western NY bowhunter

I'm in Steuben County. If I remember correctly, you're in Allegany, right?

One of my uncles tagged out this morning too...nice triple bearded bird. It's been a heck of a week for turkey hunting with 6 longbeards down for myself/family members since last saturday!!!

It was a pretty good week...three toms down in 7 mornings. I filled both tags and called a buddy in his first longbeard too. Doesn't get much better!!!

Thanks guys!!!

I was finally able to put a tag on an old warrior of a bird on saturday: 22 lb, 6 oz 9" beard (3/4 of it was "froze off") 1 1/4" spur (other was broken off @ 3/4") He's the second banded bird of my hunting career. Unbelievably, I killed a gobbler with band #N2280 back in 2008 less than 100 yds. away on the same farm. These turkeys were banded on a neighboring farm during february of 2007 as part of a 4 year study conducted by Penn State University in NY, PA and OH. They captured/banded nearly 4,000 tom and jakes from 2006-2009 in these three states. When I called the band in on monday the lady in charge at Penn State told me that my bird had 1 3/16" spurs when banded in 2007, making him most likely a 3 year old at the time. Now, five years later he was likely 8 years old. This makes him the oldest tom recorded in the study!!! Both were $100 reward bands. I collected the money on the '08 bird, but am out of luck with #2 as it expired in July 2009. It doesn't really matter to me anyways... My banded bird from 2008. These two were probably brothers or close cousins... Back in 2007 his beard was 10.5" long. Here's what it looked like 5 years later... I feel truely fortunate to have tagged such an old veteran gobbler...a true legend of the turkey woods. He survived for nearly a decade in an area that doesn't exactly lack for hunting pressure. He'll probably be the oldest bird that I ever kill. I look forward to hunting all of his decendants for years to come!!!

I've got a new one on order. The new mission line is pretty nice. Bowtech/Diamond also have a very impressive lineup for 2011 with prices $200 less than Hoyt or Mathews.

This buck was killed by Dave Edwards in Cortland County, NY on the final weekend of the regular firearms season. The deer reportedly scores 205 gross / 185 net. Looks like it'll be this year's biggest typical in NY. Congrats to Dave on tagging one heck of a NY buck!!!

Last year (on the shed) the tip of his mainbeam was dark colored and also kind of porous in texture. The beam was broken off just past where the darker coloration started. This year the entire right antler was this way. I don't know if it was some kind of velvet injury or what? What ever was going on here is the reason that the tines were weakened and broken off. There was no smooth/polished outer surface to the bone like on a normal antler. It almost seemed as if the whole thing had been burned/charred. I've never seen an antler that looked like this one's did.

Actually, his gross score of 181 3/8" is as a typical. He only has two abnormal points on his left side...a 4 4/8" fork on his G2 and a 1 5/8" sticker coming out of the burr.

CONTINUED... Now, throw in this shed that my uncle's bro-in-law found while spreading manure on a cut cornfield back in March of 2010. This antler still has the wax ring and is last year's shed without question. I searched for the other side but had no luck in finding it. I scored it @ 58 5/8 with 2" or so broken off of the mainbeam. Based on this shed, I'm estimating that he went from a mid-130's to 140 class last year as a 3 year old to a 195+ typical (if unbroken) @ 4.5!!! This jump in growth amazes me, especially since we're talking about a NY deer here, not one from IA. Although this buck wasn't a result of any direct QDM efforts by the hunter or local landowners, it just goes to show what can happen when a deer with good nutrition and good genetics meets up with the age factor of the big buck equation. Little bucks will one day turn into big bucks if given the chance to grow up, even here in NY state...

First of all, I just want to say congrats to the lucky hunter on taking a true buck of a lifetime! This buck was killed on 11/26 by a guy from my hometown here in Steuben County, NY. Unfortunately, his right side appeared to have been injured in velvet and his G3 tine was broken off, as well as half of the G4. Even though he was busted up badly, he still officially green scored @ 181 3/8 gross...150 1/8 net. His right side scores 93 3/8 (with an additional inch or so broken off of his G3): 13 4/8 G2, G3 & G4 over 10 inches, 22 3/8" outside spread.

I can't argue with the fact that the season wasn't a successful one. But, I assure you that none of these birds came easily. For the amount of gobblers that were around this spring compared to the amount that were workable, it was my toughest season ever. It didn't help matters that I've lost a very large portion of my hunting ground over the past couple of seasons so I was pretty much restricted to hunting only a couple of local farms. I've only had 4 longbeards within shooting range this season...3 of them went home in the back of the truck...the other would have too if someone would have been hunting with me. Guess I need to get out and find some new ground before next season.

Haha, funny that you mentioned that. That's his "victory cigar".

It was a frustrating and grueling season for sure. All of the gobblers have been henned up big time (still are). Add a good dose of hunting pressure in and it makes for some pretty tough hunting. My goal going into the season was the same as it always is...to fill my tags and my father's tags with 4 longbeards. Despite the less than ideal conditions, we finally accomplished my preseason goal this morning. I may go out a few more times with other people but for the most part, my season ended this morning in a fine fashion. It's time to put the turkey gun away and break out the trailcams. The bucks are progressing nicely... Good luck to everyone out there still chasing those gobblers around! Bird#1...20 lbs, 9 1/4" beard, 3/4" spurs. Bird #2...20 lb, 10 1/4" beard, 1 1/4" spurs. Dad's state-land gobbler...19 1/2 lb, 8 1/2" beard and 3/4" spurs. Big ole boss gobbler from this morning...21 lb, 10" paintbrush, 1 5/16 & 1 1/4 spurs. Had to throw in the pics of my uncle's bird from last weeked too...1 9/16 & 1 1/2" hooks!

Stick with him, he'll slip up sooner or later...you've just got to be there to capitalize when it happens. I tagged out with a beautiful longbeard yesterday morning that acted much the same as the bird you're after. Actually, it was a pair of longbeads that were always accompanied by 5 or 6 hens. They'd gobble on the roost, hit the ground and shut up. Henned up, pressured birds are pretty tough to kill. Finally, after 6 straight mornings of playing cat and mouse with these boys I was able to close the deal on one of them when the duo followed their hens by my set-up twenty minutes after they hit the field yesterday morning.