Has your NY turkey season got better?

[Rick Howard]

My buddy and I each took a jake Friday.    He shot his then I shot the runner.  It was his first bird and the first bird I have called and shot.  I have been fortunate to call birds for others that died but this was my first do all.  I killed a turkey about 15 years ago out of an apple orchard near my house.  He was gobbling his but off and I snuck in and shot him.  That was the extent of my turkey hunting till a few years ago.   Work never allowed me spring turkey time until then. 

Friday started good.  Had a Tom gobbling good.  He was servicing some hens so we decided to sneak out and come back later.  On our way to the next spot we found some birds in a freshly planted filed.  We swung way around being them into the woods.  Walked through the woods to get inline with them.  Called them to the edge of the field and took them.  Our morning was done around 8am.

Saturday was dead after 7am.  We moved into our spot at 4:45 and sat silent listening for birds.  Had a hen pitch down 50 yards from us.  She went ballistic with the yelping and cutting as soon as he feet hit the ground.  When she finally shut up I would agitate her and she yelped and cut some more.  That was all we had till noon.

This morning was slow until 9:30.  We worked 3 toms till noon and had to quit.  They just took too long.  The sky began to pour on us at the same time. 


 

[njdevilsb]

We didn't even go out this morning.  It was a downpour when I got up at 3:30 so I went back to bed.  It pretty much rained decent all morning.  I wanted to get out for the last day but honestly, this season was so frustrating and I was so completely worn out from all the early mornings that it felt really good to just sleep in before the work week started again.

This was the toughest year that I can remember.  I have been turkey hunting since I was 12.  I'm now 28.  This is only the second year that I have not tagged a bird in the spring since I started turkey hunting.  My dad and I did have a couple close calls but we only got one tom that was borderline within range.  I was guessing him to be right at 40 but I don't know for sure.  He was behind some brush and I wasn't going to take a marginal shot.

As soon as they hit the ground, you may have gotten a handful off gobbles after that, but by 6:30 or 7, they wouldn't make a sound.  We thought we had them figured out a few times and got to where they liked to exit from one field to another.  We sat silent for most of the mornings this spring since they were so unresponsive, but once we got where we thought they were going, they would choose a different path for a few days.  It just seemed like we were one step behind them every day.  One morning, my dad and I sat about 150 yards apart on the same edge of one of the fields, and wouldn't you know that they passed directly in between the 2 of us, offering neither of us a shot.  They had no interest in decoys of any kind since they had so many hens throughout the month.

I saw a saying once that said "It takes 3 days to pattern a turkey, but turkey change their patterns every 2 days."  That was pretty much the story of our season.  We resorted to hunting them like deer and mostly left the calls in our vest and tried to get on their travel routes.

I'm sad that it's over because it was fun chasing them, even though it got so frustrating.  I did have some cool experiences with other animals and had some hens get real close.  There is nothing like sitting against a tree in the calm of the morning and hearing a gobble thunder out in the darkness.  All of that makes it worth the early mornings and the time spent.  It will be nice to recharge for a few days but I'm going to want to get back at it by this weekend.  I sure wish next years season started this coming Saturday.

[BABS9]

Well I went out and sat for about the first hour of the morning but it was just way to windy with a continuous downpour that wasn't stopping. So i decided to pack it in and call it a season.  The last two weeks of the season were terrible very frustrating. The worst ive ever seen here in NY. Didn't even hear a gobble. I know the birds are in there they just weren't cooperating like many others are saying. Still leaned alot and had fun chasing them as always this season and looking forward to next year! Time to start getting ready for deer season!

[turkaholic]

Worst season for me and my brothers in almost 30 years of hunting NY. Same thing as many have already said. No gobbling after flydown if any at all. The first few days of the season was not to bad but the birds were Henned up bad. Two of us actually had coyotes come to the call. This tells me that any bird calling is making a target of themselves. NY needs to place a bounty on these bad dogs. There was talk of the state making fall season shorter, this is a joke! Fall season does not effect the population much at all ,if any. This fall I will be hunting coyote with vengeance. I hunted 23 days and walked 42 miles this season and hunted with 3 other people the whole time. We all said the same thing.

[Snoodsniper]

Worst season for me and my brothers in almost 30 years of hunting NY. Same thing as many have already said. No gobbling after flydown if any at all. The first few days of the season was not to bad but the birds were Henned up bad. Two of us actually had coyotes come to the call. This tells me that any bird calling is making a target of themselves. NY needs to place a bounty on these bad dogs. There was talk of the state making fall season shorter, this is a joke! Fall season does not effect the population much at all ,if any. This fall I will be hunting coyote with vengeance. I hunted 23 days and walked 42 miles this season and hunted with 3 other people the whole time. We all said the same thing.

You can hunt yotes 24-7 here in PA and we had the same problem for much of the season.