Taunto’s 2017 hunting log (Kill #5, Vet Hunt, Youth Hunt Sucess)

[SteelerFan]

Outstanding!

[TauntoHawk]

This morning I didn't gauge the sun enough for when I needed to be in the woods I banked on when it was light yesterday forgetting that it was cloudy yesterday and today was beautiful out and the sun was coming up fast. I had choose my best public spot but its 35min from my house and a difficult 1.8 mile hike once I get there which I pretty much had to power walk it.. I try and keep this spot low pressure so I only come a few times a season. By the time I climbed the last big ridge and still had to descend a few hundred yards out this long point I could already hear birds gobbling so I knew I was way late. Some were off on another point, too far to make it to them although they sounded hot then a few from a big knoll I've killed from before which was also too far make before sunrise and flydown, then a gobble below me.. There those birds I could get on so down I went scrambling quickly once I popped out of the real nasty steep thick stuff I was out on this gorgeous oak point inside 100yds and its getting light fast. I usually would like to be set up 20-30min before now and try and get below the birds as they work down toward private fields in the mornings. I get a good bead on where they are and I look down the point and can see the perfect strut zone just down the hill from where they are roosted but its open im not sure I can make it there without being busted I think about dropping back and swinging out around a bit but I worry about making too much noise or not having enough time. I set up where I am which is straight over and slightly above them, I didn't love the set up because i had a feeling I would have to try and pull the birds a bit more up hill than they are naturally going to want to do. I had barely sat down and I hear wing beats and these birds start flying down early. Its inside of legal shooting hours but its much darker than I would prefer them to be on the ground with me. I dig a scratch box out and give some clucks and yelps and the birds eat like candy they are hammering and sound like they are coming right away. I try and pick up on movement in the gray light and finally catch a few shadows emerge exactly where I thought they might come up and im kicking myself for not having tried to get a little further down because now they are right on the fringe of that 40 something range rather than coming down the gun barrel inside 20 if i had just gotten closer when i thought about it. The bird thumps into strut and I can see a good thick beard and a full fan he's strutting trying to pull the hen he heard to him. I gave a few soft talk and purrs and he gives me a few yards before turning his back to me and begins strutting back toward some other birds. I raise my gun and lean around the tree a little he perks up like he caught movement I think perfect he still and head stretched I guessed him just inside of 40 maybe 38, safety off and im about to tag out in PA on just my third morning in the woods but just before the trigger squeeze a jake steps inline behind him and there is just not enough room between them for me to cleanly shoot. After eye balling my tree the gobbler tucks back into half strut but begins to walk with a bit more purpose in a line to the side and slightly away. He clears the Jake and has only added a few yards max to his range still in that 40 zone at best but I now I have to lean a bit more around the tree and I just don't think I settled on him good. Shot felt pulled high and I didn't draw a feather, birds cleared far and wide.

I don't miss much and I have a hard time swallowing it when I do but I had everything I needed to kill a bird this morning but I showed up late and rushed all my decisions after that. I rushed to sit at A tree and not the right one and I rushed it when I came up for the shot if I had done so with more cation I might have not alerted the bird enough to turn him around. I rushed a shot with a half tucked head instead of out stretched.. Made all the rookie mistakes and now might have foiled an excellent roost spot. I tried to get on some of the distant birds not blown up by the shot but they had hens and continued to work toward the fields and went quite before i had to make the hike out with no bird.

I'll be back next week looking for Revenge and hoping they roost in the same area but will be early enough to move to one of the other groups if not.


This weekend is off the NY for a Wounded Warrior Vet hunt in Greene County I've been volunteering for the last few years.. Hoping for decent weather and lots of dead birds for the guys and maybe I can direct someone better than I directed myself this morning. At least I've been right ontop of birds every morning out

[TauntoHawk]

This doe walked in a bit later as if to ask me "was all that noise you?! All the turkeys went that way, How'd you miss anyways don't you have a shotgun? Thats embarrassing"

I prefer that hike more miserable than it was because I didn't have an extra 20lbs on the climb back out.

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[TauntoHawk]

After my miss last Thursday I had one of the best weekends of every year planned.. A Wounded Warrior Vet hunt with the NY Northern Catskills Longbeard chapter of the NWTF.

Feel free to skip the long stories and just view the pics lol I can get a bit winded. But if you take time skip to the bottom of this post I want to share something that really uplifted me on this hunt.

Its been just sopping wet this spring in this area and the weekends was no different, it poured all day Friday and all night. Saturday morning my Vet hunter and I found ourselves getting out of the truck at 4:45 just as the rain was tapering off. We slip along the edge of what is known as Trash Island, 20 acres of timber surrounded about 500 acres of open crop fields the timber is filled with piles of junk and old cars hence the trash island name. We slipped up the east edge of the timber to the north corner where the Island has a small raise in the ground that a flat lander might call a ridge lol its about 15 feet higher than the rest of the ground and is studded with some large oaks used almost daily as roost trees. We found our cut out trail that leads to a small stick ground blind a buddy and I have built a few years back for use with youth hunters. We set up quietly as the rain stopped and I began to point to a few large trees in the dark saying that they tend to roost right there.. and there... and *BAM* a gobble erupts 25yrds to our right! And There I guess as we pulled our face mask up and slipped a little deeper in the blind. As morning broke we found ourselves covered up in birds, 2-3 gobblers just off to our right less than 30yds and a stud is spitting on the limb at 55yds and a smattering of hens. I have been in this spot before, there's a nice flat open spot in the under story right in front of the blind and the birds love to fly down and strut for a little before hitting the fields. At this point I'm glassing the spurs on the birds in the tree picking which bird to tell the guy to shoot once they hit the ground. I was a bit worried that with the wet vegetation in the woods the birds might pitch to the fields but which one the island is surrounded and they never head the same direction which is why we hunt them tight. We you guessed it one by one the birds peeled out in a few different directions but mostly to the East and began gobbling in the field behind us. A few hens and one gobbler stayed in the tree an additional 20min keeping us pinned down before pitching North.

Once the woods cleared we slipped to the edge to locate the birds but they had made it into a mud mess of a cut corn field 400yds off the island and positioned themselves on a rise where they could not be approached from any direction. We had to leave those birds not only was there no way to them but a ditch in the field had about 3 feet of water and neither of us were interested in taking a dip. It took about 5min to spot another group of birds back almost by where we parked the truck but at least we had tree cover we could close ground with. We closed some ground and found 2 small toms 5 jakes and 3 hens picking around a field alcove. We used cover and set up inside a 150yds but my calls hardly got a glance and we watched them feed for an hour until an Eagle passing by made the nervous and run for cover. I thought maybe they were gone for good but I waited about 10min and called which was immediately answered by a gobble. One of the Toms came back into the field followed by two jakes, then 3 more and the other Tom but no hens. Now when I called one Tom would answer and they would all look my way. It took about 25min before they moved off that back line and started working our way slowly but about half way in they changed courses and drifted into a small pocket of trees. I let them get inside the trees and cranked up the calling which was enough to pull the jakes out into the field some hard cutts and I pulled a few gobbles off the jakes which I was hoping to insight and pull the gobblers back. Took a few minutes but the gobblers couldn't stand the thought of losing a hen to the jakes and came out at a run. I told my hunter to wait for a good clear shot and for one of the longbeards were clear of the other birds and drop the hammer. This whole process of working these birds was going on hour number two and at this point the birds are finally racing in bumping and shoving. I'll admit even I was worked up pretty good but as a longbeard ran a jake off hard to the left the hunter swung his gun a little too fast and sent the bird into a panic a rushed shot followed and the birds toddled off unscathed.

That was Saturdays Hunt Excitement.

The guys who put this thing together do a phenomenal job and Saturdays lunch is fit for a king, so we spent a few hours with deer sausage, steaks, baked potatoes, a few cold ones and more desserts than anyone needs.  Grabbed a nap and headed out to roost. Hit a new farm 300 acres of Gorgeous Turkey terrain.

We ended up putting 3 separate flocks of birds to bed so we made a plan and got some sleep. Next morning we switched around the hunters and I got a different guy who hadn't had any action the day before. The Rhode Island boy had no prior experience with hunting or ever really the outdoors in this way so he was in for a treat. We got tight to the roost and settled into another pre-built brush blind and staked a few decoys out (something I do about once a year). Birds fired up exactly where I wanted them to be just up the side of this little ridge right off the corner of the field with a perfect little bar way opening in a stone wall for them to come strolling out into the field. They hammered once the hens woke up and the hunter soaked it all in. I heard a tom fly down and start spitting more than any other bird I've ever heard I can't count the amount of times he spit and drummed inside the timber. The first hen pitched flowed by 4 more which all sailed out into the field just beyond the decoys. It couldn't get better Tom is in the timber just behind this stone wall, his hens are on the opposite side of us in the field decoys directly in the middle at 22yds, this should be over in the next 5mins. Just as the birds was working his way out a 2 more hens pitched down in the woods and started cutting and yelping their way out the ridge. The heart sank as the gobblers eased back toward them. I engaged in a game of tug a war where I would call the gobblers my way a little and the hens would suck them back. All of a sudden the birds just blew up putting in the timber and all was silent. A few moments passed and I catch movement, a coyote stalking the decoys. That didn't end well for him and it was time to move on know I have more birds not buggered up across the road. Picked up a nice shed on the way out and grabbed a cup of coffee at the truck. Got back in the woods at 8 but everything was quiet, we spent some time watching a few deer talking about various turkey habits  and decided to get up higher on the hill where we could both listen and glass multiple beef pastures so if something started up we could be ready to make a move. We eased around the hill as a light rain began to fall and I spotted 3 big longbeards strutting in a far pasture. We watched them a few minutes trying to get a bead on where they might be headed. We ended up swinging around and getting on a treeline about 175yds away but in the same little spine ridge in the field they seemed to be working along. It was a long 2hr battle of pulling those boys and their couple of hens across the field, once they got to about 75yds they hung up a bit and I crawled away and got out of sight and did a good old fashion call way where I got heavy on the calls and then threw a few gobbles in on my mouth call and some jake yelps like the hens were being stolen away and then rushed back to the tree and got quiet. Worked like a charm and they came over the rise and down the line single file. Since I had the hunter positioned lower while I stood behind a tree to keep an eye on the birds, and while we were in tight to the birds this morning he had still not seen a gobbler up close with his eyes. When those old boys came up over in full strut he exclaimed "Oh my God that thing is hugggge, that's what they look like?!? It's like some kind of dinosaur bird". Once I said pick one that you have a good shot at and take him in the waddles on his neck.. BOOM

The birds cleared and left not even a feather behind. I think the excitement led to poor check weld and he wasn't looking down the line through the bead but instead just pointed the bead and gun barrel at the bird. When I told him it was a clean miss his face never changed he was still grinning ear to ear saying that was Awesome and he had no idea how fun hunting was going to be. On the walk out the rain had cleared and we got to take in some views back at the Catskill Mountains. We snapped some pics and sat down and I shared how hunting is more than a dead animal. That for me the emersion in nature is therapeutic and restoring, the whole experience of a hunt can have very little to do with killing and just taking time to slow down in God's creation and observe what's around us has a way of centering me when I return home. He was a quiet guy but he soaked it all in and back at the lunch I got him signed up for a Vet's black bear hunt and we traded numbers before I headed home to PA.

The rain and hens made it the worst year as far as total kills went but every hunter was on birds or heard some. Some dandies did fall including a real solid DEP ground (public) mountian bird with 1 3/8 jet black spurs. That hunter won a full body mount on that bird from a local taxi

[TauntoHawk]

You really never know how much of an impact or what these hunts really mean to these individuals, I often feel selfish because of how much I enjoy taking other people hunting that I get more from the hunts than the guys do. Yesterday I get a long txt from the Him saying that a few months back he hit a black hole and was dealing with PTSD bad he didn't leave his home for over a month until someone convinced him to come on this hunt. That sitting there taking in that view after the hunt he realized how blessed he still was and that people even strangers care about him. He said it might seem cliché but that weekend might have made 22 a day 21 and that it seems silly that a weekend could save a man's life but it did.


I have always had a good time on these hunts but this one brought tears to my eyes even as I type this. We didn't get real personal or talk anything serious on the hunt; I spent 10hrs with him and just shared a passion for the outdoors. This hunt absolutely left a standing impact on me far beyond any dead gobbler ever could. I share this portion of the story only to encourage others to reach out and take a kid, a vet, a disabled hunter out you have no idea the impact it might have

[Wrangler95]

Very nice

[TauntoHawk]

Once back in PA I went back to the area of Thursdays miss but got in much earlier, First gobble was 100yds and I cut the distance to 65 before setting up. His hens pitched way out toward a field so I got on him just as we was flying down with some yelps and he veered my way and came looking. Wasn't hard to see his swinging Rope and at 30yds he was close enough and dead by 6:04am

Hammer of a Public bird 22lbs 10oz 11 5/8th beard left spur 1 1/8th Right runt spur of 11/16th

Tagged out in PA just two NY tags left I'll be back there May 20th weekend. Yesterday I got my dad on his first of the year a nice 2yr old sporting a 10.5in beard at 20yds before work

[chatterbox]

Awesome, awesome read!
Thank you so much for sharing your stories and hunts with all of us, I really enjoyed reading all of it!

[TauntoHawk]

Got Back to Ny to finish my season Friday through Monday am with a good buddy.

Friday morning was a perfect May morning, found us set up early on a strut zone sandwiched between several small pockets of timber all often used as roost zones. 4:42 first gobble 100yrds out joined by another at 150yds they warmed up nicely and flew down into a pasture below us. on the ground the birds continued to scream as the hens were still in the trees, I fed them a little and they liked it but held their ground. once the hens pitched they got quiet so I gave them a few minutes and hit them again, no gobbles but a hen answers and I call back. Few moments of silence and just as we were discussing moving closer or staying put a gobble hammers just around the corner and I can see a hen rounding the bend in the field. They gave us everything you'd want as they closed into gun range and just a few minutes before 6 I dropped the hammer on bird #5 for the season. Beautiful NY bird 20lbs 9.75in beard and 1in spurs

Took some time to grab a few photos as its one of the most beautifully laid turkey grounds I've had the privilege to hunt.



Saturday I set up on two gobbling birds and had one of the Toms pitch mere feet over my head in flight and he landed directly behind me. Unfortunately as luck would have it a hen landed right in front of me and I couldn't move or turn around for several minutes until she worked behind a rise and by the time I turned around he was 120yds out and working away with no interest in coming back my way. 8am my buddy and I picked up a couple of Youth hunters a brother sister pair from a family that we've taken two of their older kids in the past when they were Youth. We split and went to separate properties. We checked a few empty fields and set up on an intersection of 4 tote roads in the timber. Not 10min into some light calling and I hear what sounds like a squirrel running in the leaves but I look down the road as Peter said "turkeys running right at us" and sure enough 7 jakes are storming right down the gun barrel I had to cut hard to keep them from running past us and once they stopped I told him to wait for one to separate himself. I will tell you for a 12yr old on his second hunt ever with birds that ran right into our lap he handled himself really well, listened and moved slow when it was time to shoot he got on the one I told him to with no hesitation and laid the bird down.

I was stoked, his mom was stoked, the land owner was stoked.. Mission accomplished

Rest of the day was quiet and uneventful with no birds heard or seen.

Sunday, I went after a bird I glassed Saturday evening from 500yds with a few hens, it was a Tom but hard to tell if he was a good one. Hunch was on point and he was roosted in the exact tree I thought they might be, he never gobbled on the limb he hit the ground and and began to feed never strutted never gobbled. He was a small Tom and certainly wasn't making for a very exciting hunt so we opted to let him feed off and go find another bird if we could. Rest of the day was extremely quiet, raised 2 gobbles on a crow call but never found the source. Spent several hours in the afternoon driving around and glassing for the final hunt Monday morning trying to locate a good one. About 6pm we spotted a bird strutting for hens and fending off 2 smaller toms and handful of jakes and the target bird was acquired. Shortly after 7 they dipped into the Timber on the foot of a small roost ridge and the mornings hunt was planned.



Next morning we were slipping in the timber at the foot of the ridge under heavy cloud cover and were sitting down at the base of a Maple when we heard the sound of drumming fill the air. It was close so we knew we were right into them. Soon the sound of a song dog got the bird to gobble right in front of us and another out the ridge further joined in. They got going pretty good and he drummed on the limb as more than any bird I've been witness to it was almost a continuous buzz. As became light out I was able to Identify he was in a big Maple 36yds off my gun barrel. He had a perfect landing zone just off to my right a little flat spot on the ridge well inside the wheel house. Just as I could see him getting shifty on the limb it began to rain this kept him up there a few moments longer. A few jakes and the other tom hits the ground out the ridge and I feared he'd go to them. A gobble from the other Tom and he turned on the limb and pitched to them landing about 70yds out at this point the rain picked up to nothing short of a downpour. The rain kept the hens in the tree and had the birds that were already on the ground clumped up like sheep and just stood there 90yds out. After 20 or so minutes the rain tapered and they began to move about, I called and they started slowly drifting my way. A hen pitches and lands 45yds out on my side, I thought that was perfect the gobblers almost run toward her but she turns and walks up the hill as they angle to meet her they talk a line just outside my comfort zone and screened by small trees. They went up over the top (Property Line) and that was that. I wanted a battle with a good one for number six and got it but this time I came up short, it was the perfect end to my season. The kind that makes you immediately want more!

[Bowguy]

Very cool, congrats!

[mgm1955]

Congrats again!! Nice pics.

[birddogdoc]

Incredible season and great stories.  Congrats

[cwb04]

Awesome stories and photographs!  Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[TauntoHawk]

Thanks Guys, it was truly a great season. I actually enjoyed that I got stood up just out of range on my last day out with my last tag in my pocket. Leaves me immediately ready to go back for more next year and be thankful for all the birds that worked my way

[Happy]

That was the same way I finished my season. It would have been nice to feel the weight of a bird over my shoulder one last time but now I have the excitement and a little bit of a teaser to tide me over till next spring. Hopefully he sired a lot of pults and we can have a rematch next spring.

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