Day 6 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.
Posted: May 10th, 2016, 2:28 pm
2016 Spring Turkey Trip to Gobbler's Roost in NY
Ron & I headed to the upper meadow of his cemetery at before 5 to get set-up. At 5:10, it was 48, overcast, & calm. The sunrise was really pretty this morning with the sky a bright purple color. I’ve never seen it that color before. Nothing was stirring at all until 8:10 when a lone young hen strolled in from my right. She caught me in a bad position as I was all stretched out with my legs fully extended. All y’all know what I’m talking about………The pre-nap position. It was a struggle to get back into an upright position without making any noise or movement that might spook her or any other birds that might have been hidden but not come out yet. She fed around in an ever widening circle never getting closer than 10 yards from the dekes but had no problem getting within 10 feet of the blind.
After about an hour, she fed off to my left out of sight. I pulled out my box call &, along with a mouth call; I started hammering getting very aggressive. Almost immediately, 2 hens responded from behind me to my right still in the brush & they were not happy. I fired back at them & set down the box call getting ready in case a gobbler was with them. They came out into the meadow about 30 yards to my right & moved towards me cussin’ & a fussin’ like crazy. They knew right where I was. They got within 5 yards & went back into the brush still muttering to themselves.
Within a couple of minutes, 4 more hens further to my right & fed back & forth near the dekes. OK, I thought, that’s 10 hens in not much more than an hour. Where the heck are the gobblers?? There can’t be this many hens & no gobs!! The 4 left the field about 9:50. Still no gobblers!!
I was sitting there trying to decide what to do Sat. morning, sleep in & start getting ready for the trip home Sunday or hunt. I was leaning strongly towards sleeping in when I look to my right. The meadow has a gradual drop off along the tree line &, at about 10:
20, I saw a large white ball sitting on the top of the crest. What the heck is that & where did it come from?? Suddenly, ftttttttpppppp, there was a bunch of feathers behind the white ball. AHHHHHHH..NOW I know what that white ball is. He had come in along the tree line below the crest & all I could see was his head & part of his fan. He strutted back & forth for several minutes when a jake showed up & started towards the dekes.
Another dilemma…… Shoot the jake or hope the gob comes in. Waiting for the gob won out. The jake went back to the gobbler but came right back getting even closer. Again, it looked around & decided to turn around. Another jake showed up & the gobbler had moved more towards the end of the meadow completely showing himself. He continued with the floor show but wouldn’t come in, even with the soft purrs I occasionally sent his way. Then I saw why: I could see the backs of 2 hens feeding just below the crest & heading away. I was afraid they would take the boss with them so I eased off my chair & took a 1 knee stance with the 11-87 pointed out the side window with the safety off. I put the scope on him, hoping he would drop strut & give me a shot. It was a longer shot than I like to take but I know how my gun & ammo combo works & my own shooting so I wasn’t too concerned. He finally dropped strut & I dropped him with turkeys running every which way. My impression was that there were more than the 4 birds but I was concentrating on the gobbler & didn’t try to count. Suddenly he regained his feet & stood there wobbling from side-to-side & front-to-back. Not wanting to take a chance, I shot again & he disappeared. Did I miss & he ran off? I hurried over to where he had been standing & he was piled up on the low side of the crest out of sight. At 10:40, the Federal Heavyweight Mag-Shok, 3” Magnum #7 Magic Pixie Dust had done it’s job again. His stats: 18 pounds 6 ounces, 9” beard, & 7/8” spurs.
Supper was my homemade chili again. Thanks Ron.
Ron & I headed to the upper meadow of his cemetery at before 5 to get set-up. At 5:10, it was 48, overcast, & calm. The sunrise was really pretty this morning with the sky a bright purple color. I’ve never seen it that color before. Nothing was stirring at all until 8:10 when a lone young hen strolled in from my right. She caught me in a bad position as I was all stretched out with my legs fully extended. All y’all know what I’m talking about………The pre-nap position. It was a struggle to get back into an upright position without making any noise or movement that might spook her or any other birds that might have been hidden but not come out yet. She fed around in an ever widening circle never getting closer than 10 yards from the dekes but had no problem getting within 10 feet of the blind.
After about an hour, she fed off to my left out of sight. I pulled out my box call &, along with a mouth call; I started hammering getting very aggressive. Almost immediately, 2 hens responded from behind me to my right still in the brush & they were not happy. I fired back at them & set down the box call getting ready in case a gobbler was with them. They came out into the meadow about 30 yards to my right & moved towards me cussin’ & a fussin’ like crazy. They knew right where I was. They got within 5 yards & went back into the brush still muttering to themselves.
Within a couple of minutes, 4 more hens further to my right & fed back & forth near the dekes. OK, I thought, that’s 10 hens in not much more than an hour. Where the heck are the gobblers?? There can’t be this many hens & no gobs!! The 4 left the field about 9:50. Still no gobblers!!
I was sitting there trying to decide what to do Sat. morning, sleep in & start getting ready for the trip home Sunday or hunt. I was leaning strongly towards sleeping in when I look to my right. The meadow has a gradual drop off along the tree line &, at about 10:
20, I saw a large white ball sitting on the top of the crest. What the heck is that & where did it come from?? Suddenly, ftttttttpppppp, there was a bunch of feathers behind the white ball. AHHHHHHH..NOW I know what that white ball is. He had come in along the tree line below the crest & all I could see was his head & part of his fan. He strutted back & forth for several minutes when a jake showed up & started towards the dekes.
Another dilemma…… Shoot the jake or hope the gob comes in. Waiting for the gob won out. The jake went back to the gobbler but came right back getting even closer. Again, it looked around & decided to turn around. Another jake showed up & the gobbler had moved more towards the end of the meadow completely showing himself. He continued with the floor show but wouldn’t come in, even with the soft purrs I occasionally sent his way. Then I saw why: I could see the backs of 2 hens feeding just below the crest & heading away. I was afraid they would take the boss with them so I eased off my chair & took a 1 knee stance with the 11-87 pointed out the side window with the safety off. I put the scope on him, hoping he would drop strut & give me a shot. It was a longer shot than I like to take but I know how my gun & ammo combo works & my own shooting so I wasn’t too concerned. He finally dropped strut & I dropped him with turkeys running every which way. My impression was that there were more than the 4 birds but I was concentrating on the gobbler & didn’t try to count. Suddenly he regained his feet & stood there wobbling from side-to-side & front-to-back. Not wanting to take a chance, I shot again & he disappeared. Did I miss & he ran off? I hurried over to where he had been standing & he was piled up on the low side of the crest out of sight. At 10:40, the Federal Heavyweight Mag-Shok, 3” Magnum #7 Magic Pixie Dust had done it’s job again. His stats: 18 pounds 6 ounces, 9” beard, & 7/8” spurs.
Supper was my homemade chili again. Thanks Ron.
