New York
5/16/2021
We stop at a little bait shop/outdoor shop and get our license and were talking to the owner and his wife and he tells us some public land we could try that has birds. We thank him and tell him that we had a tip on where to go but that if it didn't pan out we would for sure check out the place he was talking about. Well as luck would have it the place we wanted to go had a quota that had been met and no more hunting was being allowed. So we went back to get some more info from the shop owner. We get back to the shop and start talking about where to go when the owners son says he's got a lease and that we can go hunt there if we wanted to. Couldn't believe he offered that but we took him up on it. While traveling to our lease I had been in touch with another friend that had given me a contact up there to call and see if he could help us out. Never can have to much help in an unknown area so I reached out to the local and he offered to help us any way he could but he couldn't hunt with us for 2 days. I told him that would work great, we'd hunt this lease and if we needed to after that we'd come meet up with him.
The next morning 5/17 we were sitting on a most beautiful hill side overlooking a mountain range all the way to Vermont, it was amazing but silent at the same time. We didn't hear a bird that morning. We made a mad dash north to try to find a bird before the noon cut off and I was able to locate and get permission to hunt the land till 12noon that day but I had truck trouble and had to get it fixed and Bradley was in a different area and neither of us was able to get on those birds. We talked to our local friend and he was ready to go the next morning so we met up with him at 4 on 5/18.
5/18/2021
We head off into the unreal valley then up on the side of the mountain where he had been hearing birds all year. Yep he's with us and we don't hear a bird for a long time. He said he couldn't believe it and I laughed and said welcome to our year. We did finally see some birds but they saw us at the same time and we were able to make a loop on them but only got close to a jake and we weren't quite ready to shoot a jake yet. We ended the morning and planed to meet the next morning, later that day I get a text saying he had gotten us permission to hunt a farm by ourselves because he had to go to work after about an hour of the next mornings hunt.
5/19/2021
We meet up and head to the farm we can hunt. As were walking in we start to hear birds gobble in the distance, two gobble right on the wood line of the field were in so we set up on the only trees we can get on across from where they are gobbling. We had a hen fly down beside us and walk to our left another hen flies down and walk past us to our left then we see 3 gobblers walk out of the woods and start strutting, man were sitting pretty. Not so fast a hen yelps in the woods and the gobblers turn and walk off into the dark timber with her. Couldn't believe it. After the woods quietened down we made a move but couldn't strike a bird anywhere. So we decided to go back to where the 3 birds were strutting earlier and set up in hopes they would come back to check on those other hens. As were easing up to the area we stop and are looking at would be a good spot to set up and Bradley says don't move there's a gobbler right there. I step right behind him and look over his shoulder and can see the bird working off around the end of a knob. We both bolt to where the knob gives us cover and its decided that im going to try to ease up and see if I can see him. We ease up and are literally crawling on top of dried cow patties in the leaves to keep the noise level as low as we can, we get to the edge of the knob and I can see the Gobbler in full strut not 30yds from us but he's fixated on 2 hens. I drop lower and roll over a log and ease up behind a small tree and brace my gun against it as Bradley crawls up behind me in hopes there are 2 gobblers there. We never see another gobbler, so I take the shot and roll another really nice long beard for my New York tag. We high five and take some pics and Bradley decides to make a blind and stay the remainder of the morning. I eased out and took care of my bird and then rode to different areas where I could see the fields we could hunt, hoping to see a bird in one of them. At around 11am I get a text "got him" from Bradley. The three birds we had seen earlier came back and he was able to get a shot on one of them to fill his New York tag. It was another awesome day to be in the woods. Now it's time to go back to Maryland and try to find a few willing birds.
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