud so we decided to head back to the house and crawl back in to bed for a few hours. On the way, I wanted to check out a spot that I though might be holding a bird. I got out of the truck and tooted on the crow call and sure enough...a gobble thundered back from the lower corner of the woodlot. We got back in the truck and circled to the bottom of the field to make a move on him. On the way we saw spotted him with three hens picking along the powerline running through the field. Game on!!! We quickly grabbed our gear and snuck up into the hedgerow that runs through the alfalfa. It wasn't a great setup but there wasn't much that we could do about it. I made a few soft calls on the crystal and he answered back. I started cutting and he hammered back but the two hens that were with him hauled tail back towards the woods leaving Mr. Longbeard and his little buddy jake out in the field waiting on the new girl to come up to them. He was very interested but wouldn't come down to investigate. Eventually, they got bored and headed back up over the knoll and we backed out to make a move on them. The crows were going crazy which kept the gobbler fired up. We managed to get around them and I told Erin to crawl out to the field edge while I stayed back and called. Meanwhile, the two hens that were out there earlier started clucking in the woods to our right. I started clucking on my crystal and a gobble erupted back within shooting range but just out of sight over the hill. Suddenly, a red head popped up over the knoll and I saw her get into position to shoot. I knew what was about to happen...she was too far away for me to whisper to to tell her that was the jake and not the tom so I was just going to have to let it play out. A few seconds later the shotgun barked...the jake hit the ground and the longbeard flew off into the woods to live another day. She thought she had killed the tom until I went running up to her. Oh well, it was a fun hunt, especially for late season...

Awesome jake. Congrats!!!

They changed the format since then.

I had issues with 2 out of the 4 birds that I reported. I like the older system WAY better.

They certainly can..the one I killed had several eggs inside of her.

I've killed two bearded hens: one in the fall and one in the spring. Typically, I would never have even remotely considered killing the spring one; I've had several other opportunities over the years. The only reason that I took the one I did was that it was the last morning of season, the longbeard that I was after pulled a no show...it was about to start raining and she came in and attacked my decoy. Oh yeah, not to mention this bearded lady had screwed me over several times that season so I guess that it was a personal matter...lol. With that being said, I wouldn't do it again in the spring...

Most beards that are 10"+ are basically just 9 -9.5" with a few longer strands in the middle. I'm with you on the trophy hunting...he's got a full fan and he's going down!!! The turkeys get a TON of hunting pressure here too. Killing one is no easy task like it is portrayed on those hunting shows on TV, that's for sure... I've been hearing lots of reports of getting busted by birds this year with the late arrival of the foilage.

Congrats. Let's see those pics!!! I'm rather surprised at the number of 10" beards you've taken over your gobbler killing career. I've seen numerous Steuben County birds that have hit or exceeded that mark. I don't ever recall seeing an 11" beard though...