NY Turkey Season is HERE. Good luck...

[2Blade]

No luck here either guys. Had one bird going then he shut up for a little bit, I figured he was either coming or going away. After a few minutes I hit the call only to hear him 200 yards in the opposite direction. Dang hens!!!

[IndianaBowman]

I'm slipping a little! This year it took me 30 minutes to arrow a Tom with my longbow without a blind.  Last year only took 10 minutes. I don't know why, but I've always been very lucky with turkeys. This is my 6th opening day longbow or recurve bow turkey in a row. All without a blind. I did feel like I was cheating a little this year as I was wearing my new leafy camo.

It was a great morning. It was like Izzy described and I had a whole river bottom full of birds going off.  My spot is in the corner of a very large field and they planted it yesterday and drove all the birds to the other side of the river. I knew I would have a tough time pulling them across the river. They were gobbling non-stop and I hit them pretty hard with hen yelps early.  They would gobble almost non-stop. Finally some hens started yelping and you could tell I had one old girl pretty mad at me. She was getting loud and raspy and I just matched her call and volume. There were 3 big birds and two flew down and went with the old girl that talked nasty to me. The last big bird didn't like such a nasty girlfriend and decided to come check me out. He flew down about 100 yards into a different field and I fired him up with 3 different calls. A Cherokee Slim call, a diaphram call and a box call. He got so worked up he literally ran into my single hen decoy. He finally strutted with his tail fan hiding his head and at 8 yards the shot was true. Legal light was 5:23 AM and he was down at 5:53 AM. Lots more birds to try for in a couple days.  I was then on the Hudson fishing for stripers by 7 AM. Had a nice time catching some good fish with my largest at 35".

I'm getting to really like the New York spring time.

Good luck to everyone!

[IndianaBowman]

Oh yeah! The statistics. 24#, 8.5" beard, 1 1/8" spurs.

Better to be lucky than good!

[ron w]

Never saw or heard a bird.........

[LAR43]

Great job Terry,
I'm sittin' here with my truck in the dealership waiting for a new differential . .
What timing!!!

Congrats!  

Larry

[IndianaBowman]

Sorry to hear Larry!  Hopefully, you've paid your dues and you'll be blessed with a nice Tom!

[Wapiti Chaser]

Heard one gobble one time. I did call in the does !

[Izzy]

Ron, you huntin the same place you hunt deer or were you in Ohio? Sorry bud, I couldnt resist.Way to go Terry, you scare me sometimes.Your kids scare me too, you all are the game bagginist family Ive ever known.Cant wait for the book.  

[Guru]

Lucky?? You just a flat out good hunter no matter what you're hunting bud...way to go!!    

[Shinken]

Nice longbow shootin' Terry - especially w/o a blind!

You gotta like those NASTY-talkin' birds.

    :eek:    

Enjoy the feast!

Shoot straight, Shinken

[IndianaBowman]

Curt, you must have a story???

Shinken she was just plain mad at me!

Izzy, you ain't foolin' nobody! You're a hunting machine. Loved the hog hunt.  Tyler and Jen both got a nice hog in Florida. I'll send you a photo.

[ron w]

Izzy you still hunt'n them city birds?????Come out in the Big woods and play!!!!!!

[adkmountainken]

Adirondack man was right on them today, couple LOOOOONG beards, he just could not get a chance to draw as the were to close!!! i had the flintlock and let a couple jakes walk that i should have smoked! good luck to all!

[Izzy]

Ron, Ive had enough of city birds!!! It aint too peaceful listening to planes lifting off all morning especially when your close enough can about see what brand of scotch the pilot is pouring.My next hunt will be for bigwoods birds for sure.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Opening Morning, I saw 6 deer.  My buddy shot a nice tom with his shot gun. He had 2 more birds gobbling by him so I snuck over.  I heard 3 more gobbles but they were headed in the other direction on posted property.

Then at noon is was off to clean the bird.  Hooked up the boat for a night of striper action.

I Boated four fish all in the 15-20lb range (about 30-35 inches) and 2 cats.  I missed the first 4 hits being a little rusty with circle hooks.

Since I started yesterday at 3:15 am and finished it at 1:18am I slept n this morning. Then it was rise and shine clean the boat and see how everyone else did in the woods.

[woodchucker]

Nice Bird Terry!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!  

I've killed 8 over the years,all without a blind or decoys.

I have a great "strutt zone" up to my Dad's on the edge of a field. I call untill I see them come to the edge of the field,then I "shut-up" and don't call again no matter what!!! As soon as he doesn't see any hens he will usually make a "bee-line" for the strutt zone. When he's all puffed up in "full-strutt" I wait untill his back is turned and his fan is covering his head, Then I put an arrow right through his fan about 4-5" above the root of his tail. Usualy breaks the spine right between the legs and takes out the vitals. They might flap alittle,but I've never had one get any "air" and I have never had one run off. Haven't lost a bird either!!! (knock on wood!!!)  

[IndianaBowman]

Another one commits suicide! It sure is nice to have lots of lightly hunted birds within 5 minutes of the back door. Made it to work by 8 AM.

Had a bit of bad luck and my boat sheared off a couple of bolts in the lower unit Jet drive. Had to have the neighbor tap out the broken bolts and he didn't have it ready so I could go striper fishing this morning. Forced me to go turkey hunting instead. Knowing I would be trying for them this morning I headed out last night to roost a few. Everything worked out perfect as there were birds everywhere. I had a group of 6 Jakes and a mature Tom that must've been a 2 1/2 year old that I decided not to bother with as I wasn't interested in a Jake. I then located 3 mature Toms and 10 hens. Right at last light the hens and 2 Toms headed up a ridge on the lower field and the remaining Tom headed to a corner that necks down between two fields. I pretty much knew what tree he was going to roost in and knew he'd be the one to meet my TimberHawk longbow in the morning. Arrived early this morning and it was 32 degrees with a heavy frost and what wasn't frozen was a heavy dew. I knew the Tom wouldn't go into the grass field as they just don't do it early when it is wet and frosty. I also didn't think he'd go to the recently plowed field as they don't like to get clumped up mud on their feet. That left a nicely trimmed tractor trail coming down off the ridge to the 2 lower fields. I placed "Loose Lucy" right in the middle of the trail about 75 yards from where "Horny Hal" was roosted up. Sure enough before good light a goose honked on the creek and Hal lit it up. He was ready for some action. After it got a bit lighter out and after he gobbled at a goose again I gave him a little sweet talking just to let him know Lucy was happy to see him. At about 5:38 AM he hit the road and was strutting to Lucy. I normally wait and give them the "ole Frank Zappa" but at 6 yards he stuck his neck out and behind a little Tulip tree allowing me to draw and shoot. Amazingly the shot went right into the base of the wing butt and kept right on going. I normally don't shoot through turkeys but this time I did. I changed my broadhead from my normal wide Snuffer to a narrow Woodsman. Seemed to make a difference. Anyway a few flops later and a diving grab that Ishi would've been proud of and I had my 2nd bird of the season. This one was even faster than the 1st bird. I love it when a plan comes together. Nice bird with a 10" beard, 7/8" spurs, and about 20#s. The photo shows the shot placement. Good luck everyone! I know I'm happy to have some luck!

Curt, you are about 50 times the hunter I am. I know you must have a 2nd turkey story to tell. Don't be holding out on us. At least give us an update.

 

[2Blade]

Good shootin mister!!! Glad somebodys killin em cause I sure cant. Nice roper!

[ishiwannabe]

I would have paid to see that dive Terry! Congrats my friend.

[J.Williams]

Way to go Terry!!!You're a real predator and we know what kinda shot you are.