Spring Turkey Success 2011

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thought Id make a thread for everyone to post up their birds this spring.

[Geno C]

look you all over it already lol 

[Arrowsmith]

Hunted out of my uncles camp near E'ville May 1st and 2nd. Birds were strangely silent and fields that held gobblers strutting in snow 2 and 3 weekends ago were like ghost towns. My uncle managed to scratch down a nice jake, but where did all those big boys go? Forgot to take pic before jake was made freezer ready! Darn.

[growalot]

Congrats to your uncle on the Jake

[Contender]

Apparently , all the hunters that hunted yesterday,  went to work today. I had the place to myself and had 4 birds gobbling all around me. They all shut up when they hit the ground . Around 6:15 , a bird started answering me to my right, at 6:30, he was on the ground.

18.3 lbs

double beard, 9 inch and 6 inch

5/8" spurs

yesterday was a bust with the bird we setup on getting shot above us at 6:15. At 11:00 my son called in a huge tom and he stayed in some thick stuff . No shots.

Tomorrow , will be a washout but I hope I can get in a couple hours before the rain starts.

[nyantler]

Nice double beard! good pic too... congrats

[Cappy]

We had a rough opening day and yesterday was no better, turkeys not talking, we know there around but could not get them to talk, no shots in my area (Norwich) and no strutters in the fields. Is it too early??? We usually get great action the first few days. ???

[growalot]

Contender nice bird! Congrats!

Went out yesterday and called in a single hen we got to talking and a gobbler joined in ...she moved to my left and behind the brush blind and he came in from the left...at 30yrds he spotted my decoy and was turning when his head popped up and he fluffed..dang he spotted the live  hen and was starting behind and away...I had a tiny opening but feared a bad shot ...so I decided when his head went behind a tree to stand/ turn shouldering gun....well...next thing I know ...It looks like two giant bullets going threw the woods...lol ...he was bigger than the first and had a nice beard..

Today 3 Toms gobbling ...called in a hen to the 2 decoys ...it rained the entire time....and stopped raining at 12:15pm Oh well...Toms circled ...one got good and close but the brush has seriously greened up and I couldn't see him..... I will be putting decoys away...I'm calling them in but once they see the decoy they hang up...and the live hens ...I'm no match for

Good luck out there............

[nyslowhand]

Spent 5 hours Sunday calling to & playing with a tom or being played with.

He wouldn't come out of the adjacent, posted property.

Monday AM spent 3 hours of absolute silence & "nothingness" before I decided to quit.

On way out of property was calling every 100yds when suddenly one gobbled at ~80yds.

Scrambled to get off the ATV path, find a set-up, ditch my pack, get mask on & ready for the action.

It was over in about 3 minutes, got a jake at ~50-60yds.

Nothing to brag about, but with the lack of many other birds I feel lucky.

An ~18# jake with full length tail feathers (fan), kinda unusual.

Will continue hunting for another, but don't expect much luck.

[growalot]

Bird in hand better than two in bush ...Congrats on a great hunt and meat on the table

[DTG3k]

Hunt Day 1: I get into a field at 415 to watch the sunrise over the mountains. At about 5 o clock i move to the edge of the field and set up, begin my calling, all quiet for about an hour. Then i hear what sounds like a gobble, and my heart starts pounding. I call a bit more, and the voice is getting closer. I get super excited, then i see him behind me and to my right. I sit steady, waiting him to get closer. He is SPRINTING in gobbling his head off. And heres where it all goes wrong, for SOME REASON, whether it be excitement or stupidity, i decide to change my shooting position. He is behind some trees so i make my move. As i finish my motion, i see him stop, split second later he is running in the other direction. He used his xray vision to see through the trees. I sat their half crying half laughing at myself.

Hunt Day 2: Different part of the field, i hear gobbling from the early morning. This bird is answering my calls, hes answering random crows calling, and even birds chirping. Just gobbling his head off. But he isnt coming any closer, it sounded like he was moving closer than farther, i assumed he was strutting his stuff to attract girls. So when he was on the far end of his path i moved closer, hoping to catch him on his return trip. But apparently i did it too late, when i got to my next spot he was hobbling even farther down. Then even farther, and then silence. Guess he just got done strutting or walked off with a real girl.

Ehh well, theres always next week.

[growalot]

Finally talked better half into going out...promise of warm dry shooting house...hhmmm better get the others done quick...may have lost my deer blind this year...lol any how ...I sat in turkey chair under blind and they were gobbling way early off the roost...3 all around us but one very close....so I did a couple of light calls and heard the fly down....10 mins to 6 and we were all done!....20-21lbs... 8 1/2 " beard but most of it was gone...and 7/8" spurs...Well he practically ran out of woods ....no pics quick kiss and thanks  then out the door by 6:25....So I took measurements...pics and put the bird up....e-mailed them to him....

Reminded me of our daughter...went out opening morning of deer season 10mins ...shot and 8pt buck...first gun buck...went to camp showered and was at school by 9am.....lol  Gidder done!

[nyslowhand]

Good for you!!

[cwhite]

I finally got a chance to post my Monday hunt.  I got off to a late start due to a tragedy in Constable, NY.  It was close to 8:30AM before I was in at my hunting spot.  I didn't get a chance to change into my hunting clothes so I just grabbed a camo jacket, face mask, calls, and gun. 

I got to the field and could see a tom in full strut.  He had three hens with him.  I crawled up to the edge of the field and tried to call the hens because I felt calling the tom would be futile.  The hens actually led the tom further into the field and away from me.  I stopped calling all together and hoped they would make their way by me when returning to the woods.  That plan was destroyed when a road hunter saw the birds.  This super sneaky guy parked just off the edge of the field and actually crawled up the road.  He got up and was leaning his RIFLE on one of my posted signs when I lost touch with reality and broke my cover so he could see me.  This sportsman got up and ran to his truck and took off.  I was completely busted but the birds weren't all out running yet.

Being that my hunt was ruined I decided to experiment and tried a fall hunting technique- busting up the flock.  I took off running at the hens like a deranged wild man and it worked.  They went into the woods on the north end of the field and the tom went in on the east end.  I went to the point where the hens went in the woods and placed a decoy in the field.  I went down the brush line about 30 yards and waited about 10-15 minutes for things to settle down. (actually to catch my breath)  Then I called a couple times and to my surprise I got a gobble from the woods at the east end of the field.  After about 10 minutes I saw a tom enter the field.  I gave one more soft call and he started coming.  I waited until he was about 20 yards away and out of strut when I took the shot.  He weighed in at 22 pounds, has a 9 3/4" beard, and nearly 1" spurs.  I'm guessing that either this was a very horny, mentally deficient tom turkey just wanting to get his hens back or I got lucky and there happened to be another tom working through the area who heard my call and responded.  Regardless, I'm happy with my first bird of 2011. 

 

[Dave]

Congrat's to all you successful turkey hunters.

Dave

[nygooseduster26]

Road Hunters are so annoying.  >  I probably would have let him shoot it and when he came to get it walk up to him and wait for the dec to arrive and handle the situation. By law the illegal hunter has to stay there on the property with you. If not he is leaving the scene of a crime. My teacher is also a dec officer so i brought the situation to him and he said you should have let him shoot it and then taken his personal body/vehicle description  and license plate numbers and reported him to the dec immediately. While this may not have been an option for you, what you did was perfectly acceptable, and congrats on a great bird!!!!! Great way to kick off the season!

[cwhite]

I know the road hunter.  He has been arrested at least 3 times for jacking deer.  I could have let him shoot the turkey and had him arrested but then that would be a trophy bird wasted.  This guy is so stupid that he would have tried to take bragging rights for the shot.  He already lost his license for a significant time so the only thing he has to lose is the money from the fines.  He is the type that would pay $10 a month on his fine and just keep trucking.  I spoke with a ECO and I'm sure he will be picked up before the end of season. 

[nycoyotehounds..BUB]

Looks like Saturday is going to be a nice day. But I will be to work at 4am for OT and then the boys school baseball game.

[growalot]

So I got up at 3:45 and hit the road to ground blind I had called in the big Tom a hen had taken away....left everything but the thermacell  and gun home....I first heard him gobble a 1/2 mile down the hill behind me and sat tight...hoping one closer would let loose...none did but I could hear him getting closer....when he finally got 2-3hundred yards to my right and a bit infront of me I did a couple of 2 note yelps and he closed the distance Gobbling his head off...I yelped clucked and purred softly and moved my foot through the leaves...and he popped out into the clearing....He is so big and in full color heading into the slashing where I sat....I readied the gun into a small opening and just before he stepped in I see  flash of wht behind and up hill from him...CRAP!!...I look hard and realize it's a deer that came in with him but not in shot range...By this time he's in the opening and head high looking for me...28yrds...I touch off the shot...he jumps bringing his wings up behind him and then runs like the wind ...I stood to get a shot off in another opening but he was way too fast...sitting I see the deer is still just standing there trying to figure out what happened...then it turned and trotted away... :-[

I went to inspect the shot and I hit a maple before and infront of him a tad low and a maple under and behind him....only two small breast feathers and I searched the entire area I watched him run through...nothing....The flash of white from the deer flicking it's tail just threw me off...Dang ...I'm pretty sure I won't be calling him in again this spring :-\

I can't complain ....I've hunted 4 days and called birds in four times and have 2 down....mine ...Mr.B's and this Tom twice...not bad for the first 6 days of the season

[nycoyotehounds..BUB]

Thats awful growalot

[growalot]

Well that's hunting...with so many trespassers I just couldn't risk shooting before seeing exactly what the wht was...It  got my concentration off and I apparently didn't recover it enough for a good shot...my fault......That Tom is blessed...first a live hen takes him away and now a deer saved him...He seems to gather his own woodlen guards....which is why he's so big...lol

[123]

Filled  a tag on Friday, May 6^th. Short and sweet hunt with Paul Walling .  We roosted these gobblers on state land just south of Cortland in the town of  Virgil. Went in the next morning, and were able to set up 125-150  yards  from them. I was on point, while Paul set up 50 yards behind to handle calling  chores. We were both running mouth calls that Paul had made himself (PD Turkey Calls).  There was a pair of gobblers that gobbled well, and  a group  of  birds that were located way down along the bank. Once they came off the roost,  I never made another call, Paul literally roped this gobbler in, and right in  front of me. The second gobbler was coming but had not crossed up onto the flat  we were on.  The gobbler put his head up, within range, and the Remington  11-87 roared. The gobbler was a very solid two year old, weighing in at 18.75  lbs, 8.5” beard, 7/8” & 13/16” spurs. At 5:50AM, the hunt was a quick one.  Paul and I team tag quite often, and it has filled many tags. We continued on,  in hopes of me repaying the favor for Paul. We were unable to raise a gobbler  in the several places we spent time in.

[Sogaard]

Full story here: http://huntingny.com/forums/index.php/topic,4644.0.html

[WNY Bowhunter]

Finally found one that wanted to cooperate yesterday morning. He started gobbling @ 5:00...I managed to get set-up a mere 60 yds from him in the tree...hit him with a few soft clucks...he flew down @ 5:30 and was flopping on the ground a minute later.  Short and sweet... .

22lbs, 10.5" beard, 1 1/4" spurs

[nycoyotehounds..BUB]

CONGRATS!!! nice bird