Has your NY turkey season got better?

[njdevilsb]

Well they have changed their morning routine once again.  It started off with wind and a decent amount of rain which surprisingly kept them on the roost until after 7 as far as I could tell by where his gobbles were coming from.  The tom gobbled on and off from 5:15 until a little after 7, every time in the same exact spot.  One of the 2 hens came to us at about 7:30, the other hen and the 2 toms did not and he didn't make another sound.  I called to him a few times over the course of the 2 hour period while he was still on the limb and never got a direct answer.  The crows, however, would get him fired up every time.

It's pretty thick woods where they are roosting so on Saturday I'm going to get as close to the roost as I'm comfortable with and just wait.  We tried this the other morning but the toms had roosted elsewhere and we didn't know it at the time.

[NYlogbeards]

seems like the seasons getting better, turkeys were gobbling like crazy and two gobbler were battling it out, me and my dad were set up along a muck and a couple 1 year old jakes got close enough for my dad to take one. going back tomorrow to get another.

[BABS9]

My brother was able to take a nice longbeard yesterday here in Niagara County. Could have shot 4 jakes today but I let them walk. Still not hearing much gobbling. Few days left to get it done!

[mikejd]

Good luck to you guys who are still at it.

[owlhoot]

Good luck to you guys who are still at it.

x2   sounds like it still doing good there

[jperch]

The gobblers were on fire this morning.  I had a plan to sneak into a woods in the general area where I know one has been roosting.  I didn't make it there because of aggressive gobbling I heard before I got there.  After flydown he came in to my soft calling, a nice two year old I believe.  All done by 5:40.  I think I heard four other gobblers in different locations.  Still two more days to fill my second NY tag.  This is only the second gobbler this season that was coming into my calling.  The first was almost nailed by a coyote.  Good luck all.  jperch

[Dr Juice]

Good luck. Unfortunatly, Im done in NY. My schedule will not allow me to escape for the last hoorah!

[njdevilsb]

We didn't even hear a bird this morning.  I got in tight to where they typically roost and they were nowhere to be found.  We didn't get to roost them last night so who knows where they went.  They have been changing their routines a lot lately.  Tomorrows forecast isn't looking good either.

[WNY Bowhunter]

Had a tough time getting out of bed...skipped the early hunt and headed out around ten.  We ended up getting on a bird around 10:45 or so.  I called...he gobbled...we tried to close the distance a bit....called again...he gobbles again but only half the distance he was before!!! We hastily set up but he he doesn't show.  Next time he gobbles he is up above us headed away. We chased after him for the next hour before catching up with a him...ended up being a longbeard and a jake. They were picking away up in a hayfield and we crawled up on them using a thick hedgerow between us for cover. When I spotted the gobbler he was picking our way at 65-70 yds...my wife crawled up into a prone shooting position but neither of us could see him. I poked my head up and spotted them along the woodline. I tried cutting a them real load but the wind was howling and I didn't press the issue since it was so close to noon.  One last try tomorrow...

[jordanz7935]

I took my younger brother out this morning it was very quiet first thing with only a few distant gobbles.I struck one up @ 8:45 and he came in on a string as if he read the script that i was filming this hunt. Long story short he caught my brother making the final "swing" on him and he whiffed the shot as the gobbler turned to leave. He was pretty bummed out about the miss but i told him it happens its part of it. Happens to everyone . Not the note i wanted to end my season on but @ least i got to spend some quality with my brother. I might take a friend out in the morning so hopefully we can make something happen.

[mikejd]

Some good stories here guys. One more day go get em.

[BABS9]

Seen a strutter in a field this morning tried to make a little move on him but couldn't. Gonna go after him tomorrow. Seen them in the same field this afternoon as well. my brother said he seen 10 total. I know for sure 4 of them are jakes and 2 of them are hens. Hopefully I can get on a longbeard on the last day. Goodluck to everyone getting out for one last day tomorrow!

[callmakerman]

YES because now it's closed. Real tough year for hearing gobbles at any time of day but real bad for any after 7 am. I should have tagged out on the 15th but had missed a bird days before. Went to PA for the holiday weekend and worked birds but nothing that would come in past the 75 yard range. One bird we worked from roost till close to 10 am and never got a look at him. Back in NY to hunt on the 26th and never heard a bird until I was heading out and got one to gobble to my scratch box. I worked him a few more times on the scratcher then called with a mouth call to finish about 10 mins. total from striking the bird to flopping in the plowed field. I also took a friend  who never really cared much about turkey hunting and had a very talkative hen with jakes show up. He shot one of the jakes and has already talking about the next days hunt. I think I created a monster. I know that I filled my tags but believe me it was not easy by any means. I hunted a lot of days this spring with very little sleep getting up at around 3 every day and many hours and miles of walking not hearing anything at times. One of the toughest seasons I have ever hunted with lessons learned. One being making the best of any opportunity you get. This one bites me in the backside every now and then. I'm glad it's over for now as I'm really spent but that will change in a few days when I miss being out there and wondering what the birds are doing. Thankful to fill my tags and call in a friends first bird. Looking forward to the fall season even with the big changes coming.

[jordanz7935]

Took a friend out today for one last time in the woods until fall. Silent for the first couple hours then i struck up a gobble around 8:30.we closed the distance and he gobbled @ everything for about 10 minutes but i could tell he wasnt gonna leave the plowed field to come into the woods where we were set up. The fog rolled in so we eased to the edge of the plowed field and i got the gobbler(a beauty) and a hen to come to 80 yards but thats as close as they would get. All in all i had a good season even with the lack of birds. My brother got a nice one youth season and i scored on gobblers May 2nd and 10th.Hopefully we have a good hatch this year because our population is definately in trouble.Id say we have less than half the number of birds around now as we did 10 years ago.Hopefully the state and nwtf will wake up soon and do something to adress the issue. I heard the state wants to shorten fall season to 2 weeks and limit to 1 bird but i doubt that will have little if any effect on the population.I think the biggest issue effecting the population that we can actually control is predators.I think a 24/7/365 coyote season would help as well as loosening the restrictions on hunting and trapping nest robbing furbearers.We cant control harsh winters or poor nesting seasons but one thing we can control is predators.Im no expert on the issue but i beleive if they allowed supplemental feeding in the winter months it might help the population bounce back.

[WNY Bowhunter]

I should have ended the season in style this morning...

Yesterday evening I roosted the longbeard that my wife and I have been after for the entire second half of the season.  He was strutting out in a planted cornfield with two hens all afternoon, even in the pouring rain. Boy, did he get fired up with the thunder!!! They finally left the field at 7:30.  The plan was to set the blind up where they went in in hopes that the rain would push them out into the open in the morning.  Well, our power was out all night and the weather was cold, windy and raining when I woke up at 4:15. Since my wife is just getting over being sick for the past two weeks, I thought that sitting out in a cold, muddy field wasn't the best idea and I didn't press the issue with her getting out of bed. I couldn't get back to sleep so I drove by the farm this morning to see if the birds had come out where we were gonna be...sure enough, the hunt would have been over by 6:30. Not exactly how I planned on ending the season. Oh well, his hooks will be longer next year. Only 11 months to go...