Uncle Will got a turkey in New York. Dad told Mom and I all about it. He's really excited - looks like we'll be going turkey hunting again! Here's Uncle Will's story:
I got my first NY turkey yesterday. I was getting a little worried that I may have left my turkey luck in Idaho as it took me longer than usual. Here's how it happened:Spring turkey season in New York opens with a bang. It seems like every up-stater and even some from down-state head to the woods with calls and decoys in hand on the first of May.
In April, I spent considerable time driving the back-roads near my my house "windshield scouting" and stopping in at dairy farms to ask for trespass rights. Unfortunately, the back-roads didn't prove very fruitful, and the two farms I was granted permission to hunt were along highways with fields in plain site of traffic all day long. The operators of both these farms were not up for granting exclusive hunting rights, instead the response to my plea for access was "go ahead and hunt my land, everyone else does". In the final two weeks of April I had seen exactly one gobbler on each of "my" farms.
The night before opening day I made my final scouting drive, and to my dismay I saw more binocular-toting hunters than turkeys. I talked to one local who was glassing what I thought was the better of the two farms and he informed me that he had not seen a tom on the farm all spring. He said he'd leave the farm to me, but that I should expect company.
On opening day I headed out extra early and claimed my spot along the giant hay field where I had last seen a tom. I kept a keen eye for flashlight beams around the field but never saw sign of other hunters. I had hoped to hear some roost gobbling, but that never happened. Finally, at about 6:00am, I spotted a bird soaring out over the field. It continued past the field and across the road. Could that have been my Tom? A few minutes later a line of birds appeared above the field, soaring after the first. I yelped frantically and was surprised to see the lead bird bank and come my way. She dropped into the field at 100 yards along with 4 other hens. They were mingling in the field, casually eying my decoys when I spotted two more birds walking purposefully toward the flock. Could one of these be my tom?
I answered my question with my binoculars, both short-beards. They joined the hens, one strutting and playing the dominant role over the flock. They started to drift away so I made a few clucks, then a couple yelps, then some hard cutts (oh yes my infamous "bark-lika-dog" cutting). The lead jake couldn't resist and led the flock my way. As they entered my decoy spread I thought I heard a gobble in the distance, from the whence the jakes had come. Was that my tom? I was straining my ears, hoping to hear a clear gobble, when the report of a twelve gauge answered my question. It wasn't "my" tom anymore.
The rest of the morning was uneventful, I never heard a gobble but counted three more gunshots. On day two, I had to work the morning shift at UPS. I was expecting to be the only one in the morning-shift turkey pool without a set of spurs to measure. To my surprise, none of the 4 other self proclaimed New York turkey hunting experts' had killed a bird. Still with every package I picked up, all I could think was "wish I was hunting". Finally, at 9:00am I got out of work and made a run for the woods. This time, I headed to my "back-up" farm and set up in a pasture. When the noon bell rang (season closes at noon each day) I had not seen or heard a single turkey but had counted 4 different hunters who stopped to glass my decoys. I was beginning to think there weren't any toms in New York, just a bunch of Tom, Dick n' Larrys who spend all spring "hunting".
My luck changed on the drive home when I spotted a fanned-tail poking out of a swale in one of "my" hay fields. I double checked with the binoculars, yes indeed, it was a real tom! I didnt plan to hunt day three, despite having finally spotted a tom the day before. After my UPS shift I headed home and convinced myself that I should go to my second job, rather than hunt. But when the drizzle turned to rain at 10:00 am, I couldn't resist. Cool rainy days are my favorite for chasing birds in the spring. I practically ran up the edge of the field where I had seen the tom the day before, and was set up by 10:30am, just as the rain stopped. "Perfect", I thought, "the birds should be out to dry their feathers any minute". Unfortunately I had run out of the house so quickly, I had forgotten my coffee, and mid morning drowsiness kicked in. Only 30 minutes after getting set up, I was slouched and head bobbing, so I let myself drift off. When I woke, I picked up my head and was looking straight at a hen, 50 yards away, staring me down. She was nervous (it could have been my snoring) and eventually ran off the far side of the field. I called at her, hoping to keep a live decoy on the field, but to no avail.
I checked my watch, 11:25am, time to get aggressive. I started with my standard series of yelps, then went to the barklikadogs, and finished with a combination of cutting with a diaphragm and calling back with a box call. By 11:30, I was panting and out of breath, when a gobbler sounded off in the woods on the far side of the field. I was elated! My first gobble of the year! I waited about 5 minutes without hearing another gobble, and started into my crescendoing series of calls. This time the tom answered back during a pause in my barking. Then, two red heads appeared on the far side of the field. They hesitated, and one turned back toward the woods, before I made a final, irresistible, set of three sharp clucks and 5 yelps. The two toms gobbled their way across 150 yards of alfalfa and into my decoys before the strutter fell to load of sixes, at 11:47.
I'm currently leading the UPS turkey pool, with a couple of solid 1" spurs. I caught a lot of guff from all the "experts" when I told them I called incessantly until the birds answered and then came in. Wise New York gobblers, they say, dont respond to over calling. My only response, an un-wise tom tastes a heck-of-a-lot better than tag soup. One more tag to go, hopefully another story to come........Will
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