Turkeygirl

Re: 06 Sheds Wow, awesome sheds! Congrats on a great season!

Re: Coming to an end... LOL! Possum Pie, I don't know about that. I was thinking along the way of something sweet! Thanks everyone!

Well I took this weekend off from turkey hunting, which maybe I'll regret, maybe I won't, but I have final exams tomorrow so I need to get stuff done. this post doesn't have much to do with turkey hunting though. I really mean my 4 years at Houghton College is coming to a fast end. Next Friday is rehearsal and Baccaleureate then Saturday is Graduation. Tomorrow is my last day of final exams. I know now, I won't miss the homework, but I'll miss daily interactions with people and of course my two favorite professors, the athletic trainers, who really served as great examples to me. This is why tomorrow, in between exams, I going to bake them something,lol After graduation, I have the following 2 weeks off and will turkey hunt inthe mornings and work custodial in the afternoon, then for about a week and a half, work custodial full time, then I start my 5 week internship at the DEC's nearby Environmental Camp. Among all this, I need to consolidate my loan, like this week,lol, and decide what next fall is going to be like, if I'm going to enroll at university about 40 minutes away and commute and actually do athletic training, or get a real job. I don't know what God has planned, but I hope he has a turkey planned in there somewhere in the next 3 weeks,lol. Trust me, all you people in college right now, you may not like some parts of it, but you'll miss it when the time comes so enjoy it while you can! God has definitely made my last 4 years an interesting and life learning experience. Ok, well I need to go study,lol, then maybe I'll see if I can roost any turkey tonight because maybe I'll find time to hunt in the morning before an 8am final exam. Oh yeah, I just realized, I've been a member here as long as I've been a college student; my Realtree birthday is only a few weeks away and I'll be 4

So we got a cold front overnight here in NY. I was going to go out in the morning, but since I have a class, I didn't. I just got in from doing barn chores and it is 40, but is cold, wet from the rain, and a little breezy. Tonight we are looking at frost and around 30 degrees. How is this going to affect the birds? Not that I have been hearing any gobbles anyway,lol, but is this front going to shut them down or what? Also, since I don't know where this tom is, would it be a good idea tonight to go where I last heard the birds roost which is in the area where the gobbler was the first two days? I'm assuming 4 days later, if no one else has hunted on the land, he should be back in the area with his hens? Where the tom had been was near an open swamp and the one night I heard birds roost and the next day saw them fly down into this open swamped and then they started making a b-line straight for where I had heard that tom gobble that morning off the ridge before he got spooked. Whether he was with those birds, I don't know, but I am assuming possibly. Thanks and good luck everyone!

Re: who all has had luck in ny so far Well I had a shot at a spooked gobbler ina tree and missed with the branches. I think he's still around; haven't seen sign of anyone else. Otherwise, he is not gobbling and I'm just seeing hens in this one field alot. Maybe next week will be the week...maybe... Still haven't tried the state land yet though.

Re: Realtree Turkey Team #12 Well Tuesday I chased a tom around, trying to get him before this obnoxious guy, missed a shot at him though in the tree. Been seeing hens at least. I think the tom is around still, unless he got shot while I was not in the woods, but I haven't seen/heard anyone else around. I took this morning off but will hit the woods tonight in hopes of roosting some birds, and get out tomorrow morning before a class.

I haven't been over to the state land where I was seeing hens and turkeys sign all week, since i've been trying to find this gobbler on the farmland at home. So when is a good time to try the state land? I don't know how much pressure it has gotten this week but I'm assuming this weekend will probably be loaded with hunters? And since I haven't been all week, I don't know what the turkeys are doing in that area, or if they are really scattered, but nothing seems to shock gobble to my owl or crow calls so I'm not sure what else I can do to know if there is any toms on this state land still or not? Any suggestions? Thanks friends!

Re: It\'s not even the end of the first week.... Thanks guys. I just feel like I'm going to the woods with no real clue where to set-up because I don't have a pattern down on this tom if he is still there. And it is hard when you don't hear gobbles because there just isn't like that psychologically satisfaction of "Oooh, a gobble, he's around",lol. I did end up taking the morning off because I have a final exam I need to study for and some other stuff to do, but I'll be out tonight on top of the gravel pit to see what may come out or go to roost. We never got any rain which might have been helpful to send those turkeys to the fields, but it is a little cooler, so maybe the birds will respond more...

Re: It\'s not even the end of the first week.... Well when you hear of other NYer's having great luck with the turkeys, you begin to wonder why you have to have it so hard... I think I may be taking the morning off...

And I am beginning to feel really frustrated and ready to give up, but I won't let myself give up. I went out this morning and decided to sit in the woods about 50 yards in from the field and gravel pit, on an old logging road.Daylight came, heard nothing. I gave some soft yelps and heard "yelp yelp" from behind me somewhere. I knew it was hen but didn't see her. I waited, did it again and thought it was in front of me. After an hour I decided to get up andsneak closer to the field. As soon as I get up I hear "putt...putt....putt...putt" I crouch down and there behind me about 20 yards away is a turkey still in the roost. I couldn't tell if it was the bearded hen or not so somehow I manage to sit down on the middle of the trail, with the pine tree I was just leaning against, in front of me. She eventually quits her "putts" and sits up there looking around. I look at her through my binocs and eventually to flies off, above me, and lands out in the gravel pit. I give a few soft yelps, and she heads right towards me. She has no beard so I just watch her and she came about 15-20yards from me before she finally went off when I moved. So I got to a few different spots, trying to strike up a gobble but nothing. I head home at 10:30am since I have homework to get done. As I stop just inside the woods to look at the field I was by this morning (I did a loop of some of the land I hunt) but I don't see anything then next thing I know on the other side of the field from where I was this morning, a turkey takes off! I didn't even see it and I don't know how it saw me! I don't know if it was the same hen, a different hen, or the tom, but this is depressing, I'm the biggest turkey spooker in NY state I think,lol. I can't roost birds tonight and I don't know what to do tomorrow morning except probably go to that field and just sit and WAIT! I've seen turkeys in the field almost every day, just not the gobbler, though he was near it that day he gobbled. It's hard to sit and call andn ot hear any gobbles or anything, so I don't know if he is alive or not. I think he is still around unless he got shot when I wasn't out late morning but I haven't seen that guy again and I'm not seeing/hearing anyone else hunting. So any suggestions? I may not be able to hit state land until next week....

Re: Update on this morning Yeah, I haven't been able to stay out late due to college stuff but tomorrow I don't have to go to the college until late afternoon so I have all morning to hunt. So if I stay out later in the morning, should I just set up in an area near where i think the turkey is hanging out and just call once in awhile? Oh, and I was wondering, with warm weather, would it be a good idea to go down in the bottoms near the creeks/swamps since I tend to see sign in there so I am assuming they go down to the cooler areas when it gets warm?? I guess I keep questiong and second guessing myself but I'm not sure if I'm doing anything wrong or what I can do to help myself. thanks for the tip!

Re: Update on this morning I forgot to mention there is a big sandy spot on the eidge of the fieldfrom the gravel pit that lst I checked, is being heavily used by turkeys dusting. Would this be a good spot to be near by and doturkeys have typical time that they dust?

Well I wasn't sure what to do so I went into the woods at a corner of a field that the turkeys are frequenting, at least the hens are, and I sat about 35 yards from the field edge, kind of between the area where I last spooked the tom and where I first heard him gobbling in the ridge by the gravel pit. I thought I heard really distnt gobble, but I think I was either hearing things or it was another bird because it was really far from the area he is in. I thought I heard wing flaps way behind me somewhere but wasn't sure. I got cold and decided to move out to the edge of the field and do a little calling. What do you know but a turkey flies out of the field bck into the woods, and it was way on the other side of the field, how it sw me I don't know. I don't know if it was a hen or tom either. Well I decided to run n gun a little around this side of the property the birds are on. Got no responses. Spooked bird, a hen I think, out of some brush on the side of a different ridge. Came up the bck of a ridge near where the tom was yesterday morning, and I heard something go running ,not sure if turkey or other animal. I didn't hear or see signs of the other hunter at least. I did hear 3 gun shots this morning, one way off not on this property, 2 were questionable but they sounded more like rifle shots or .22 shots. One of these shots sounded like it came from the gravel pit but no one was there. i'm not good at judging the sound of how fr a shot is, so I hope and pray one of the shots isn't the reason I didn't hear any gobbles. I'm thinking tonight going up on top of the gravel pit to watch for turkeys coming into the field and roost them then giving it a go in the morning again. I left the woods at 8am. So do you think the tom might be little less hesistant to talk tomorrow?

Re: Bad luck morning When I first heard him, he was several hundred yards from me. I'm just wondering, is he going to return to the area where he first was to find his hens tonight or stay in the vicinity where I last saw him fly?

Re: Where is everyone ??? At 5:08am, I was getting settled in the woods on a flat hardwoods creek bottom below some turkeys that flew down the opposite side of me later on.

Re: Bad luck morning Well I won't be able to get to out to scout tonight because of class, and tomorrow I have class in the morning so I'll only be hunting until about 8:30am, so I'm going to probably end up hunting the same land as today. So should I go in the area where I last saw the gobbler, or go where I started out this morning?

Re: Bad luck morning I'm not really sure where he was even roosted this morning, whether he was with those hens I saw fly down and moved really fast up to the ridge by the gravel pit, or if he was roosted up there already.....gosh, I just want to be in the right spot tomorrow morning and not have to run around the woods fighting this other hunter,ugh

Well maybe it just wasn't my time to get a turkey but I trust you all for some encouragement and hunting advice. I went and set up this morning on some turkeys I heard roost last night. They flew down where they had flown up from, an open swamp with an atv trail through the middle. I could hear that guy from yesterday cranking on his hen call a hundred yards or two behind me. So I decide to get up and walk out where I saw the turkeys go; I see one cross the swamp and go behind some brush, I think into the woods. I'm almost to the other side of the swamp when i hear GOBBLE come from the top of the ridge up behind me. So I high tail it into the woods and onto this old logging trail which winds it's way around out to the gravel pit, which is where the ridge is near. I stop part way on the trail, give a few yelps and GOBBLE! He sounds closer so I sit down against a tree and wait. He gobbles once more than stops. Next thing I know I hear a ruckus in front of my up the hill and see a turkey coast over my head and down behind me towards the other side of this swamp/creek towards more woods. I'm sitting there fuming because someone must have spooked him, I suspect that guy. Well I wait about half an hour then quietly work my way towards where the turkey went. I stop, give a few yelps and GOBBLE! So I cross this swamp into the woods, then I hear this guy on his call about 30 yards from me maybe! I'm mad now and there is no way this guy is going to cut in on me, but he is basically racing me for it. Well I cut over and in towards where I heard the gobbler, give a few yelps then listen and try to decide where I should go. Then I hear putt putt putt and I look up and about 25-30 yards from me up in a Beech tree I see bright red waddles, it's Mr. Gobbler! I get my gun up because he looks like he's about to take off and I've got this guy around somewhere, and bOOM! I shoot but the turkey flies off down into the swamp/hemlocks. There were some branches in the way which took alot of my shot. I slowly again work towards where the turkey went, wait half an hour in a spot and call again then nothing. As I'm heading home, I decide to take a round about way, kind of towards where the gobbler may havegone and then I hear andsee a turkey take off out of a tree, it must have been the same turkey! I decide to call it quits and I leave the woods. This last time he flew off, he went off towards a ridge alongside some fields. Now my question is, what do I do tomorrow? Is the bird going to be in the same area where I last saw/spooked him or is he going to move? I have a class tonight so I don't think I'll be able to get out and try to roost him. Is he going to be quiet tomorrow and quit gobbling? Should I change-up my calls tomorrow? Please, tell me anything, I'd love to get this guy, I think he's the same one I've been chasing for 3 years now and I have no idea if that person is going to be in there tomorrow or not. I am thinking setting up in the morning by that ridge where I saw the turkey fly to and just listen, but I don't know if he'll attempt to go back towards that ridge by the gravel pit or what! Aaahh!

Re: Ultimate Hunting Giveaway. Well I've been 2.5 years without a turkey, have a used bow and a used gun so remember me in that drawing,lol! Just joking:-)

Re: NY Success ! ! That isn't a little bird! Not in my books anyway! Congrats!

Re: Not a bad morning Thanks guys. I'm going to try to roost them tonight and maybe have some better luck tomorrow. It seems that this tom gobbled off the roost about 4 times then shut-up; I think he has some hens.

Well I came home empty handed but it wasn't a total waste of a morning. I decided to hunt my "home ground" so I got up at 4:30am, started walking over to a ridge I was at yesterday where I found some scratchings. I sat on top of the ridge in hopes I'd hear that tom gobble. Eventually when it got light out, I thought I heard a distant gobble to my left, but sometimes there is a dog that almost sounds like a gobble in the distance. Well I hear it again and again and I think geesh, I think that's a gobble. I wait and here it one more time and i'm almost certain it was a gobble! So I walk towards the direction I heard it and sat down on the edge of some hemlocks in this open grassy area of a swamp. Did a little calling but heard nothing. I moved into the woods where this is a logging trail and where I found a couple turkey feathers and also where I heard the tom gobble like 2 weeks ago. I call sparingly and then I hear a hen call, but it sounds high pitched and more like a box call. Another hunter? Sure enough, I see a gun flash through the brush about 50 yards in front of me, and then the hen call. Then a guy steps out onto the trail and walks about 20 yards, stops and sees me. So I pack up my stuff, figuring I'll move and thought maybe this guy would come say hi. Nope, I turn around and he's gone; maybe he felt stupid,lol. When I walked out for home, saw a hen in the field below the gravel pit but that was it. So do you think I should get back into the area where I heard the gobble this morning and see if I hear some birds roost? Do you think the tom will be back in the same area tomorrow morning?

Re: Help! Not sure where to hunt in the morning Thanks guys! I guess, since I have a limited time to hunt tomorrow, I'll try my "home ground". Not sure where I'll go since I've seen sign all over, but maybe I'll set up on the ridge where I saw the scratching and from there, I can probably here that tom gobble if he does. Then, depending on how the morning, I'll either hit the state land to try to roost birds or try to roost them on the home ground. I guess I'm just worried that if a bunch of people are on the state land, they are either going to get the turkeys all messed up or shoot the gobblers, then I'll be out of luck. Oh well, wait and see. Good luck everyone!

Re: Bearded hen Nice! Looks like the hen I saw,lol.

This happens every year, I can't decide where to hunt. I went for a walk this afternoon on the farmland near my house to see if I could find that gobbler and/or the bearded hen. Well the dumb neighbors decided to saw wood below the gravel pit so that loused up that area. I walked onto this ridge and found some scratchings, maybe a day or two old, so I'm wondering if this is where the gobbler is with his hen. It seems like the turkeys are really scattered here. This evening I went over to the state land and sat on the ridge overlooking the hardwoods. The blackflies were nasty, but at about 7:45pm I hear leaves crunching and to my left a hen is walking right at me. She kind of putt putts and walks over to another hen out in front of me and the two scratch around on an old logging trail before going over the ridge and presumably to roost. I think I heard them roost but not sure. There is so much sign in there, there has to be more than 2 hens but seeing them and no gobbler was dissappointing. So I head out to the car and walking out I find a bunch of gobbler poop, youk now the straight looking ones, so that makes me think there has to be a gobbler around here somewhere but he wasn't with the hens. Do you think maybe he was out of view over the ridge when I saw the hens or somewhere else completely? I saw when I got out to the car two cars parked in the middle of the road above me with a couple guys standing out there, not sure what they are up to. Anyway I can onlt hunt until 8/8:30am tomorrow, where should I go? I don't know whether to get near those hens on the state land and hope there is a gobbler, or just hunt the land by my house and pray I hear a gobble. Heelp!