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Never been out for turkey

Biggest04

By Biggest04,
in Turkey Hunting

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Biggest04 Newbie

Biggest04

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This site is very helpful, so I figure I will see what happens. I have been reading through a bunch of threads on here about turkey hunting, I have never been. I live outside of Albany, no hunting in my area. Any advice for someone who has never been out for turkey, advice on finding them, calling techniques, public land near Albany etc.? Any help is greatly appreciated. 

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Adkhunter1590 Newbie

Adkhunter1590

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Where outside Albany?
Get out onto public land. Do some walking and calling. It will take time to figure out exactly where to go but that's what it's all about. There's tons of state land around, just have to look at maps of them and plan out some areas to search around. Look for areas that border private farm fields or that have fields on the state land. Toms like to strut around in open fields and work around his hens. It's a good place to start at.
Roosting them the night before a hunt can help as well. Basically all your doing is listening for them to fly up into their trees for the night and trying to pinpoint exactly where those trees are. You return the next morning well before sun up and sneak into their bedroom so to speak. Get set up and hope they fly down into your lap. Obviously all this stuff doesn't always work out they way it's supposed to, but that's the general idea. Before they fly up and right after getting up into the trees they will usually gobble and the hens might yelp and make some other noises. This is what your listening for. In poor weather like rain or high winds, you likely won't hear much of anything. A lot of times if I'm looking for the flock I'll try and find a high point in the road around the state lands to park on and listen from. You can hear them from a long ways off on a calm wind night. This can help get you closer for the next day.

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Core Rookie

Core

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I'd never been before, either. I just had no idea how to get started but ran into a guy yesterday who's big into it and he said he likes showing people the ropes because it gets his season extended (as you can only get two of them). He's been out three times this year and called in turkeys all three so I am planning on going out this week.

Seems like a ton of work compared to deer for the amount of meat one gets but people seem to like turkey hunting, so we'll see how it goes. Dragging a turkey out of the woods seems pretty easy, too!

Good luck :)

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Adkhunter1590 Newbie

Adkhunter1590

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It can be a lot of work at times. They can be incredibly difficult to hunt. They change directions, stop gobbling, run away, all sorts of stuff with little to no warning. Sometimes you'll have two toms come in gobbling like crazy to your calls, only disappear behind some brush 40 yards out and then never be seen or heard from again. They are amazing at slipping away into thin air.
But the fact that you can use calls to communicate with them makes it really cool. When you get a hot tom that cuts off you calling less than a second into it with a gobble, it can get your heart rate pumping!
Generally the weather is a bit nicer this time of year to, so that makes hunting them much nicer compared to freezing in a deer stand. Not having to worry about being scent free or even all that quiet is nice too.
And yes, carrying a turkey over your shoulder is MUCH easier than dragging a deer haha

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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16 hours ago, Biggest04 said:

This site is very helpful, so I figure I will see what happens. I have been reading through a bunch of threads on here about turkey hunting, I have never been. I live outside of Albany, no hunting in my area. Any advice for someone who has never been out for turkey, advice on finding them, calling techniques, public land near Albany etc.? Any help is greatly appreciated. 

I'd seriously consider fishing.  If you already are a fisherman/women, hone your skills and become a BETTER fisher-person.

:)

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turkeyfeathers Veteran

turkeyfeathers

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20 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

I'd seriously consider fishing.  If you already are a fisherman/women, hone your skills and become a BETTER fisher-person.

:)

Larry , want to go halvsies on a big boat ? I can't seal the deal yet this year.. After  hunting 20 days last year and eating both tags this is getting sad. 

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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15 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Larry , want to go halvsies on a big boat ? I can't seal the deal yet this year.. After  hunting 20 days last year and eating both tags this is getting sad. 

They kicked my butt last year (and I won't repeat or bore others on the straight years I went killing at least one!) and I was left with un-inked tag also.  This year I've only got two days in and I'm ready to start honing hooks and loading up on Frabill Crawler Cabins for fishing.

How big a boat should we get?

:)

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smokecreeks guy Newbie

smokecreeks guy

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42 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

They kicked my butt last year (and I won't repeat or bore others on the straight years I went killing at least one!) and I was left with un-inked tag also.  This year I've only got two days in and I'm ready to start honing hooks and loading up on Frabill Crawler Cabins for fishing.

How big a boat should we get?

:)

go big or go home if your gonna fish Erie or Ont start at 18 ft   John

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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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44 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

They kicked my butt last year (and I won't repeat or bore others on the straight years I went killing at least one!) and I was left with un-inked tag also.  This year I've only got two days in and I'm ready to start honing hooks and loading up on Frabill Crawler Cabins for fishing.

How big a boat should we get?

:)Get one big enough for you guys plus one short , fat guy with a cooler full of beer.

 

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Steve D Proficient

Steve D

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18 hours ago, Biggest04 said:

Any advice for someone who has never been out for turkey, advice on finding them, calling techniques, public land near Albany etc.? Any help is greatly appreciated. 

With the second week of the season approaching you may want to consider this. A little pricey but by the time you learn anything on your own the season will be over.

http://www.biggamehuntingny.com/turkey_hunting.htm   Besides..... it will give you a good idea if you like it or not.

 

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Marion Proficient

Marion

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Sadly all of my turkeys save 2 were during deer season with the bow. Here's to hoping that with a new blind (winter took a big dump on mine) may finally get it done with the bow during the spring. I have at least a dozen massive toms on my trail cams. Let's hope I can connect with just one of them this season734c60c94857a1871f6aa698ea138acc.jpgdaebd0e781340e2ba386bdb8b467b7cb.jpg79129d517296d88e8aeacd6e49932dab.jpg

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

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