Season recap

[alloutdoors]

Now that this one is in the books it's time for a brief look back at the season. The weather definitely made it a more challenging spring than usual. I ended up hunting eleven days total, eight mornings in New York to get my two birds and one more for a buddy and three days hunting with a friend in Maine. Here's how the season played out:

Day 1 (May 1st)

My friend drove up from PA the night before the opener and we went to a spot where I felt we had a pretty good chance at a double. We had four or five birds gobbling from the roost and were feeling pretty good about our chances when a coyote showed up and ran right through the field and in under the roost trees five or ten minutes before fly down. The birds went quiet after that and the two hens we could see roosting right at the edge of the field stayed in the trees for another hour. Eventually we see one gobbler but he wasn't acting right and still seemed cautious about the coyote. 

Eventually we headed for another property where we had about a half mile walk across some fields to get to an island of woods. Once we were into the woods I gave a few yelps on my trumpet and had birds answer on either side of us. We quickly set up and one of the birds was closing ground fast. It became clear pretty quickly that the bird moving in on us was a jake and within a few minutes he walked out strutting into the small clearing in front of us. He got a pass from both of us and after he wandered off we decided to see what was going on with the other bird which we could still hear gobbling from the far side of one of the fields. We snuck up to a farm lane near the corner of the field and could see a gobbler with hens on the far end. By friend stayed put by the corner and I backed off a bit and called to get the hens riled up. Eventually they started to slowly move our way and when the bird got within range my buddy dropped him with a load of TSS 8's from his 20ga M2. He's in the middle of building a new house so he decided to call it a hunt after that and head back to PA so I didn't end up with any photos of his bird but it was a decent two year old with a 9" beard, 7/8" spurs, and probably around 18 or 19lbs.

Day 2 (May 2nd)

Went to one of my most reliable spots and had three birds gobbling on the roost but they had five or six hens with them and shut up as soon as they hit the ground. The hens took them the other way and that was it for that spot. Tried another farm and got one distant gobble but had someone start running a box call between me and the bird and they ran it non-stop for close to five minutes. Didn't hear anything else after that.

Day 3 (May 6th)

My five year old son decided he wanted to go out with me for the first time ever. I thought he would probably change his mind in the morning but when I went to wake him up a 3:30 AM he hopped right out of bed and said he was ready to go. I decided to bring a blind since he would be with me and went back to the same spot I hunted on the 2nd. The field was soaked with dew so I walked the half mile to our spot with him on my shoulders to keep him dry while dragging the blind on a kayak cart, all while also carrying three decoys, my gun, and vest. Needless to say I was beat by the time I got out there but I got everything set and we were within 100 yards of the roost. The same three birds were gobbling at first light and flew down at the edge of the field with their hens. The hens ended up skirting us and the closest the gobblers ever got was a ranged 47 yards. My gun can easily handle that distance but I prefer to not knowingly shoot over 40 yards and I certainly wasn't going to take any kind of long shot with my son with me so we just watched them strut and gobble. By the time they wandered off he was starting to lose interest so I drove him home (40 minute drive) and then went to hunt at my parents house which is only a few miles away. I did see one hen and found a turkey nest, but mostly it was just a reminder of why I don't turkey hunt there.

Day 4 (May 7th)

My son didn't want to go the next day so I went alone and went right back to the same spot. This time I got in close and was within about 40 yards of their roost and between them and the field. It was lightly raining when I got there but had mostly stopped by the time it got light. Once the birds started gobbling I gave them a few soft tree yelps on the trumpet and then went quiet. They hit the ground behind a small rise where I couldn't see them but I could hear the whole flock assembling. Then the hens started to parade past one by one and the three gobblers were bringing up the rear. One of the hens got within a few yards of me and I was afraid she was going to bust me but she eventually made her way past. I picked out the bird that seemed to be doing the most strutting and gave him a face full of HeavyWeight 7's from my M2 at 28 yards. He had a 9 3/4" beard, 1 1/4" spurs, and weighed 21lbs.

Day 5 (May 13th)

I only had a couple hours to hunt and we were supposed to be getting rain anyway by mid morning. I decided to try for one of the other gobblers where I had shot my bird the previous weekend since it's a pretty easy in and out hunt and you usually either get them early or not at all. I got back in to the same spot but before sunrise I heard an ATV just across the property line on the other side of the field. It came to a stop and the idiot riding it started repeatedly revving the engine for about 20 seconds, then he shut it off. I don't think he knew I was there, but I think he wanted to scare the birds away from the field and back up into the woods where the property he was on wrapped around. As it turned out the birds weren't even there and I eventually heard them gobbling on the other side of the road. I would have really liked to have gone and let the air out of his tires but decided to hurry after the birds instead, unfortunately by the time I got there they had gone silent and I didn't hear them again. I made a quick effort at another farm but didn't hear anything there either. The rain started about 20 minutes before I had to head home so I called it a morning and headed back to my vehicle.

Day 6 (May 14th)

Went back to my opening day spot and got set up near the usual roost area well before dawn. As it turned out there had been a brief shower the night before and the birds elected to use their "wet weather" roost which is about 200 yards farther away. I was still in a good spot if they came through the woods to where they usually go into the field, but they swung out into the fields early and skirted around me. I discovered that there had been some new logging done during the past year and used a newly cleared logging road to move on them. I eventually was able to see five gobblers and three or four hens out in the field but they were just standing there not doing much. Eventually they started to slowly drift back toward where they had started earlier in the morning so I used the road to get back around in front of them. I got set up on the logging road near where it went out to the field and eventually had a hen and one of the gobblers work around into the field near the road. They were both answering my calls and I thought for sure they would come right up the road but instead the hen decided to walk through the thickest patch of brush she could find and took the gobbler with her. They disappeared into the woods and I never heard either of them again.

Day 7-9, Maine (May 18th-20th)

I spent a few days with a friend who lives in southern Maine and the first day started great with four or five gobblers responding to our calls early in the morning but we were hunting big woods and logging areas and even though one bird worked inside of 40 yards we couldn't get a look at him. The weather was crazy and temperatures went over 90 the first two days, which is hotter than it usually is when I hunt GA. The closest we came was an evening hunt in a field where we had seen a bird following a hen earlier in the day. He came back out but was joined almost immediately by four hens who led him away. We went in there the next (last) morning and never heard a peep from him. We covered a lot of mile but the birds just shut down in that heat. It was still fun and I'm looking forward to going back now that I know the lay of the land on a few spots there.

Day 10 (May 21st)

Back in NY and went back to where I had been on my previous hunt before going to Maine. Even though I knew better I set up on that logging road down near where it went into the field thinking that maybe with the new road they would be following it out into the field regardless of weather. Nope. It had been dry the night before so they were up in their traditional roost spot and went straight for the field after fly down. I spent the rest of the morning trying to convince one to come looking for me in the woods but they wouldn't bite.

Day 11 (May 22nd)

It rained over night and was supposed to continue throughout the morning. I had an appointment in the afternoon and was going to miss half the day at work anyway so I decided to take the morning off too since I knew exactly where those birds would be roosted. I set up right where the logging road entered the field again and waited. I didn't hear anything until close to thirty minutes after sunrise when one gobbled one time right where I expected them. I clucked twice on the trumpet and shut up. I didn't hear another sound for close to an hour when two birds suddenly gobbled to my left. They were on the logging road and working toward the field. They both gobbled one more time and I punched my 2nd tag as they walked past at twenty yards. 9" beard, sharp spurs a hair over 1", and 19 lbs. I definitely look a little sleep deprived in this photo.

As I walked out and got close to the road where I was parked I bumped into the boss gobbler with his harem of seven hens. He was strutting in the horse pasture about 60 yards from my vehicle and had never made a sound. He's going to be my primary target next year for sure.

[grampy]

Congratulations on a great season! I really enjoyed reading your re-cap of this years turkey hunting adventures! You really made some memories this year! Way to go!

[dmandoes]

Congrats on the birds! Great write up. Thanks for sharing.The pictures are well done.  Are you carrying  a tripod to take pictures?   

[alloutdoors]

1 hour ago, dmandoes said:

Congrats on the birds! Great write up. Thanks for sharing.The pictures are well done.  Are you carrying  a tripod to take pictures?   

The two shots with my birds are off a tripod. I leave it and the camera in the car rather than carrying them with me. A couple years ago I had a Sony RX1 that I would carry in my vest and it was awesome, but I ended up selling it when I was buying some other camera equipment. I think I need to get another one before next season though, it was perfect for carrying around without giving up any quality, and I could use it with one of the small flexible Joby tripods.

[maytom]

This season was a bust for me. All my honey holes have dried up!!!