Opening Day! Any luck?
New York
Lots of gobbling this morning on roost. At least 5 different birds. They shut up once on the ground but did pass on 3 jakes 2 hours later.
Close call walking out though. I did a quick check of the alfalfa field on the property and saw 4 gobblers strutting. My blind and decoys were at the car already so I gave a few yelps. Immediate answer and in they came strutting and gobbling their heads off. The lead bird was 30 yards away. I needed 10 more yards to be in 'recurve range' but one of the other birds flanked me and I got busted.
Post up some pics of the lucky hunters
Did not hear on gobble the last three days. Not a one. Opening day I did get a video of a hen beating the stuff out of one of my hen decoys. Very quiet year.
No birds on the farm I hunt. I did not hear any gobbles at all. I'll give it a try again maybe on Wednesday.
Heard a few gobblers early on the opener. Had one on opposite ridge a few hundred yards out gobbling for an hour in his strut zone but, private land there and he eventually lost interest.
Decided then to walk and call and stumbled into a hen with jake in tow. Neither made a sound. Heard them walking and scratching just beyond a hill beside us.
Dropped in place on the trail we were walking along and had first time hunter take his first bird when he laid the jake out as I called and scratched leaves to pull him away from the hen.
Went back Saturday morning to try for one of the gobblers solo. Never heard a bird the entire morning. Crazy.
Had a few gobble but not move. I hunt public land though so I think they have been pressured with too much calling and they are holding tight. Hopefully this weekend the crowds will be lighter.
I didn't go out on opening day, I had to work. I did go out on Saturday. I had a couple Jakes and a huge Tom come in to my set up and I blew the shot.
I went out Sunday morning and redeemed myself. I was hunting on a friends farm and had 3 Toms gobbling behind my set up. When the flew down from roost, they came in and started beating up my Jake decoy. I shot the Tom from less than 10 yards. I'll post a picture of it later on... I have one on the main forum page.
Just an observation with the turkey flock. Even though the DEC says there are more birds, I think they are wrong,,,,,, wrong about a lot of things, but especially about this.
I drive in to work through about 35 miles of farm country every day. 5 years ago, I used to see about 80-100 birds every morning. Now I see about 4,, if any when I am driving in. I also hear very little shooting when I am out hunting. Saturday I heard 2 shots, Sunday, none. I used to hear a bunch.
It seems that the DECs assement of the turkey flock is as wrong as the assement of the deer herd. There as way less game animals than what they think, and set seasons for.
For the past 3 years here in Upstate , we have had really cold and wet breeding seasons and it showed in the lowering of poult recruitment. Take that and the brutal temps we had this past year,,, the flocks got hammered.
If you go out, good luck. Just don't be suprised if you see a lot fewer birds than you usually do.
Just my two cents. Peace, Jay
Trying to help my buddy get his first bird under his belt. Went out sunday. Gobbler was making a racket on roost but shut up once on the ground. At about 10:30 he started up again and was able to get him to 60 yards but wouldn't commit.
Went out yesterday to a different property where I had all the action on opening day. I didn't hear anything. My buddy called in a jake and ended up shooting him at 8 yards. Mission accomplished :). We had him for lunch that day
I will be back out there Thursday. Hoping these 80 degree days don't slow down their activity
Couldn't hunt until yesterday morning. Woke up at 4:15 AM, walked out the back door at 4:30, fed the mosquitos for an hour, heard a gobble, setup about 100 yards from the birds, called in 5 mature Tom's, shot the closest one in the vent, back home by 5:55 and sitting at my desk at work at 7 AM.
I love it when the birds read the script. :)
Congrats!!!! Very well executed script
Jay I didn't see where the DEC was claiming there were more birds, in fact there was an article written recently (in the NY Sportsman I think)that said just the opposite.They(DEC)confirmed the outbreak of a disease that has affected the population for the past couple of years, not only in NY but in many states up and down the EAst coast. I don't know exactly how that disease will be affecting the pop long term or where we are in the cycle of that disease, but I hope to be talking on the phone today with a turkey biologist from NC to possibly get some questions answered and shed a little more light on this disease
Well done Terry congrats!
Longbeard, I saw it in a DEC newsletter that I got. They said that there should be an increase in turkey numbers, even with the disease. I was a tad skeptical. LOL Anyhow, the numbers are WAY down from what I have seen.. Regardless, I had a good start to the season.
Congrats Jay.
Brought another buddy to my property this morning who has never killed a bird. He called in a nice gobbler and missed him at 15 yards.
This waking up at 3:15, hunting til 8:30 and then going to work is getting tough!!!
I went back to the farm on Wednesday after my wife left for work at 8:00. I carried my shotgun and snuck into the oaks and set up. At 9:30 I started calling with my box call and then just sat there doing my best tree stump impression. I saw some movement to my left and low and behold I had four Jakes sneaking in quietly.
I checked out each one with my binoculars while they were about 50 yards out so I never shouldered the gun. They came within 25 yards and hung around for like ten minutes wondering where the hen went to. They finally walked of the same direction they came from.
I gave it a half hour before calling again. This time I heard a distant gobble and got my hopes up. But once again it was the 4 Jakes. This time they were very vocal. I let them walk away again and snuck out of there at 11:45.
Yesterday morning I started at 4:00 AM and carried my blind and bow and was setup by 4:45. The birds started talking at about 5:15 and I started calling after they hit the ground.
One big Tom came strutting towards my decoys but stopped at about 40 yards. I'm not sure why he didn't commit. He turned and strutted away but styed at 50 to 100 yards for about 3 hours. Every time I called he would gobble but not come in. At least he played with me. It was fun.... I'll see him next week.
Congrats Jay great bird! In my area the numbers are down also but I think they have rebounded a bit this year. One thing I know for sure is that we have been seeing a good number of jakes this year so things are looking up!!
I took my girlfriend out this morning. She just wanted to watch. This morning started real slow. No sounds at all. then around 0730, things started happening. I had a Jake come in and hang up at about 30 yards. Then heard a Tom about 300 yards up a riser gobble and when I called, he came in running. He came in so fast that I couldn't get my release hooked to my string loop. LOL It was a panic mode!! I finally got hooked up about the time he attacked my Jake decoy. I shot him,, 10 yards and he spuns around a couple times, started to walk off, then turned and started attacking the Deke again,,,,, so I shot him again.... Damn bird was tough!! So that was that. Second tag filled The funny thing,, all the farms I have permission to hunt on,, about 10,000 acres worth. I drive by them and glass them every morning. I would usually see about 80-100 birds in the different fields. This year, maybe 4..... My property where there usually isn't a lot of birds,, it's holding a lot... Sorta weird,, but a good thing. I was blessed with a great morning. I hope you all have a fantastic season. Go get 'em. Jay
He was a heavy, heavy bird... Just a tad over 24 lbs, 10" beard and 1 1/4" spurs. Nice hooks
