WNY Turkey opener

[Jennifer]

Good luck to all of you turkey chasers tomorrow in WNY. I'd love to break a flock so my husband can experience the chaos for the first time!
Maybe we can gently bump some deer to the bowhunters out there, too. Best wishes to all!

[landtracdeerhunter]

Deer season seems to shadow the fall turkey season.   Enjoy the Fall turkey season everyone!   If big Tom Thumb walks close enough, as these poults and hens were,  he's going down, LOL.

Edited October 19, 2013 by landtracdeerhunter

[growalot]

All our turkey have moved off...they start heading down the hill  as soon as temps cool of and the winds kick in...tried calling this morning ...but no response

Edited October 19, 2013 by growalot

[landtracdeerhunter]

The pics posted were from last Sunday morn.. Haven't seen a turkey since and believe these have moved on also. The canopy is thinning which I believe has an influence here.

[Jennifer]

Once the insect population starts getting killed back by cold and freezing, turkeys will need to rely more heavily on forage in the leaf litter. Scratching seems a bit "later" than usual this year but keep your eyes peeled for scratchings. If you find old mixed with fresh, you know they are returning to that area to feed more than once.

 

Around here, fall turkeys rarely talk to us unless they get separated. It doesn't hurt to call but it also doesn't mean they aren't around. I can't tell you the number of times I've been fall hunting and called with no answer nearly all day, then walked right into a flock!

 

It has been my observation that areas with a lot of ground predators (coyotes, fox) also keeps turkeys more quiet in the fall, as these predators have learned to run in to turkey calling. I have called in more coyotes and foxes by accident with my turkey calls in the last 5 years than I have called in actual turkeys! The turkeys learn this pattern too and only chat if necessary, it seems.

 

We hit some smoking fresh scratchings today but never managed to bump into the birds that made them. Still a fun day!

 

The deer have also really started opening up scrapes aggressively on the property I hunt in the last few days.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Thought last afternoon was going to be the night for a gobbler. Had one with two jakes come into very close to bow range. My heart sank when they turned to head to their roosting tree. Heard them gobble this morning.

[Jennifer]

Tough weekend. No new scratching, but they aren't picking insects in the fields, either. I haven't observed any meat in the beech nuts or any acorns in my hunting locations. Maybe they are in the maple and ash seeds? Hard to say. Not a peep or feather all weekend.

[Jennifer]

Well, the turkeys won again this year!
This season we managed to roughly pattern some birds (we counted about 16-18 in the flock), and set ourselves up on them, but it's a very hard ridge to work because it's very steep and the birds can see you coming from nearly any angle. We set up to ambush, but as these things go they saw us before they were in range. We managed to get a good break of them-- some flying, some running, in nearly all directions. It was a dream scenario for fall turkey-- they were broke well and we set up in a good spot not far away to call them back in together. I've hunted fall turkey this way since I was 12 and it is one of my favorite experiences, to hear all the birds talking and trying to get back together.

Well, for whatever reason, this group has been strange the last few years and we didn't hear a peep or see a feather. We tried to work them all day and even set up trying to catch any stragglers wanting to group up just before roosting. No luck! The only thing I can figure is that the fox population has really skyrocketed in this area lately and maybe the foxes have them call-shy. I've noticed that when we turkey call we tend to call foxes in.

[landtracdeerhunter]

A tom and 2 jakes have set up shop here for about the last 4 weeks. The hens and what few poults we had left 5 weeks or better. I' ve been viewing these birds right into last Friday. This has never been witnessed on this farm for the last 14 years or better. The nut crop is exceptional this year along with 100 acres of uncombined corn still in the field near the woods. Is is normal to see these birds  going together this time of year?