Late May hunt in upstate NY

[Dr. Honk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMCPOo8ujcM

[Lawdwaz]

Cut to the chase, did ya kill one?  I can't spend too much time on youtube as it tires me out............

[MACHINIST]

If you can spend the time to go to youtube through his link look at the vid.At least he was decent enough to post the vid up for us to see

[Lawdwaz]

If you can spend the time to go to youtube through his link look at the vid.At least he was decent enough to post the vid up for us to see

 

 

 

I'll watch it and be appreciative. 

[MikeOC]

Nice bird!

[Dr. Honk]

Cut to the chase, did ya kill one?  I can't spend too much time on youtube as it tires me out............

 

I thought it would be more interesting to share a video than to post "I killed a nice long beard today".

 

Even though it was not the best video out there, I enjoyed filming it and editing it.

 

I am new to video taping but old to turkey hunting.

 

Enjoy your season.

[Terry]

I for one prefer a video to pics. Thanks for posting!

[Dr. Honk]

I for one prefer a video to pics. Thanks for posting!

 

Thanks Terry. I also prefer a video. It seems like I am a part of the hunt.

 

I'll get better in my filming ability. Hard to believe I still get excited after hunting these birds since the mid 70's.

 

Doc

[Lawdwaz]

I watched it, congrats on the kill.

 

 

I don't understand how that can be too exciting, sitting in a blind and hoping a gobbler will come in as apposed to being in the woods, locating a bird and outsmarting him with woods sense.  Outwitting a gobbler with your back to a tree, camo mask blurring your vision, black flies and mosquitoes buzzing, dry mouthing a diaphragm call, fumbling for your box, losing your striker for the slate call, having to figure out the best position for the gun in anticipation of his arrival, knowing when and when not to call, move your location etc. is what is about to me.  YMMV and obviously it does.

 

I'm sure it is still exciting to have the bird coming but silent (or darn near silent) gobblers don't interest me at all.  I'll walk and try and locate a vocal gobbler, maybe even blast a crow call or two................then a quiet subtle hen call with the diaphragm then maybe, just maybe a loud blast on the box call.  Nothing?  Move on............

 

That's the way I learned from guys like Ben Rogers Lee, Dick Kirby, Paul Butski, John McDaniel etc.  Maybe those fellas that are still alive of the group are hunting out of blinds these days?  I don't know......

 

I'd guess the people that started hunting with blinds were bow hunters; guys that were trying to kill one of the most difficult animals to outsmart in the open woods.  Hiding behind a tree, drawing the bow and making a PERFECT shot on a spring gobbler has to be the ultimate hunt east of the Mississippi.

 

The blind and decoys changed that.  I guess like all of life, somebody figures out an easier way to skin that cat and we all have to decide if thats the path or method we want to use.

 

Nice bird Dr Honk, how are you preparing him?

 

 

[Terry]

Dr. Honk, how did you hunt turkey years ago when the numbers were so low? I would love to hear your tactics from back in the day.

[whaler]

I watched it, congrats on the kill.

 

 

I don't understand how that can be too exciting, sitting in a blind and hoping a gobbler will come in as apposed to being in the woods, locating a bird and outsmarting him with woods sense.  Outwitting a gobbler with your back to a tree, camo mask blurring your vision, black flies and mosquitoes buzzing, dry mouthing a diaphragm call, fumbling for your box, losing your striker for the slate call, having to figure out the best position for the gun in anticipation of his arrival, knowing when and when not to call, move your location etc. is what is about to me.  YMMV and obviously it does.

 

I'm sure it is still exciting to have the bird coming but silent (or darn near silent) gobblers don't interest me at all.  I'll walk and try and locate a vocal gobbler, maybe even blast a crow call or two................then a quiet subtle hen call with the diaphragm then maybe, just maybe a loud blast on the box call.  Nothing?  Move on............

 

That's the way I learned from guys like Ben Rogers Lee, Dick Kirby, Paul Butski, John McDaniel etc.  Maybe those fellas that are still alive of the group are hunting out of blinds these days?  I don't know......

 

I'd guess the people that started hunting with blinds were bow hunters; guys that were trying to kill one of the most difficult animals to outsmart in the open woods.  Hiding behind a tree, drawing the bow and making a PERFECT shot on a spring gobbler has to be the ultimate hunt east of the Mississippi.

 

The blind and decoys changed that.  I guess like all of life, somebody figures out an easier way to skin that cat and we all have to decide if thats the path or method we want to use.

 

Nice bird Dr Honk, how are you preparing him?

 

 

I agree with most everything you said. The one exception is if you are taking a new hunter or even someone who is just coming along. In that situation, I have found its better to stay put. New hunters dont really have enough experience to be stealthy, quiet, know where to look, just basic woods skills.

 

there is nothing like bowhunting turkeys without a blind. So much fun.

 

Also, someone could argue that sitting in a treestand is very similar. Although, if you are run and gunning whitetail, youre probably up there with some of the greats.

Edited May 25, 2014 by whaler

[turkeyfeathers]

Nice bird . Surprised at no "run and stand on the head" with all that flopping going on. Someday I'd like to film a hunt but that doesn't look easy to do. I'd forget to hit the record button too !

[greg54]

Congrats Doc!!

[Dr. Honk]

I watched it, congrats on the kill.

 

 

I don't understand how that can be too exciting, sitting in a blind and hoping a gobbler will come in as apposed to being in the woods, locating a bird and outsmarting him with woods sense.  Outwitting a gobbler with your back to a tree, camo mask blurring your vision, black flies and mosquitoes buzzing, dry mouthing a diaphragm call, fumbling for your box, losing your striker for the slate call, having to figure out the best position for the gun in anticipation of his arrival, knowing when and when not to call, move your location etc. is what is about to me.  YMMV and obviously it does.

 

I'm sure it is still exciting to have the bird coming but silent (or darn near silent) gobblers don't interest me at all.  I'll walk and try and locate a vocal gobbler, maybe even blast a crow call or two................then a quiet subtle hen call with the diaphragm then maybe, just maybe a loud blast on the box call.  Nothing?  Move on............

 

That's the way I learned from guys like Ben Rogers Lee, Dick Kirby, Paul Butski, John McDaniel etc.  Maybe those fellas that are still alive of the group are hunting out of blinds these days?  I don't know......

 

I'd guess the people that started hunting with blinds were bow hunters; guys that were trying to kill one of the most difficult animals to outsmart in the open woods.  Hiding behind a tree, drawing the bow and making a PERFECT shot on a spring gobbler has to be the ultimate hunt east of the Mississippi.

 

The blind and decoys changed that.  I guess like all of life, somebody figures out an easier way to skin that cat and we all have to decide if thats the path or method we want to use.

 

Nice bird Dr Honk, how are you preparing him?

 

Let me explain a few things about this hunt. 99.9% of the time I do not use a blind. This is the first year I have attempted to video tape my turkey hunts. When it is pouring down rain, you have an expensive video camera and you still want to fill your second tag, you hunt out of a blind. Water and electronics do not get along very well.  

 

Do you think I just stumbled on this bird by accident ("sitting in a blind hoping that a gobbler would come in")?

 

 Over the past week, the toms in this part of NY were not very vocal. The early part of the season was just the opposite. They may gobble on the roost and then maybe once or twice  when they hit the ground. This is typical for late season gobblers but you probably already know that.

 

I scouted this area all week before work. There were two long beards and three hens together. For me that was a 4:00 am wake up call every morning. Based on my scouting, I had a pretty good idea  where these birds were roosting. Past experience has shown  that turkeys like to go to fields during a hard rain. They would rather rely on eye sight than hearing to keep out of danger. Leaf covered trees are quite noisy when it rains. The area I hunted had several hay fields that were about a foot high and the corn field  that had not been plowed. The corn field would be a logical pace for these birds to be THAT particular morning.

 

But then again, what could I possibly know. I do enjoy spring turkey hunting every year in GA, PA and NY and have only killed 93 gobblers so far.

 

But that's just me.

 

Now to get back to your question on how I am going to prepare that bird? 

 

I really don't know yet. I have several ways to cook turkeys. Most of the time, I breast out my birds and keep e legs and thighs to make turkey soup. If I am going to deep fry I will leave the bird whole.

 

With breast meat:

 

I may season it and put it in the smoker.

 

Chunk it, put it in an egg wash, coat it with zatarains chicken frying mix and fry in canola oil.

 

Cut the breast into serving size portions, pound it out with a meat mallet to tenderize, egg wash, coat with Italian bread crumbs and make turkey parm. For the sauce I use Bertolli's with olive oil and extra garlic.

 

I have also chunked it and put it in a slow cooker with butter and  hot sauce to make buffalo style turkey breast.

 

Thanks for watching the video.

 

 

[Dr. Honk]

Dr. Honk, how did you hunt turkey years ago when the numbers were so low? I would love to hear your tactics from back in the day.

 

Well Terry, it was a real learning experience since I come from a deer hunting family that did not even think about turkey hunting. I was fortunate that my Grandfather had a camp in the Catskills on 90 acres of hardwoods in Delaware County that had turkeys. As you may know, the Gilboa / Blenheim area was one of the first places that was used to relocate turkeys that were trapped in PA. I am sure the birds that I hunted were also transplants from PA or decedents of those birds.

 

All of my hunting was in the hard wood hills of the Catskill mountains. No decoys, no blinds and old army pattern camo was what I used.

 

My first turkey call was a signed box call by Ben Rogers Lee(I still have that call today), I would listen to a cassette tape on how to make turkey sounds and I would practice to get the proper sound and cadence.

 

I believe I killed my very first gobbler (Jake) the second year I hunted turkeys. From then on it was hit or miss on weather I harvested a bird or not. It was not for lack of trying, just inexperience. I would set up in the wrong place on the mountain, be on the wrong side of the creek, move the gun and the turkey would see me, take a nap and wake up to a putt because I was snoring too loud. You know, typical rookie mistakes. I am much better today than back in the day and the good Lord has blessed me with more gobblers than any one man deserves.

 

When diaphragm calls became available, I was determined to learn how to use them. My first diaphragm call was a Quaker Boy pro triple. I purchased it at the factory store in western NY while on a business trip. After a solid two weeks of gaging, choking and spitting on my self, I was finally able to make a sound that was similar to a turkey ( My wife was not too happy during that learning experience).

 

Fast forward, my go to call is still a diaphragm but HS Strut split V in either 2,3 or 4 reeds. I like the rasp of these calls. I still carry a box call or slate call in my turkey vest and use them on occasion.

 

I use Buckwing (now Primos) turkey decoys. I usually set up a hen and jake combo but have used different combinations of upright hens, feeding hens. Yesterday was the first time I used the B Mobile decoy although I have had that decoy for about four years.

 

So that's my story for now. Thanks for asking.

[landtracdeerhunter]

I may have missed your post. Did this turkey come in silent? Pretty much every one I've called in, past years has been silent. It's so easy to miss or think you've hit the record button. Done it a few times. And just to add a note, I find it far easier to film out of a blind, less detection of movement, by the keen eye of turkey.

[Dr. Honk]

Nice bird . Surprised at no "run and stand on the head" with all that flopping going on. Someday I'd like to film a hunt but that doesn't look easy to do. I'd forget to hit the record button too !

That bird was done as soon as I touched the trigger. The shot was 24 yards with a very tight choke. I edited out the no flopping part. If you watch the video you will see there is no stiffness in the neck when he is flopping.

 

If I was 20 years younger I may have ran out and stood on his head for the sake of the video. These 65 year old legs don't move as fast as they used to

[Dr. Honk]

I may have missed your post. Did this turkey come in silent? Pretty much every one I've called in, past years has been silent. It's so easy to miss or think you've hit the record button. Done it a few times. And just to add a note, I find it far easier to film out of a blind, less detection of movement, by the keen eye of turkey.

 

Yes, he came in silent. The toms were very vocal in the beginning of the season but did not gobble much at all last week. This bird gobbled a couple times on the roost and once when he hit the ground.

[Terry]

Thanks for the reply to my question Dr. Honk.