so what you all hearing out there? very interested to know with this very warm winter we've had.
last thing i heard was there teeth chattering .....
The day before the snow storm my buddied called to say that there were 18 longbeards on his farm hitting the waste grain behind the barn. After 31" of snow they haven't even come out of the trees much. They tried to fly down today but he said the flew right back up into the trees.
Hopefully it starts to melt off soon.
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Walked out my door a few days ago in St Lawrence County. Started hitting a call and had one sound off about 2 miles away.
Quote from: milertyme03 on April 07, 2017, 11:54:39 AM
Walked out my door a few days ago in St Lawrence County. Started hitting a call and had one sound off about 2 miles away.
i wish I had that kind of hearing
I was up on a Big Hill and with leaves off trees u can hear a long ways this time of year may have been 1.5 miles, but it was on the next road over for sure
I heard my first NY gobbler today on my first scouting trip of the Spring. He only gobbled once though at 6.45am. That was the only gobble that I heard as I scouted for another 2 hours. Going to scout a different area next weekend.
I live a mile or two from the state line. They've been gobbling for a month or so on both sides of the line.
Quote from: milertyme03 on April 08, 2017, 06:46:20 PM
I was up on a Big Hill and with leaves off trees u can hear a long ways this time of year may have been 1.5 miles, but it was on the next road over for sure
It's amazing how much the leaves muffle everything once green up occurs
Not hearing much gobbling at all. Hearing half gobbles when crows call at the strutting birds.
Birds have been strutting for a month or more. I'm hoping they have mated a lot more due to the warmer weather. Last year it was brutal. All my friends had to put in serious hours to fill one tag. Only one friend got two. My dad for the first time in a decade was skunked and I took my first eastern 23.5 on the 22nd day of the season.
Hoping this year it comes a bit easier. A bit not too much easier I like the struggle. 21 days of scouting. Ticks all over the damn place. But I'm feeling good about this years chances.
Been hearing good gobbling on the roost first thing in the morning. Decent gobbling on the ground but not a ton. Almost no gobbling in the afternoons before or on the roost. Most birds are with hens. Seeing a ton of jakes. You are right on the ticks insane already! Last season the first week-week and a half was hot. Got a bird opening day. Called another for my bro the next day. But after that first week and half it was completely dead. I don't think I heard a single gobble the last two weeks.
Spot on assessment on last season. Dad and I had one big boy stroll in and hide behind brush and then we moved spots and bam called another big boy in and I missed lol. Didn't have another bird working for 3 damn weeks until I killed a monster. It was worth the wait!
Last year saw very few Jakes. I'm seeing flocks of Jakes this year. This has me super excited for some good action. Those Jakes should help fill the lawl after week ones done.
Still want a big bird but seeing as my bird last year won't be topped I'll be happy with a 2 year old bird. Last years bird was as tough as nails to eat.
Man I cannot wait for next week! Rain is forecasted but it rained last opening day and we had awesome action.
Good info guys. Last season was way better then the year before. But the general consensus seams about normal. Little gobbling in the early hrs then shut up and never gobble again until the next morning. Hell I dont care I just want to be out.
Mike you will have action this year birds seem to be up a n numbers.
Quote from: Sevenyearsandcounting on April 26, 2017, 10:58:46 AM
Mike you will have action this year birds seem to be up a n numbers.
I hope so. Last year was fair but birds don't gobble to much anymore. There was a time when we would hear them all day long but now it's first thing and that's it. We have learned to adjust to the lack of gobbling.
I think the gobbling will be up this year. It was warmer earlier than usual so hopefully they got a lot of mating in and the hens will head to nest earlier. Also with the increase in Jakes maybe that will help increase the gobbling?
Hoping thegobbling comes back. We literally heard three gobbles from may 8th to may 21st then after that they were fired up.
My buddy called from Otsego Co. just the other day and said things up there are not like normal. He said the birds haven't moved much from where they wintered and are still in large groups.
That little warm spat supper early I doubt sparked breading to begin, breeding is triggered by photoperiod and nest is done by ground temp that warm up was way too early in February for the birds to have breed not to mention when it was flowed by a giant snow storm that would have killed any attempt to nest those eggs.
Greene county had good numbers last year and is shaping for another good one. Any property I see less birds on I can directly attribute to hunting pressure.
I think birds are still holding in groups a bit but should break up soon. Last year I know I hunted a winter flock on opening day with 65+ birds and 12 longbeards in one roost location. I'd much rather have those birds spread out than stacked up like that.
Warm temps can push birds to breed earlier but I doubt it too. It seems weird in the woods like it's June. My dad and I covered our two favorite spots. Nice to have my dad out again scouting but the birds were not making a peep. He saw three tons and 6 hens together in a field.
Either they're still flocked up or they're breeding probably flocked. It's just weird. So brutal hot this morning and wind like crazy I'm sure that's another reason they either were not gobbling or I couldn't hear them. Hoping cold snap is a return to normalcy for the opener.
Any reports on Chenango county from the OG community? :gobble:
This season is setting up perfect. Birds literally just broke flocks today. We had a wood lot with 4-6 gobblers. From my photo I thought it was 3 hens and 3 toms but looking closer the non strutter had a beard literally dragging in the dirt!
Today dad drove by and before he could step foot to get walking in? Boom gobbling. One from up the hill and one down the hill. He went home got ready for work and drove bye again. The two toms were strutting two different fields.
So just yesterday they were all flocked together and today all split up. Looks like we're in for a good opener. Goal is taking a bird but if we can work some birds I'll be happy.
Birds are quiet today. Must be getting ready to go to war with us hunters. Calm before the storm.
anyone concerned about how wet its been for nesting, We've had some really good hatches I'd hate to see a bad one come rolling along this year.
This week has been pretty good. I think as long as we don't get anymore monsoons for a week straight and the sun stays out and continues to dry up we may be okay. Any hens who have lost nests have plenty of time to get bred and re nest. Just have to hope it doesn't get bad again for the hatch.
Quote from: BABS9 on May 11, 2017, 05:04:52 PM
This week has been pretty good. I think as long as we don't get anymore monsoons for a week straight and the sun stays out and continues to dry up we may be okay. Any hens who have lost nests have plenty of time to get bred and re nest. Just have to hope it doesn't get bad again for the hatch.
Turkeys don't need to be re bred. Turkeys have the ability to re inseminate themselves if they need to. Nature has ways to work things out.
As for gobbling in NY. I have only heard 2 gobbles in 7 strait days.
Quote from: mikejd on May 11, 2017, 09:36:37 PM
Quote from: BABS9 on May 11, 2017, 05:04:52 PM
This week has been pretty good. I think as long as we don't get anymore monsoons for a week straight and the sun stays out and continues to dry up we may be okay. Any hens who have lost nests have plenty of time to get bred and re nest. Just have to hope it doesn't get bad again for the hatch.
Turkeys don't need to be re bred. Turkeys have the ability to re inseminate themselves if they need to. Nature has ways to work things out.
As for gobbling in NY. I have only heard 2 gobbles in 7 strait days.
Learn something new everyday! Very cool! Thanks for correcting. As for gobbling it's been picking up. I got a stud 2 days ago. Quiet all morning but at about 830-9 he lit up and cam in hot.
Yeah I know they can store "it" for 21 days I guess I was more worried about it not drying all of May but looking at the forecast its gonna get beautiful next week and probably dry out fast.
Gobbling, i was only up this past weekend calling for a vets hunt, we had good action despite the rain but they were still very much henned all day. My hunters each missed one both Saturday and Sunday which sucks but they had a good time and both shots just seemed to be rushed not settled and clean misses. Gobbling was great from the roost and a little for about 20min on the ground and then nothing until 9-10am and I had to get inside their bubble before they'd respond. Gonna get back out 19-21st should be getting prime by then.
We have a camp outside the Cobleskill area, been hunting the area for over 15 years. I just returned recently from two back to back trips of eleven days. The first two days out I never herd a single gobble. I was with my two brothers and one of them located a good flock and it came with a few gobbles. Just the usual henned up early season stuff, one or two courtesy gobbles. The weather out of 11 days, I think it didn't rain or SNOW for two or three days. The gobbling was the worst I've seen yet. I did manage a nice long beard on the third day. It was a classic hunt and it was wonderful. I don't need a lot to keep me moving, but a gobble once in a while is sweet. I walked 29 miles in those 11 days according to my GPS,I never herd one gobble accept at first light. I'm remembering last year as being very similar and what is disturbing to me is after the first week last year, I never herd another gobble. I'm heading back next week hoping things will open up. I saw a lot of long beards around, counted 12 in one day hitting spots but not on my spots. I hunt state land mostly. I did see two Fishers, came to the call, but not close enough.
Quote from: turkaholic on May 14, 2017, 03:04:20 PM
We have a camp outside the Cobleskill area, been hunting the area for over 15 years. I just returned recently from two back to back trips of eleven days. The first two days out I never herd a single gobble. I was with my two brothers and one of them located a good flock and it came with a few gobbles. Just the usual henned up early season stuff, one or two courtesy gobbles. The weather out of 11 days, I think it didn't rain or SNOW for two or three days. The gobbling was the worst I've seen yet. I did manage a nice long beard on the third day. It was a classic hunt and it was wonderful. I don't need a lot to keep me moving, but a gobble once in a while is sweet. I walked 29 miles in those 11 days according to my GPS,I never herd one gobble accept at first light. I'm remembering last year as being very similar and what is disturbing to me is after the first week last year, I never herd another gobble. I'm heading back next week hoping things will open up. I saw a lot of long beards around, counted 12 in one day hitting spots but not on my spots. I hunt state land mostly. I did see two Fishers, came to the call, but not close enough.
Just got back from 9 days of hunting. Not a bird between 5 guys hunting hard. Only gobbles I did hear was at first light on the rooste. Only had 2 gobbles all week after 5:30 am. I wish they where henned up I could ork with that. Every group of birds I did see(driving the roads in the afternoons) was one sided either all hens or all gobblers they where only together a few times. Strange behavior for second week of may.
I am going to have to start deer hunting for turkeys since they dont answer calls anymore. This has been the norm for the past 4 or 5 seasons. And These birds are not hunted hard as I have only seen 2 hunters in 9 days.
I hear you Mike. I did see a good amount of strutters with multiple hens.I also seen birds in groups of hens or gobblers only. It is a strange to see the way it's going. It's as if they won't gobble for fear of drawing in a predator. One gobble on roost and away with hens. I had hopes on my last day, the weather was finally nice. I slipped into a place where I saw birds in a field a few day earlier. I got in the woods a little early and didn't realize I walked by where the birds were roosted. The gobbler gobbled at the sound of my foot steps. Minutes later there were 4 hens under him. One gobble is all you get if your lucky.
I have been in the woods 16 straight mornings between hunting, guiding and scouting. Id say that half of those days had zero-minimal roost gobbling and maybe 1 courtesy gobble on the ground and that was it nothing from 5:30-noon. Id also say that the other half of those 16 days that birds gobbled good on the roost and fair once they it the ground. Most of the good gobbling days still had that period of silence from 6:00-7:30ish. Ive been lucky enough to bring 6 gobblers in to their death so far, and 5 of them gobbled fair to good, on their way in. 1 of the birds my client killed showed up completely silent @ 8:30. If there's one thing ive learned in years past is you cant live or die by the gobble. Ive always said they have more reasons not to gobble, than to gobble. Scouting, roosting them in the p.m. and slipping in tight for the next morning has been the key to success so far. This whole "no gobbling" thing has been a constant trend here in the northeast for the past 10 yrs or so. It certainly doesn't make for the most exciting hunts, but hunting them like deer is basically your only option when they aren't gobbling.Hopefully we are coming up on the mythical "second peak" of gobbling, i know i heard more gobbling this morning than i have heard in the past 8 days of hunting, so hopefully today wasn't a fluke and we have some good hunting ahead of us.
For me hunting western NY and 3 counties in what we call the southern tier the gobbling has really picked up over the past 7 days. This weekend the gobbling was strong on the limb. They are certainly still with hens and the hens rule the show and where they go. Like we say so often being setup where they want to go is very helpful. Found a good gobbler alone on Saturday at 10:30...he was HOT, until I cooled him off at at 10:50. He didn't waste any time and knew what he wanted.
It will be interesting to see what the warm weather we are about to experience will do. It has been cool for quite a while now, it was 41 degrees when I sat against my tree yesterday am.
Birds must be on fire with this weather? Right?
My buddy who has the ability to hunt at least the morning of every day of the season had called 1 bird in for a guy in the first 13 days of the season with a few close calls and a miss with a youth hunter. Since Sunday he's gotten 4 killed so I'd say the weather is turning a corner on the season and birds are starting to want to play.
Quote from: jordanz7935 on May 14, 2017, 10:08:05 PM
I have been in the woods 16 straight mornings between hunting, guiding and scouting. Id say that half of those days had zero-minimal roost gobbling and maybe 1 courtesy gobble on the ground and that was it nothing from 5:30-noon. Id also say that the other half of those 16 days that birds gobbled good on the roost and fair once they it the ground. Most of the good gobbling days still had that period of silence from 6:00-7:30ish. Ive been lucky enough to bring 6 gobblers in to their death so far, and 5 of them gobbled fair to good, on their way in. 1 of the birds my client killed showed up completely silent @ 8:30. If there's one thing ive learned in years past is you cant live or die by the gobble. Ive always said they have more reasons not to gobble, than to gobble. Scouting, roosting them in the p.m. and slipping in tight for the next morning has been the key to success so far. This whole "no gobbling" thing has been a constant trend here in the northeast for the past 10 yrs or so. It certainly doesn't make for the most exciting hunts, but hunting them like deer is basically your only option when they aren't gobbling.Hopefully we are coming up on the mythical "second peak" of gobbling, i know i heard more gobbling this morning than i have heard in the past 8 days of hunting, so hopefully today wasn't a fluke and we have some good hunting ahead of us.
I have hunted NY every year for the past 20 years and what you say is true. This year, for me was the absolute worst. Hoping to make it back up soon.
Quote from: EZ on May 17, 2017, 08:50:38 AM
Quote from: jordanz7935 on May 14, 2017, 10:08:05 PM
I have been in the woods 16 straight mornings between hunting, guiding and scouting. Id say that half of those days had zero-minimal roost gobbling and maybe 1 courtesy gobble on the ground and that was it nothing from 5:30-noon. Id also say that the other half of those 16 days that birds gobbled good on the roost and fair once they it the ground. Most of the good gobbling days still had that period of silence from 6:00-7:30ish. Ive been lucky enough to bring 6 gobblers in to their death so far, and 5 of them gobbled fair to good, on their way in. 1 of the birds my client killed showed up completely silent @ 8:30. If there's one thing ive learned in years past is you cant live or die by the gobble. Ive always said they have more reasons not to gobble, than to gobble. Scouting, roosting them in the p.m. and slipping in tight for the next morning has been the key to success so far. This whole "no gobbling" thing has been a constant trend here in the northeast for the past 10 yrs or so. It certainly doesn't make for the most exciting hunts, but hunting them like deer is basically your only option when they aren't gobbling.Hopefully we are coming up on the mythical "second peak" of gobbling, i know i heard more gobbling this morning than i have heard in the past 8 days of hunting, so hopefully today wasn't a fluke and we have some good hunting ahead of us.
I have hunted NY every year for the past 20 years and what you say is true. This year, for me was the absolute worst. Hoping to make it back up soon.
zee
I am with ya. It's about 25 yrs for me now. Back then when you slammed your truck door birds on the mountain would gobble.
As Jordan said the no gobbling trend has been getting proggresivly worse in the past 10. In the last few years we are lucky to hear a gobble at all. We still manage to get some birds but it definetly is not as fun. I haven't heard a bird gobble in the afternoon in better then 10 years. I used to hear them rooste every night. Now nothing.
Birds have been gobbling really well last few mornings. Ive had tons of action the last 3 mornings and I got lucky enough to punch my final tag this morning. Had 2 gobblers try to slip in behind me silent for the second morning in a row, they didn't bust me this morning, i busted him! I shot the bigger of the two 2 yr old birds with my 870 20 ga.. They have really been acting right the last few mornings! I'd say some of the best hunting of the season is upon us.
This season has been great for me. I tagged out on Tuesday with a great bird. Shot my first the Wednesday before. Went with my buddy yesterday and we were able to fill his last tag. My buddy's dad tagged out Tuesday as well. Birds have been real hot on the roost then shutting up and heating back up an hour and a half or so later. Just have to be patient and wait them out for that bit. All my birds and my buddies have been going down between 7:15 and 9:30.
My NY season starts tomorrow, PA and NE were great hoping to continue to keep the hot streak in NY. Have great weather, good properties and excellent friends. Have some youth hunters lined up for Saturday but Friday/Sunday all mine
Well, I believe you guys are right....had 3 reports of kills the past 2 days with birds hitting well on the roost and again around 9:30-10 am. We have a warm spell right now, but a cool front coming in later tonight with some rain then supposed to be cooler in the upper 60's for tomorrow and Saturday. Shaping up to be an active weekend. Good luck to all still hunting and here's to some great thunder chickens.
birds were fired up this morning on my first morning out for myself in NY, set up above two birds that gobbled non stop from 4:42am on and heard at least 3 others in various directions. They held up shop strutting and gobbling for a little while in a strut zone after fly down before they broke and came up hill following 4 hens. Shot the strutter for bird #5 on my season 20lbs 9.75in beard 1in spurs before 6am
See if I cant find a limb hanger for tag #2. Glassed one on my way out at another property in a boys club of 4 longbeards and 7 jakes that was a stud. 3 more out strutting at the farm i'm going to take a youth hunter to tomorrow
TauntoHawk, sounds like you have a good area...what part of the State are you hunting? Good luck this weekend
I'm a comin!
Quote from: culpeper on May 19, 2017, 01:52:23 PM
TauntoHawk, sounds like you have a good area...what part of the State are you hunting? Good luck this weekend
I'm in Greene County, south of Albany. Properties are scattered from in the Catskills to right against the Hudson. From what I can tell without having hunted many other counties we must have one of the better habitats and populations in the state.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170519/f9c41777c2a8f4332969c255fb3ec5da.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170519/34bb81721bd718603627f4d50b1a2d25.jpg)
Congrats Taunto! I put my buddy on his first ever gobbler this morning! What a hunt we had birds gobbled like it was opening day! Got to watch the show for a little over an hour before they finally worked over to our side of the field.He let him have with my 20 ga. It was an awesome hunt got everything but the killshot on video.19 pounds 9 inch beard 1" spurs
Taunto Hawk, Green Co is s strong area for birds, has been for many years. Congrats on your hunt, nice pics!
I can say from compiling 12.3 miles over the weekend that we heard not one gobble :help:. We saw birds strutting later in the evening, and some during the day with red heads, no white heads and no one excited about breeding. A tough 2 days of casting calls and covering A LOT of ground with not much to show, except a lot of exercise. One more weekend....hope their attitude changes this week.
Congrats taunto.
Nice looking country there.
Quote from: culpeper on May 22, 2017, 09:33:54 AM
Taunto Hawk, Green Co is s strong area for birds, has been for many years. Congrats on your hunt, nice pics!
I can say from compiling 12.3 miles over the weekend that we heard not one gobble :help:. We saw birds strutting later in the evening, and some during the day with red heads, no white heads and no one excited about breeding. A tough 2 days of casting calls and covering A LOT of ground with not much to show, except a lot of exercise. One more weekend....hope their attitude changes this week.
I hunted Otsego Co. Sunday and Monday. Never heard so little gobbling in all my years. Heard one bird gobble on the roost twice. Did the same as you....covered LOTS of ground casting. Finally struck a group of two LBs and a jake. They shock gobbled twice and slowly fed in range. I filled my second tag on a 22 pounder with 1.25" spurs.
Went out with my buddy's son yesterday. We set up within 300 yards of at least 6 LBs and a pile of jakes. No gobbling at all.....all day. We saw them in two different fields just pecking, no strutting. They wouldn't gobble (or even look much) at anything we threw at them.
EZ, glad ya got a couple to play...really tough out there right now.
Yep I was out both mornings last weekend and the jakes and LBs are grouped up, hens are nesting. Hard to get a rise out of the boys....just moving along and feeding. Did get a gobble or 2 out of the dominant bird, but thew strut lasted about 30 seconds and then they fed off. Keep at it, though.
Got a little more quiet rest of the weekend.
Saturday I got a youth hunter on his first turkey at 9am when 7 birds came running in but completely silent, couldn't raise a gobble rest of the day. This was after light limb gobbling and 2 gobbles on the ground immediately after flydown we just got in a good spot and posted up not my thing but the kid made run and gun not the best option. Sunday I had a longbeard (if you can call him that) and 5 hens roosted infront of me, he never gobbled once on the limb and didn't strut at all once on the ground just started pecking with the hens. Got glass on him and he was small bodied with maybe 7.5in piddly beard n little spurs so I left him to wander off as he didn't excite me enough to wrap my last tag on him. Encountered another bird that was the exact same later in the day on another farm just a small 2yr old pecking around with hens and jakes not gobbling at all, got in front but again figured he'd be more entertaining next year and wouldn't wear my last tag. Spent the rest of Sunday afternoon and evening Scouting and glassing looking for a good one. Found several flocks but eventually found what I was looking for, a haus of a Tom strutting for hens gobbling and chasing 2 smaller toms and a handful of jakes off single handily. Kept tabs on him the next hour until he left the field to roost.
Got in early the next morning and tip toes right into where I thought he'd roost. Sat down at 4:30 in the dark and could hear him drumming already. A coyote got him and his pals gobbling early and they got very worked up over the next 40min he was 36yds from me in a Big Maple facing right at me. I had the perfect place to land right out off my gun barrel and thought for sure this was it. Right before fly down a steady rain began to fall and the birds shut off as quick as they had turned on. A few of the jakes and other toms pitched further down the ridge and of course the dominant bird turned around and pitched back to them landing just out of range. The got heavier and the hens opted to stay in the tree. The Toms and jakes did something I've seen them do in fields in heavy rain before they literally huddled up like sheep and just stood almost motionless for 20min while the rain fell. As soon as the shower tapered off then hens pitched to the top of the ridge and the Toms/Jakes made a bee line for them passing just a few yards outside my comfort zone. The property only ran to the top of the ridge so I was out of room to play with on those birds. Didn't find anything of interest the rest of the morning and when more rain moved in I called it a day and NY season. Back to work now, camping this weekend so my season is a wrap.
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 23, 2017, 09:16:01 AM
Got a little more quiet rest of the weekend.
Saturday I got a youth hunter on his first turkey at 9am when 7 birds came running in but completely silent, couldn't raise a gobble rest of the day. This was after light limb gobbling and 2 gobbles on the ground immediately after flydown we just got in a good spot and posted up not my thing but the kid made run and gun not the best option. Sunday I had a longbeard (if you can call him that) and 5 hens roosted infront of me, he never gobbled once on the limb and didn't strut at all once on the ground just started pecking with the hens. Got glass on him and he was small bodied with maybe 7.5in piddly beard n little spurs so I left him to wander off as he didn't excite me enough to wrap my last tag on him. Encountered another bird that was the exact same later in the day on another farm just a small 2yr old pecking around with hens and jakes not gobbling at all, got in front but again figured he'd be more entertaining next year and wouldn't wear my last tag. Spent the rest of Sunday afternoon and evening Scouting and glassing looking for a good one. Found several flocks but eventually found what I was looking for, a haus of a Tom strutting for hens gobbling and chasing 2 smaller toms and a handful of jakes off single handily. Kept tabs on him the next hour until he left the field to roost.
Got in early the next morning and tip toes right into where I thought he'd roost. Sat down at 4:30 in the dark and could hear him drumming already. A coyote got him and his pals gobbling early and they got very worked up over the next 40min he was 36yds from me in a Big Maple facing right at me. I had the perfect place to land right out off my gun barrel and thought for sure this was it. Right before fly down a steady rain began to fall and the birds shut off as quick as they had turned on. A few of the jakes and other toms pitched further down the ridge and of course the dominant bird turned around and pitched back to them landing just out of range. The got heavier and the hens opted to stay in the tree. The Toms and jakes did something I've seen them do in fields in heavy rain before they literally huddled up like sheep and just stood almost motionless for 20min while the rain fell. As soon as the shower tapered off then hens pitched to the top of the ridge and the Toms/Jakes made a bee line for them passing just a few yards outside my comfort zone. The property only ran to the top of the ridge so I was out of room to play with on those birds. Didn't find anything of interest the rest of the morning and when more rain moved in I called it a day and NY season. Back to work now, camping this weekend so my season is a wrap.
Sounds like a good season to me.
Quote from: mikejd on May 23, 2017, 09:44:00 AM
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 23, 2017, 09:16:01 AM
Got a little more quiet rest of the weekend.
Saturday I got a youth hunter on his first turkey at 9am when 7 birds came running in but completely silent, couldn't raise a gobble rest of the day. This was after light limb gobbling and 2 gobbles on the ground immediately after flydown we just got in a good spot and posted up not my thing but the kid made run and gun not the best option. Sunday I had a longbeard (if you can call him that) and 5 hens roosted infront of me, he never gobbled once on the limb and didn't strut at all once on the ground just started pecking with the hens. Got glass on him and he was small bodied with maybe 7.5in piddly beard n little spurs so I left him to wander off as he didn't excite me enough to wrap my last tag on him. Encountered another bird that was the exact same later in the day on another farm just a small 2yr old pecking around with hens and jakes not gobbling at all, got in front but again figured he'd be more entertaining next year and wouldn't wear my last tag. Spent the rest of Sunday afternoon and evening Scouting and glassing looking for a good one. Found several flocks but eventually found what I was looking for, a haus of a Tom strutting for hens gobbling and chasing 2 smaller toms and a handful of jakes off single handily. Kept tabs on him the next hour until he left the field to roost.
Got in early the next morning and tip toes right into where I thought he'd roost. Sat down at 4:30 in the dark and could hear him drumming already. A coyote got him and his pals gobbling early and they got very worked up over the next 40min he was 36yds from me in a Big Maple facing right at me. I had the perfect place to land right out off my gun barrel and thought for sure this was it. Right before fly down a steady rain began to fall and the birds shut off as quick as they had turned on. A few of the jakes and other toms pitched further down the ridge and of course the dominant bird turned around and pitched back to them landing just out of range. The got heavier and the hens opted to stay in the tree. The Toms and jakes did something I've seen them do in fields in heavy rain before they literally huddled up like sheep and just stood almost motionless for 20min while the rain fell. As soon as the shower tapered off then hens pitched to the top of the ridge and the Toms/Jakes made a bee line for them passing just a few yards outside my comfort zone. The property only ran to the top of the ridge so I was out of room to play with on those birds. Didn't find anything of interest the rest of the morning and when more rain moved in I called it a day and NY season. Back to work now, camping this weekend so my season is a wrap.
Sounds like a good season to me.
One of the best, 5 Birds in 3 states plus a few others for other people. Also saw a very nice piebald buck Sunday am too
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 19, 2017, 02:30:48 PM
Quote from: culpeper on May 19, 2017, 01:52:23 PM
TauntoHawk, sounds like you have a good area...what part of the State are you hunting? Good luck this weekend
I'm in Greene County, south of Albany. Properties are scattered from in the Catskills to right against the Hudson. From what I can tell without having hunted many other counties we must have one of the better habitats and populations in the state.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170519/f9c41777c2a8f4332969c255fb3ec5da.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170519/34bb81721bd718603627f4d50b1a2d25.jpg)
Whose box ya running there?
Quote from: EZ on May 23, 2017, 12:11:04 PM
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 19, 2017, 02:30:48 PM
Quote from: culpeper on May 19, 2017, 01:52:23 PM
TauntoHawk, sounds like you have a good area...what part of the State are you hunting? Good luck this weekend
I'm in Greene County, south of Albany. Properties are scattered from in the Catskills to right against the Hudson. From what I can tell without having hunted many other counties we must have one of the better habitats and populations in the state.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170519/f9c41777c2a8f4332969c255fb3ec5da.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170519/34bb81721bd718603627f4d50b1a2d25.jpg)
Whose box ya running there?
EZ that's the 3rd place shortbox from 2016 Midwest Comp I won at Auction made by Terry Baker its a bloodwood over butternut and its one sweet sounding call.
I bet she is sweet....good looking call from what can be seen. Did I see you were from S.E. Pa.?
We must be neighbors, lol.
Terry builds a good box call!
Quote from: culpeper on May 24, 2017, 08:22:14 AM
Terry builds a good box call!
Yes he does, I have 4 more on order
Just returned from my last trip to Cobleskill area. Had gobbling every day but not much. Monday's rain ended early and I had gobblers around 6:30 gobbling and strutting for about an hour, then silent for the rest of the day. The next two days were nice weather and we had a little action at first light. Gobbles by 4:40, we are getting up at 3:20 just to get in on time, ahhhh. Had a Bobcat come in to my calls, gave me a rush herd him closing the distance at 50 yards. He didn't care for what I gave him. I am not letting any predators walk anymore. This year has been my worst ever, after walking over 40 miles according to my GPS just in NY not counting the miles in CT. I managed one long beard in each state still planning next two mornings in CT. At one point I was sure I didn't want to kill anymore because of the lack of birds. The thing is I did see quite a few gobblers but the talking was minimal. Even hens were quiet. The last morning in NY I had a hot tom and I herd the best gobbling all season. I tried to get on him but another hunter got to him first. He pounded on a mouth call " sounded like Mat Morrett " he just kept repeating the same cuttin series over and over and I watched the long beard and his 5 hens leaving the area at at very quick pace. I had my best action not hen calling at all but using a gobble tube. The hens would pull everyone away at the first hen call. Wondering seriously about finding another state to hunt in. But I know I won't . I love NY
I couldn't buy a mid/late morning gobble here in the East pretty much all season, I never found a henless Tom. All my birds in PA/NY came right after fly down
Thought I would bump this up just for fun. Wondering what anyone is seeing and hearing in NY. My home state of CT is heating up. I've been hearing gobbling on roost for around 3 weeks. Seeing birds strutting even with Winter being as belligerent as it is. Snow must be still pretty deep? Can't wait. After reading last years reports it reminds me how bad it was.
Ran into somebody at the post office here 3 or 4 fays ago and he was saying that about 3 minutes up the road there were a mess of them in a field to the side of the road. Sad thing is before I had my car accident in 01 I used to have permission to hunt that field and then was unable hunt for 17 years and when I was able to start hunting 2 years ago I tried to get permission to hunt it again they said no because family is turkey hunting it now.
I did see about 20 in another field yesterday about 8 in the morning but they are were pretty far away and the wind was strong so I did not get to hear them.
I'll bump this as well. I am looking into planning a hunt in Jefferson county(zone 6 I think) maybe for next year or the following. Which week do you think you would pick to have cooperative birds? I am in the south zone in FL and if I had to pick a weekend it would probably be the 2nd.
thanks
I think birds in the Catskills will be still flocked a bit and not as broke up come the first week of the season.
First weekend I'll be guiding for a vets hunt in Greene and will probably focus on properties that I know hold winter flocks
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