Wednesday May 31, 2006

NO BIRDS! I went all season without shooting a turkey. This morning Aaron and I went up to the Hughes property where chased the "poop eater" around yesterday. I wanted to try for a different bird, so we hiked to the other end of the 700ac. that he owns. We were standing at the corner of a woodlot looking across a field at another woodlot when I hooted for the first time. Two birds sounded off at the opposite end of the other woodlot. We ran around the field and got setup in the woods before they flew down. They didn't gobble that much, but they did gobble a few times. We were about 300yds downhill from where I ran into that gobbler yesterday, the one that was charging out of the woods at my first call. I assumed that these birds were the same and would want to come in our direction naturally, so I didn't call a lot. Well, sunrise came and went and the fog burned off some, and the birds flew down. I made the first call as they hit the ground, and only one responded. I shut up for a while, and then heard the bird gobble again across the field. HE WAS WALKING STRAIGHT AWAY FROM US! The other bird never answered, but I figured I better stay with the one I can see. We stayed long enough to give him an opportunity to turn around, or for the other bird to show up. Then I spotted 4 hens pecking in the manure up behind the farmhouse, which was just above where that bird was strutting. "He couldn't be? No way is that the poop eater bird", I thought. Well, I got into a better position to glass and when he strutted, I noticed the characteristic two missing tail feathers of the poop eater. I knew we were in for some exercise, so we immediately tried to sneak around on him. I headed for the woodlot that we originally were in, and headed towards the bottom of the hill where he was. We were in postition with that bird about 150yds from us, finally strutting with those four hens. I noticed one hen leave the manure and head for the patch of manure where we have been seeing them the past couple days. I was setup within 50yds of that spot yesterday, so I knew where to go. I backed out and used the topography of the open field to my advantage. As we slid into position at our respective trees, I saw all four hens leading the tom directly towards us. This couldn't be any better. There was a ditch in the field that would allow me to keep my gun on my lap until they were almost to me, then have time to get it up and still be comfortable when the shot came. Well, they were half way to us, just getting ready to go into the ditch and they all got real tall. I didn't hear any cars on the road, and I didn't see anything else to spook them, so I kept an eye on the whole situation. All of a sudden they picked up and flew into the woods....right where we were just setup. I quickly stood, alerted Aaron, and headed to the top of that woodlot. They were up there yesterday at 10:30 when we were heading out, so I again assumed they would travel in that direction. As I started walking I noticed a big, shiny, "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY" balloon floating over the manure spots in the field. I know what it said because I made a point of driving by where it landed on the side of the road and stomping the crap out of it. Anyway, we quickly were setup in the top of that woodlot, and my first call was answered from a long way off. I could't believe that they were heading in the opposite direction. I snuck up to the edge of the woods and glassed again, and of course, the tom was strutting about 100yds from the tree he roosted in. I made another call and he perked up, ran down the hedgerow away from me, then came down through it. I thought he was excited and looking for a good place to cross a stream which was below the hedgerow, but that wasn't the case. He literally walked directly under his roost. The hens were heading towards me, in fact they had all disappeared from sight into the woods below me. I knew he was over there alone and I couldn't get across the field again in the daylight. My only option was to go all the way up to the truck, and then drive around and park at the farm and drop over the edge into the woods. We beat feet and got back to the truck pretty quick. As we walked carefully down to the edge of the woods, I heard a gobble. Sure enough, it was right back where we just were. How do they do that? I got back in the truck and drove around the road again, trying to spot the birds so I could figure out just what the heck they were doing. I spotted a hen, and while glassing, I heard the bird gobble. He was pretty much right where he ran to when the balloon spooked them. That's right, so now we are on setup 5 and back to the same place as number 2. I figured the only way we could get on that bird was to go in by his roost and sneak up the woodline behind him. I spotted him pecking around a manure pile all alone on the far side of the woods as we got closer to the woodlot. I decided that it was best to go straight at him and get as close as possible. To finish off this painful story, it was ten when we setup, and at 10:30 with no sign of birds we left. The best chance to get on a bird at this point in the game, basically the final hour of the season, was sausage hill. It was minutes away, and always proved good in the late morning during late season. Long story short, we hunted up behind the sheep farm and didn't hear a thing. With a half hour left, we ran up to the top of the hill. With fifteen minutes left, I got an answer from a hen that was probably nesting in the aspens, just like always. She never came in and at 11:57, we unloaded and walked back through the millions of tent caterpillars that have infested the woods. Today was the worst tent caterpillar day yet, and to make the last few minutes of the last day of the season even worse, we had to put up with all the tiny strands of webbing that they decend on, being wrapped around every part of our bodies. When I got back to the truck I picked 67 tent caterpillars off my vest alone. I'm pretty bummed right now, and I will make a few more posts, so don't give up on this yet. I have some pretty good fishing pictures from when I took Aaron's son Collin fishing. The only other words I have to say are probably better left unwritten.........................................

Tuesday May 30, 2006

"GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT" That is the moral of the story for my turkey season and especially today. Aaron and I set up in the green clearing inside the woods where we watched that gobbler go to roost last night up in the new spot I got the other day. We snuck in from the same side we did yesterday and got within 10yds of the clearing. I put my hen decoy in the logging road that comes out of the clearing and set Aaron up so he was watching downhill and behind me. I setup looking into the clearing. I assumed that bird would fly into the clearing, but if not, we had plenty of options to move and get ready. Well, at 10min to 6, that bird gobbled at less than 80yds and eye level. I couldn't see him, but I was sure Aaron could. The bird eventually flew down and I made sure I was the first hen he heard. He gobbled immediately. I yelped soft again and he was much closer, the kind that makes your whole body vibrate. I could only see Aaron, so I was reading the birds off his actions. His gun moved in my direction, and the thumb clicked the safety off on that old 20GA. I was just praying that the bird was close enough. Suddenly he shot, I jumped and turned just in time to see a bunch of birds flush up and out of the treetops, and out over the field. I looked, and looked hard, but couldn't find a bird flopping on the ground. I kept looking thinking that he may have shot him stone cold dead, but that wasn't the case. He instantly admitted to screwing up and Ifelt pretty bad for him. He knew how hard I'd been working for a turkey this month, and he knew that he just blew the best situation I'd had all year. I just grabbed the decoy and my calls and started for the truck. I figured the sooner we were on a new bird, the sooner I would cool down and forget about it. Well, forget for the moment anyway. That hunt will live with me for the next 330 days if I don't get to pick one up by the feet tomorrow. Had Aaron waited just a few more seconds that bird would have been within 20yds, and it wouldn't have made a difference if he was shooting a 20ga. or a 12ga, or a 28ga. for that matter. As we headed towards the spot where we saw the big redhead stutting as his hens picked manure, I told Aaron to call Bill and let him know what happened, because I was sure he was just sitting around waiting for the word, he knew my plan, and he knew it was going to work. We rounded the corner and sure enough, that big gobbler was strutting in the manure again. It was 6am. We sat up by the farm and glassed him for a while, to make sure he was going to commit to that side of the road before we made the long hike in to get him. While glassing, Aaron heard another bird gobble directly behind the farm, so I thought it would be beneficial either way, if we went in. If the "poop eaters" left and crossed the road, we would still be able to get after the other one we heard. We made it across all the open fields and into the last patch of woods and the bird was still strutting by the road. I made the decision to use the topography of that really open area to get as close as possible. I setup about 200yds from him under the last possible tree I could. My first call struck the right nerve as that bird started gobbling his head off. Over 100 times in all before it was said and done. He gobbled at everything, but I knew he had 3 hens with him and would be reluctant to come to the call. I tried soft and easy, trying to coax the hens in, but didn't succeed. I tried aggressive calling to get him to break away, and he gobbled but wouldn't leave them. He eventually dropped behind another rise in the field and I was able to sneak up to the tiny patch of pines that he was just in. When I got there, I heard a putt. He was standing 80yds away, but hadn't seen us. He may have heard us or something, I'm not real sure. He walked off gobbling with his hens. When he was about half way up the hill towards my truck, I was able to turn him and bring him back to 100yds. The hens came with him, but then turned and headed back towards the top of the hill. I saw this as a good opportunity to get out of there before we spooked him. I was also kind of anxious to get a chance at the other bird we heard. When we reached the bottom edge of the last patch of woods we needed to get through, I gave a loud call on my box call. A bird sounded off about 100yds into the woods in front of us. We were almost to the corner of the field. The corner was between us and him. I immediately set the decoy in the field and had Aaron sit next to it just inside the woods, and watch the woods. Good spots to sit were scarce and I knew I was going to have to totally commit my shots to the field. I tried to run up about 50yds to be able to shoot over a little knoll, but as I neared my tree I spotted the gobbler charging out of the woods at full speed. I am not sure who was more surprised, me or him, but either way the jig was up and I just turned around and grabbed the decoy. We headed up through the woods following a wetland swale towards a cove in the top field. The area seemed like a likely spot to run into a bird when I saw it on the way in. Just below it Aaron thought he heard a gobble in the field, and a few steps later we spooked a bird just inside the woods. I figured if that bird went quietly, we still may have a chance at the gobbler. So I fired up the box call again and was answered by a chorus of gobbles. The bird that we were after intially gobbled up and to our left in the field. Another bird gobbled directly above us in the field and then to our left a bird with a real deep, long gobble sounded off at about 50yds. We sat right where we were, and it was actually a really good setup. I made my first call on my box call again, but didn't get an answer. We waited for 15min but no more gobbles or anything. Cautiously we worked up to the field and found that all the birds had left. We made it back to the truck without any more confrontations. It was 10:45. Why? Why does it take until the last day or two of the season to figure out a spot like this, or to finally get action like this? Good things come to those who wait, but I can only wait until Noon on May 31st. At 11 we pulled into the spot where I killed my bird on the last day of the season last year. We witnessed three longbeards go up into there on Saturday, so I was optimistic. We called our way across the ridge, and about 10 min into it, I heard a cutt and a yelp. We setup right where we were. The bird clucked the whole way in and yelped a few times. The yelps were slow and raspy, just like a jake should sound. I trained my eyes on the ledge in front of us and as the bird appeared behind my bead, I was ready. I must have burned a hole in the breast of that hen trying to find a beard, but no such luck. She walked 5yds from Aaron and then circled behind us. She stood behind a blow down at 20yds for the next 20min. I kept purring and clucking, and cutting and yelping, and she obliged with the continuous purrs and clucks and occasional yelps that a hen will give you in such a situation. She couldn't find her lunch date, and I finally realized it was getting close to noon. No gobblers were going to make the rendezvous before the noon whistle, so I thought I would have some fun. I just spoke up and told the hen that she could go back to her nest (even though she appeared to be a yearling and most likely didn't have one), the I told her that she didn't have a beard, so it was time to go. Then I finally just started barking out, "leave, go, go on, now" and she just gave me a curious cock of the head and started towards me again. I finally just stood up when she was circling at about 45yds. We walked out, defeated again. One more morning is all that is left. The heart is starting to get a little heavy, the breaths a little short, but like they say, "good things come to those who wait".

Monday May 29, 2006

Last night Bill and I went over and aquired permission from the guy who owns that nice field where our gobbler went yesterday morning. He initally said no, but upon further conversation agreed, since he was just a deer hunter and not a turkey hunter. He not only gave us permission for behind his house, but also up behind the sheep farm, where I have commonly heard birds, but never had permission to go in there. He actually gave us that permission right off the bat, not realizing we just wanted to turkey hunt. So, now the game was on. We had the three of us again this morning and we could surround him. Aaron and I took the breeder decoy up to the top of the new field and Bill went in from Chris's house and setup a little closer than Aaron and I did yesterday. He didn't gobble nearly as much this morning on the roost. He did gobble though. He also sounded like he was almost all the way down the hill and possibly across the street. I wasn't going to call this am, just as I hadn't yesterday, to preserve whatever comfort he had in the area he had been spending so much time in. Well, when I heard him so far off, I knew I had to do something. I started calling. He answered a bunch, not every time, but enough to keep me interested. He eventually started working his way up the woods towards us. He cut the distance pretty good, but wasn't very close when it comes to getting real excited. He eventually started moving off down the hill again. I walked over into the woods to try and coax him by moving my setup. Once in the woods, I realized that I was pretty close to Bill, I could hear him calling. I backed out and we used our radios to confirm the bird was moving down and that we should move in on him and setup again. We did, and he still moved off. Another long story short, he went across the road and the hunt was over. Bill picked us up back down on the road and told us how he had seen a few birds in the bottom of the field when he was walking out and decided to go back and give them a shot. In doing so, he may have spooked a bird, but he doesn't think so. He did see a big bird pick up and fly across the road from about 50yds from him. We headed back over towards Putnam's. On the way we couldn't pass up The Corner's, and this time there were no birds visible, besides the same hen that we've seen every day, in an adjacent property just pecking around in a field. However, I did find a gobbler's left primary feather on the road into the pond, so I know there is one in there somewhere. We didn't waste much time there. We wanted to be up and in position for the Putnam birds before the time we tangled with them yesterday, which was 8:30am. We were up there by 7-7:15 today, and we didn't get one rise out of anything up there. After that we drove back towards the spot where Jason had killed that jake on opening day, and there was a stutter in the same place where I had seen a bird right before Jason and I went in. We did the same thing, minus the calling through the woods thing, and we just ran down the edge of the woods to minimize noise. It's hard with three people to be quiet. We got into position, with Bill on the calls behind Aaron and I. Bill's first yelps on the box call brought a distant gobble, and then silence. I thought a I had heard another gobble when he made his second call on the box, but I wasn't 100% sure. He kept switching back to his slate, so picked up my box call to see if I could make something happen. I clucked, yelped, cutt, yelped, and cutt. As I lowered my hands, I was almost shocked to hear a cutt, cluck, cutt come from in front of me, close too! I slowly dropped my box call between my legs, box first, then paddle, and grabbed my gun. Sure enough, seconds later a hen came clucking and cutting all the way in. She got to about 35yds and looked around and walked off. I thought the stutter we had seen would be right with her, so I fired up my diaphram to get her back. Like a puppet on a string, she came yelping and cutting right back. Still no gobbler, and nothing for her to see, she walked off yet again. This time we moved up to the field, put out a hen deke, and tried again. We never heard anything else. On to the next spot. As we were nearing the end of the road, we were going to turn and head down to Sausage Hill to see if that bird had made it back out to the fields. Before we got to the end of the road however, we spotted a real nice redhead with two hens just getting ready to cross the road, on the same farm where we just were. The terrain is pretty open, but there were two main woodlots he could have been heading towards. So, instead of left to "the hill" we went right and tried to sneak into the back of one of those woodlots. On the way over to the woods, crossing a big open field, we spooked a couple turkey's but didn't care much since we had a real nice one in our sights. Once we got to the edge of the woods, I glassed for a few minutes to see where they were going, and I watched them walk right back across the road and into the thin strip of pines that we could see right through. The only way to get at that bird was to go back to the end of the road, and get below him in this big ravine and try calling him down. Everything up top was way too open to move in on him. Well, we went down there and spent the remainder of legal hunting down there, without a single peep from those damn birds! I still have two more days, and something has to happen quick. I was going to go back to Rochester today and hunt with my dad in H-town, but he doesn't want me to waste the gas money to go hunt where the turkey hunting isn't as good. It doesn't matter much to me, I'd much rather see my dad, and possibly kill a bird with him, than hunt without him and not kill anything. The problem is, there are definitely birds here and I have a lot more land, and I only have two days left, and dad would have to work both days, and, and, and.... you get the idea. I don't know what to do, but financially I think I am better off just staying put here for the next two days. I know, I never think about money, especially when it comes to hunting, but dad isn't too optimistic about the hunting situation up there, and I know he has to work. I also feel like I need to give a little back to my old landlord, who puts me up in his own house every turkey season and treats me like one of the family. Very few people would do what this family does for me, and I can't think of a really good way to show them how much I appreciate it. I cook them dinner every once in a while, but that doesn't do it. If I could get Aaron a bird, I know he would be very happy, and that would take some of that pressure off. Don't get me wrong though, it's a little hard to justify my weekly trips up here to everyone in VA when I don't come back with anything. They all think I'm nuts, but truth be known, I just can't help it. If I had to choose one thing to do the rest of my life it would be turkey hunting. Some people golf, some people fix cars, some people drink, dance, play sports, have family's........I hunt. I hunt everything, but I find myself thinking of turkey hunting no matter what my target is that day. I was just talking about it this weekend, how I was sitting in my treestand one day this past fall wishing I could call deer like I do turkey's. An hour later I grunted in the biggest bow buck of my life, and as I watched him drop in that field, I was extremely happy, but I also thought about how excited and happy I get when I'm turkey hunting. I'll figure it all up from my receipts when it's all said and done, but it's looking like $1100 in gas, $100 in hotels, $200 in food, and about 65hrs of drive time since April 29th. Some may say I have a problem, but there are much worse things to spend your time and money on. At least with this, I stay healthy, have fun, enjoy the company of friends and family, and make memories that last a lifetime! Oh yeah, tomorrow, Aaron and I are headed back up to go after the gobble head roosting below Sausage Hill, but we are going to sneak right into the woods and get right in his strut zone where he was walking this morning. We went up to roost and watching him cut into the woods right in the same spot as this morning, still flanked by his 5 hens.

Sumday May 28, 2006

This morning I had Bill Lang and Aaron Haig with me. Aaron and I had scouted the bird that was strutting below Sausage Hill the other day, so now we had a plan. Aaron and I set up in the lowest corner of Chris's property, just above where that bird is roosting, and right in the hedgerow where he strutted for about a half hour on Friday. Bill sat on a lone tree up on the big cornfield, incase the birds worked up the grass field behind us and we couldn't get around on them. I used the breeding decoy that Larry let me borrow, thinking that it would entice that gobbler across the property line if it wasn't already in his plans. Bill was guarding "Henrietta" from any possible assults. I thought that we had all the bases covered. I had seen this bird four or five days now in the same spot. At 10min. to 5am a goose on the pond below the road woke up our gobbler. He gobbled right where I expected him to be. From that point on, I tried to count, but lost count early. Bill had a better idea and just counted the time between gobbles. For over a half hour that bird averaged a gobble every 12sec. and the longest stretch was a whopping 32sec. That is in the neighborhood of 150 gobbles on roost. Long story short, he flew down and went in the opposite direction. I know there is a nice mowed field over there that is flanked by pines on one side and the woods where he sleeps on the other. It is up behind a log cabin and is pretty secluded. I would go there too! We gave up on that bird at about 6:30 and headed to Putnam's. On the way we ran into three or four birds crossing the road at The Corner's and we tried to get on them, but it didn't work, when we left we saw them on the other side of the road, and they all appeared to be hens. So, we eventually made it to the back hill at Putnam's and hiked up to the first clearcut. I worked those two jakes and a longbeard up there with Sayers on the opener, and Bill and Aaron worked a couple birds there the following weekend. We called our way up the hill and about 250yds from the clearcut, to the north, we got two mature sounding birds to answer back. They were hot and we set up quick. They cut the distance in no time, and slowed up at about 100yds. They wouldn't come any closer, and the only thing I can figure is out is that they didn't want to come through some young growth that was between us. In the middle of that battle we had a bird gobble over on Loder's, a two other birds gobble above us, and one bird gobble up across the road, on the same side as Putnam's house. After that it was just a lot of hiking in 80 degree heat and too many clothes. Shower time was right around the corner.

Saturday May 27, 2006

I wish I had some pictures to post on this thing. This is getting kind of old. Who wants to read all this without something cool to look at. Anyway, I got to hunt with Bill Lang today, for the first time this year. We started up behind Putnam's house going after the two birds I tangled with when my dad was down. We went straight up the hill before first light. I wanted to be in position to move on them from above when they gobbled. I hooted early to see if we could raise one, and my second hoot did. It really gave me some confidence with my voice hoot. We moved into postition and those birds gobbled some more. I heard four birds fly down, but never saw one. They gobbled 12 times total between the two of them this morning. Once they hit the ground they shut up and walked off. Story of my season so far. We tried to swing up and over the top to cut them off, but I don't know where they went. We couldn't even get them to shock gobble. We were on our way to The Corners after that when we saw three longbeards cut across the road and head right into where I killed my second bird last year on the last day of the season. I have to knock and ask every time for that spot, and I wasn't willing to go knock at 7:30 on a Saturday and risk making them mad. So, we went and worked the corners. We made a call at the bottom of the pine plantation below the road and got a raspy, slow series of yelps in response. We setup anticipating a jake to come in. We didn't hear anything after that. We were about 50yds back up into the pines when I spotted the bird about 60-70yds out in the field adjacent to the pines. We used the dark pines, and quiet footing to back up and set up again. The bird paid us no attention and walked back out into the field. As we neared the road, I put the binoculars on it and was able to witness that is was indeed a hen, so we didn't feel so bad. After that we went and asked for my spot where we saw those birds, but we couldn't because he had just dropped off his son-in-law from New Jersey, who had been hunting all morning and heard the birds gobbling up there. We moved on to Sausage Hill, where we covered the front and back sides well, with no action at all. We decided to head back over to the Corners to see if we could get a rise out of the bird Aaron and I heard yesterday at noontime. On the way I thought we'd stop and give a few calls down on that new spot where Sayers killed his bird on opening day. That was a wash, there were people bombing around on dirt bikes and four wheelers in the woods. So, we spent the remainder of the morning set up in the field above the pond at the Corners. As noon rolled around, Chinese food sounded really good. So we headed to town. Bill made a good point when we were waiting for Gen. Tso to show up......"It's a good thing NY state shuts us down at Noon, cuz we are like stupid gold fish, we'd just keep going 'til we killed ourselves." And yes, he has made the stupid fish face a few times while saying that today. I'm thinking ambush on the strutter with all the hens with him up by Sausage Hill at first light. Hopefully I'll have some visuals for the next post!

Friday May 26, 2006

I got to hunt with my old landlord from Cobleskill today. Aaron and I went up to Sausage Hill because I haven't been up there yet this year for a morning hunt. I didn't spend much time listening on the top, because I had a good feeling that the bird I heard on last Sunday would be on the backside again. Well, we got down there and sure enough, he gobbled. He was a long way off, but it was possible we could sneak along the top of the ridge and get on him. Well, as we made our way to the top of the ridge, we ran into a hunter, walking away from where the bird was, so I gave up on that one. The main reason I wanted to go up there was so I could try and pattern this bird that is just off the property and make up a game plan to try and hunt him one of the days that I will be here. Well, when we got back to the truck at about 6:30 I gave a call and a distant gobble rang out. I wasn't sure where, so we got to the edge of the woods ASAP. It turned out to be coming from the direction of the field where I had seen that bird strutting with the 6 hens last weekend. As we drove out, we spotted the birds on the crest of a cut cornfield right behind the barns, WHERE I CAN HUNT! We immediately snuck around behind the barn, using an old shale bank as cover. I belly crawled out a bit and set out a breeding tom/hen combo decoy with bobble heads. I made a few calls and didn't get the immediate "running in" response I was looking for. I didn't know what their plan was, so we just drove back up on the hill high enough to observe through my new awesome Leupold bino's. The group of 4 hens and the one longbeard had moved to the far side of the hill. While watching them Aaron spotted a pair of jakes sneaking in from the bottom of the bowl, on the other side of the pond. They were actually going after a fifth hen that had left the group to nest, and they were following her back up on the hill. I thought that we could sneak around the pines behind Larry's old house and get a chance at calling to them. As soon as we took two steps away from my bright yellow truck that didn't seem to bother them, they bolted. They headed right to the spot where Bill Lang killed his bird on opening day last year. I figured we could get up by where Larry used to have his treestand and get a real chance at calling them. We drove up, ran all the way down the ridge, then down to the finger ridge where they were. We setup in a good spot, called and called, but no response. We decided they must have gotten past us. So, we hiked back out and got in the truck again, and as we got to the bottom of the hill, we spotted the big tom and his hens headed in the same direction, but at a much slower, feeding pace through the cornfield. I killed my bird first weekend last year from the same spot. So, back up the hill we went again. We sat up by the aspens to watch and make sure they were going there before we committed to the hike again. Good thing, because the gobbler turned his hens and went back towards the barns. As we watched I noticed the hens heading back towards the finger ridge. This time the gobbler broke strut and followed. Gobbling the entire time by the way. Well, when it was obvious they were coming to the ridge behind the cornfield, I made my move. We ran down that hill all the way, past where Bill had shot his, to the very end of the cover. I could see the birds through the pines, and I snuck out and put a hen decoy in the open. I had Aaron set up on a rock, and man, even with dark, leafy camo, I couldn't even see him, and I knew he was there. It was perfect. Well, I tucked back into a lone pine tree and called softly. The bird gobbled at me, and the hens fired up with short series' of yelps and clucks. I could see them working towards us and I warned Aaron. The strutter ran up onto the side of the finger ridge even with us, but at about 100yds. I shut up with hopes that he would come investigate. I watched him go more than 100yds from his hens earlier in the morning and return with a new hen from the woods. Well, he never gobbled again, and as I started to get nervous, I had to make another move. I told Aaron to sit still, and I ran back behind the pines to the edge of the woods, calling the whole time and then I walked down to the field where I could sneak a peek at what was happening. I didn't see any birds, so I went back and got Aaron and we admitted defeat. Well, as we were packing up, I witnessed the hens all heading over the hill behind the barns, and then out of no where, the gobbler came up from below the crest in the field. After coming in, he must have walked straight away from us and made a huge loop. We hiked out yet again and left for good. I couldn't tell where the birds had gone. I ran down to the college and picked up my degree and the we ran back up to The Corners. I saw one hen behind the vacant yellow house. Then we parked at the culvert and walked in towards the pond. It was 11:30 now. My first call was cut off by a gobble above the pond. That's the first bird I've heard up there in three years. The last one being my dad's first bird ever, that ran in and we killed in minutes. So, when I heard that we sprinted up to the same trees we sat on for my dad's bird. I called and he gobbled every once and a while, but not very aggressively. I decided he was still over 100yds out, and decided to move up on him. I moved up to the lower edge of the big pine plantation and made a few calls. NOTHING! I don't think we spooked him, I think it was the weather. He was gobbling at the thunder just a few minutes before, and as the minutes passed, the sky turned completely black. I leaned forward and asked Aaron if he had seen the bird, and he said no. "It's time to get out of here then", I said. We made it half way back to the truck and the sky opened up. It rained so hard the windshield wipers couldn't even keep up when we weren't even moving. The truck clock read 12:15, so I guess legally, it's a good thing we backed out. It's hard to keep track when you have gobbles to listen to!

Tuesday May 23, 2006

Every year, prior to the start of the NY season, I get a little serious case of cabin fever. Once the songbirds start returning, and I hear their mating calls it's hard to think of anything besides turkey hunting. I also like to sing along with country music when I am driving and especially when I am making the 6-7hr commute to NY for hunting. While sitting in Northern VA during the last week of April, I was singing a Johnny Cash song and started to improvise my own lyrics. This turned into a song writing "stint". Below are a few of the songs that I wrote, as well as some that Bill Lang wrote.

Eastern Birds: By: Brian Gottfried. In the tune of Hank Williams Jr, Texas Women

I've got some fond memories of Ontario/ and I've seen some long beards in South Monroe/ but the best lookin' gobblers that I've ever seen, have all been in Schoharie and all finely preened.

Chorus:
I'm a country hill boy/ not a city pill boy/ and I don't eat sushi, but I have killed some fish/ drive a pickup truck/ trust in morning luck/ and I live to hunt Eastern turkeys.

I thought I'd seen beauty in faraway places/ 'til I looked upon those blue and red faces/ spent plenty of nights in those Adirondack Hills, but they weren’t nothin’ like one night down in Cobleskill.

Repeat Chorus

I'm a pretty fair judge of the subspecies silvestris/ and I ain’t seen nothin’ that will touch em' yet/ they may be from Summit or out in Arkport/ but one thing about it they all come from New York

Repeat Chorus

I'm a gobbler fan not a soccer man/ and their heads are red and so is my blood/ and they make it boil with that loud morning bawl and I love em’ all, Eastern turkeys.


Schoharie County Blues: In the tune of Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues

I hear the bird a gobblin’, it's stuttin on a limb/ And I ain't heard that sweet song since I don't know when/ I'm stuck in Northern V-A and time keeps draggin' on/ But that rooster keeps a crowin', I know it won’t be long

When I was just a youngin’, my mentor told me/ "Son,Always be a good boy; don’t forget ta’ clean your guns"/ But I shot a lot of fowl/ just to bake and fry/ When I hear that silent misfire, I hang my head and cry

I bet there's birds a gobblin' on that hill way out far/ They're probably hangin' posters and smokin' big cigars/ But they know they have it comin', they know they can't beat me/ Cuz' I will keep on askin/ and I will find that tree.

Well, if they gave me some permission/ if that hill terrain was mine/ I bet I'd sneak closer, a little farther down the line/ Closer to that big Oak/ that's where I want to stay/ And I'd let that lonely gobbler/ give his tree away

Sunday May 21, 2006

Last day to get a bird. I have been reminded numerous times that my guiding was not working, in a joking manner of course. I decided to try Sausage Hill first, because we hadn't been there yet, and all my other spots were wearing thin. I also didn't want to pressure Putnam's any more than I had. We listened just above the tower and at 6:00 I decided nothing was going to happen and I assumed that the strong winds the night before could have forced the birds to roost down on the backside. We got to the trail that drops down there, and I made a locator call on my Lynch's world famous turkey caller, but nothing answered. Again, we reached the first switchback and I turned to tell Ned I was going to make a call. Before I could do so, a bird gobbled about 50yds away. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. We quickly setup on the closest available trees. The bird sounded off again with the coolest gobble I'd ever heard. It was almost like a whine-gobble. There was a high pitched whine right before he broke into gobble. He sounded off four times, and on the fourth my heart sank as I realized he might not be on the ground at our level on the hill, he may still be in a tree. Sure enough, my realization was true, the next sound I heard was him flying down, onto the bench above me. It was easily a 30ft. elevation change, with no good way to get down to us. Had I realized he was in a tree, we would have ran back up the road and setup on that bench above us. I called very softly on my Primos Power Crystal, but he wouldn't answer. The next gobble came as he crossed the trail where it starts to drop over the ridge. He left us on a "good" note however, as he made on final double gobble about 150yds away. We gave him ample time to vacate the area and walked out. We ran into two guys, one who wasn't wearing a facemask, and was drinking coffee out of a silver thermos. That guy never even saw us as we walked five yards from him and turned down the trail to get out of there. I saw that his gun was pointed away from us, and was laying across his lap, so I didn't bother to let him know we were there, he would't have been able to get the gun around on us if we startled him. We went over to the Corners and worked from the bottom of the pines where Jason Sayers and I ran into the opening morning bird for the third time all the way down the valley to where that bird was roosted on the 6th. No birds to be found there. As we got back to the truck it started to downpour. Since it was a chilly 44degrees, and I had a seven hour drive ahead of me, we opted to call it a weekend. I hated giving up early, and I repeated my own advice of "persistence pays off" all the way through PA on the drive back. This is starting to get frustrating, but I have confidence................and patience! With any kind of luck, my next post will be accompanied by at least one picture!

Saturday May20, 2006

This morning I figured that I would move in to where we had the close encounter with the birds behind Putnam's the day before. We got into a good spot, and waited, and waited and waited. No gobbles on this side of the road. The bird across the road gobbled again, once! I started a series of calls, and on my first call a bird sounded off to my call, about 400yds up the mountain. It was one of the birds I met with my Dad two weeks ago. He answered 4 times, but moved up the hill, just as knew he would, and I should have just went up there first and gotten around on him. We worked Loder's again, and found 4-wheeler tracks that were fresh. The same joker that rode past Bill and Aaron two weeks ago was in there again. We didn't see or hear anything in there. We headed over to the Corners, and as we sat in the truck finishing up the stories from the ride over, a hen flushed 50yds in front of the truck. Oh well, get all the hens out of here! We worked the lower side of the corners and on our way back up to the pond we ran into that hen and spooked her again in the clearings just above the road and below the pond. We went over to Sausage Hill, and started working along the ridge. The wind was really whipping today, and it made the top of that hill almost unbearable. I decided to drop off the back side of the mountain, where it is protected from the wind. As we neared the first switchback on the trail going down, I told Ned about how I had called birds in there before and the we should call. Well, my first series of calls was answered by some yelps and cutting. We set up and brought a hen in to about 10yds. Ned caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and the slight motion of moving his head spooked the hen. The motion turned out to be nothing, and we were done for the day!

Friday May 19, 2006

Back to Cobleskill! I met Ned Holmes in town today to kick off our three day hunt together. He is the man that started me out hunting. Since my Dad or anyone in my family and friends didn't hunt, I signed up for the Apprentice Hunter Program through the NYSDEC, and I got Ned as a Mentor. Our first meeting was at 3:30am in my garage, I had overslept, and my Mom wanted to meet the guy who was going to take her 12yr old son out in the woods before she let me leave. He took me out on a turkey scouting trip and that is an entirely different (and long) story. We started the morning off up behind Putnam's house to hopefully tangle with the birds I got into with my Dad on the 7th. The birds I was looking for didn't gobble, but one did down low, right behind the houses. I also heard a bird that seemed to be above the wire where we park on the Loder piece. After the sun was up I decided to make a move down to about the level of the pond and get in the woods to intercept the bird that was down low, as he moved up the mountain. We worked into a decent setup and then made a call. The first call was answered by a gobble about 150yds out in front of us, on the same level on the hill! This was good, I can call a bird across a hill. Well the second call was answered by not only the gobbler, but the hen that was with him, as well a chorus of yelps and gobbles from about 60yds above us, just over a ledge. I kept on the calls and I realized the birds above us were jakes, I could hear the yelp, yelp, gobble of the pair of jakes. There were hens with them, and they were fairly talkative also. I worked the birds for probably 10min. when I saw a bird coming towards us, dropping down to our level from the ledge above at about 75yds in front of us. I told Ned and he re-adjusted his position for a shot. Well, shortly after that, I could see anymore birds, the gobbling ceased, and that was that! We went across the road to try for the bird I heard gobble over there, but we didn't work it like we normally do. I came in from the east end and went straight to the field where Ned killed his bird last year. As we watched some deer snort at us at about 40yds, I heard a hen yelp a few times. We setup, with a hen decoy and a jakester tailfan decoy and made some calls. Nothing answered, and we move on. After skirting the entire property, I came over a knoll and saw my truck, and at that moment a hen took to the air about 50yds from my truck. Amazing! She must have been the hen that I had heard when we first got into the area. We worked all my other spots with no luck. We did see a stutter just below the houses on Sausage Hill, with two hens, on property I can't hunt.

Sunday May 14, 2006

Happy Mother's Day! That goes out to all the hens in the world. All we saw today was one hen. We opted to start out in a different part of the property in H-town today, just to see if we missed something yesterday morning. We setup in a hedgerow where I called three jakes into my Dad last year, and very close to where I called in three longbeards and a jake to Bill a few years ago. Sunrise came and nothing happened. I decided to sit tight, because it was a good place to intercept a traveling bird. Well, suddenly I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, just after a series of calls. The bird appeared out of nowhere across the field to the North and looked like it was quartering towards me. I got excited, but wasn't going to get all shook up for a hen, and I put the glasses on her and sure enough....no beard, brown, fuzzy blue head, hen! I tried so hard to put a beard on that bird, but couldn't. An out of place feather would have sufficed at that point. Anything to make it worth calling to. I called anyway, hoping her counterpart was right behind her, but no such luck. She actually had a nest in the field and circled it a few times and then sat on it. We backed out and tried the corner where we started yesterday, with no answers. We left. I had to pick up a gift for Mother's Day, and we were close to the stores, so that's what I did and the hunting was over for the weekend. I did see three jakes picking gravel at the end of a driveway along Whitney Rd. in Penfield! A damn suburban neighborhood!

Saturday May 13, 2006

I chose to head to the Rochester area this weekend because it was Mother's Day and I wanted to see my Mom and my Grandma. This means that I had limited land to hunt, and from reports from my friends, the birds had been pretty quiet all week. This morning I went with my Dad to H-town, our spot in Henrietta. My dad witnessed numerous birds fly down and work to the west on opening day, and then following day when Bill Lang connected with that Jake, he witnessed the same thing. So, common sense told me to setup to the West of the roost. Well, we snuck in to the west, something I don't like doing because you have to cross a few open fields and it can be pretty noisy. In the journey, I think we found where all the deer hide in the fall. There is a lot that is just full of young dogwoods and willow, that has some of the greatest deer trails I've ever seen. We could walk upright and straight down the trails, no twisting to get between some of the trees! Well, anyway, as we got to the woods, we were about 150yds from the roost, and in the right direction, so I was pretty optimistic, as we set up in a real nice opening in the hardwoods. Sunrise came and left and not a single bird was heard. I figured that the other birds on the property would be on the move after just flying down, so I motioned to Dad and we got up and started after them. Well, as soon as I stood up, I spooked a bird out of a tree about 80yds away from me, straight back in the woods. It obviously saw us as we came in, I can't believe it was roosted where it was, and that it was alone. In all the years I've hunted there, they have always been roosted where I thought they would be. Anyway, we hunted the rest of the property, to no avail. There wasn't anything happening. On our way home we stopped at the Quinn Oak Openings state land in Rush. We made a few calls, and didn't hunt it very hard. There was nothing gobbling there either. I have a hard time putting a lot of effort into marginal turkey habitat when I don't have any sign to rely on, even though I know they are there.

Sunday May 7, 2006

Okay, so Bill and Aaron heard a bunch of birds up behind Putnam's house yesterday morning, so we agreed that my Dad and I should go after them. He said there were 5 or 6 birds gobbling up there. He went after them yesterday, but they shut up when they hit the ground. Well, this am Dad and I got up to the best listening spot right about 5:07am. As I leaned against a hemlock and looked at my dad to say, "they should start gobbling about now", they did! The first gobble was at 5:08, just like yesterday for both Bill and I. Two birds were close, right across a small stream that divides the hardwoods and the hemlocks. We climbed up the extremely steep hill to the first major bench and set up. In previous years all the birds I've worked over there have moved up the hill, so I was a little unsure of the setup, but I thought they were to close to try and navigate up the hill any farther, because it gets pretty open up there. The birds were about 150yds away and one was even with us and the other about 150yds up the hill. Two or three other birds joined in the morning chorus from behind these two, a little to far to worry about though. As flydown time approached, I did a series of fly down cackles using my hat to make wing sounds. The birds were gobbling at everything, and I was primarily using a crow call to keep my position hidden until flydown. The birds didn't necessarily gobble at me once they hit the ground, but I could shock gobble them whenever I needed. Once I determined they were working up the hill, I gathered Dad and the decoys to continue up the hellish hill in front of us. We kept track of the birds with the crow call and when I figured we just couldn't get any closer I would set up. We set up a few times before we reached the top of the hill. Once at the top, I found a good spot and could hear the hens making noise, we each set up against two big white oaks. The spot was pretty nice, except that there was an abundance of beech tops lying on the ground which made it difficult to decide where the bird would come from, but they did offer the cover we needed to get close enough. I called and tried to mimick the hen I was hearing, but she was just as stubborn as the boys, and eventually walked off. With the new perspective on the terrain, I realized these birds were just feeding along a side hill and still moving away from us. The top of that side hill was a good flat bench and the grade change between the side hill and that bench would offer perfect concealment to get around on these birds. I felt bad that I had dragged my dad up this steep hill all morning, but I know he wants to kill a big gobbler more than anything, and he would surely be ready to make yet another climb. So, I let out the obligatory, "psssst" and made the motion and we were off and running again (well, not running, that hill is pretty damn steep!). We snuck through where those birds had just been scratching, and I could still hear the two gobblers competing for the hens that were with them. We made it up to the absolute top of the mountain, and it was as flat as flat could be. The birds gobbled again and the vibration in my chest was all I needed to know that the birds were right over the ledge, directly below us. The one bird sounded so close I thought he was right on the break and he was going to pop his head up at any second, so we dropped to the ground like a fat kid in dodgeball. Dad put the gun up, and knelt behind him for support. We were sitting in a patch of very young red maples and they were about as tall as we were sitting down, and that was the only comfort I could find in the setup. I was so nervous that the bird was going to pick us out immediately that I think I actually wished him farther down the hill. His next gobble came in response to his buddy sounding off below him, and he was indeed lower than I initially thought. I decided to make the move and told my dad to get up to a big oak about 10yds ahead of us. As we stood and took our first steps, two birds...both hens, jumped into the air and flew off the ledge and over the trees. I prayed that they wouldn't put and that maybe, just maybe the gobblers wouldn't catch on, but as they both pushed off like hang gliders on the side of that hill, they both putted and putted and flew and flew. I sat for a moment to see if the birds would gobble, and I decided to make one call.... a series of putts, to try and ease the tension. I knew that all I was doing was educating the birds, but after the effort that we put in, I figured it was atleast worth a shot. Well, no gobbles came, and we headed down the hill, still trying to accept the defeat. I don't look at it as a loss really, now I know the lay of the land better, and the habits of those birds better. With any kind of luck, the next time I am in that town in two weeks, I will educate one of those birds and eat the other! As for the other people I know, Larry "LB" Brissing and Matthew "Highball" Stanley hunted over near LB's uncles on Saturday and had two birds shot out from underneath them, and didn't really work any other birds. On Sunday however, the made the trip up to Sausage Hill and connected on this nice jake, his second NY turkey ever. It was one out of a group of four, and LB just couldn't get a good opportunity for a double. Bird tagged, they continued the hunt, and two calling spots later they called in a bird with a mature fan, and little to no beard visible, and Larry managed to get a shot off, but the situation didn't end favorably, and I will leave it at that. Congrats to those two on a successful hunt, and wish us luck next weekend!

May 6, 2006

Well, I spent my first full weekend chasing turkey's in Cobleskill this past weekend. It was fun, as always, but not very successful. Saturday was a perfect morning, low 40's at sunrise and overcast, with a rain storm in the forecast. I took Dad over to the corners where I had tangled with that big longbeard off the roost opening day. Hoping he still had the same pattern, I setup where I saw him last, hoping that he would eventually get there if he wasn't there already. Well, as soon as we got to the spot where we had to be real sneaky and get setup within 30 or so yards, I stopped to tell my dad that I had called this bird in right where we were standing. As soon as we stopped I heard a distant gobble, 5:08am. I knew right away it was the same bird. This is the first time that I have ever really been able to differentiate between specific birds. Sure, I've heard birds in the same roost and known that it was the same bird as before, but this bird has a distinct gobble. Don't all true trophy's have something characteristic about them that keeps you chasing? That bird gobbled his head off on the roost, but I was afraid to move, so we snuck the final 25yds or so into the position I wanted to be, just in case another bird had utilized the same roost as he did last Monday. It wasn't flydown time yet, but I had a good feeling that there were no birds in front of us that day, so I did the obligatory "pssst" and the quick flick of the hand and we were off! It wasn't really that distant, as we came up on an open section of hard maples, I realized the bird was only about 125yds from us, and I didn't want to risk getting caught in the middle of that as it was getting pretty light out. We set up and I put out a decoy. That bird gobbled and gobbled, just like they all are supposed to. He flew down and continued to gobble at my calls as well as the crows and the hens that I am sure were with him. He eventually stopped anwering most of my calls, only responding to a hoot or a crow call. I tried to move in on him, because it sounded like he was stutting away from us, then coming back, and leaving, and coming back. I figured if I kept moving up on him, and using only locator calls, I would eventually break the threshold and be in his stutting zone, and that first call I made would turn him inside out. Well, I kept after him until I made one more move, and ended up on some state land. He shut up after that, and I never heard him again. I made it back to the truck just as the rain started at about 7:30 and drove up to where the state land meets the road. There was a truck from Mass. parked directly above where I last heard that bird gobble. I never heard a shot, so I hope the bird just shut up, or maybe that guy walked in and spooked him. That wouldn't be that good, but at least he would be alive still. That truck was parked there for the better part of the morning, as I stopped back around 10:30 to try a mid morning assault on the big guy. I never entered the woods, I didn't want to step on that guys toes, and I didn't want to pressure that bird any more than I had earlier. Bill Lang took Aaron Haig up to my Beard's Hollow spots and they heard multiple birds but couldn't really get anything to give them a good look, except one bird up behind the big field and that bird got close and then shut up, maybe spooked somehow, they aren't sure.

Tuesday May 2, 2006

BILLY LANG BREAKS THE H-TOWN CURSE!

My dad and I have been hunting a piece of property in Henrietta, NY for a bunch of years, tangling with multiple gobblers every year. The first time I scouted I had 5 mature longbeards shoulder to shoulder within gun range. However, we have never been able to drop the hammer on a redhead on this property. Dad came close yesterday, but did the smart thing and waited for a clear shot, which never came. He saw numerous jakes and three longbeards. Due to obligations at work he couldn't hunt this morning, and Bill was on his own to try and get one. Well, I was driving to my jobsite just after sunrise when the phone rang. Sure enough, I heard a panting, excited Bill. Bird down! Bird down! He had the longbeards within eyesight, just not shootable. However, moments later a lonely jake came yelping his way in the backdoor. Luckily, Bill was on watch and called him in the rest of the way and knocked his head off! Congrats to Bill, we all know it isn't easy to get birds in H-Town.

Monday May 1, 2006- NY OPENER!!!!!!!

For some reason this didn't post when I originally posted it, I just found it saved, so here it is.

Okay, it is May 1st! I have been waiting for this day since May 31, 2005. Seriously, last year during turkey season I told Bill Lang that this is my favorite thing to do, and I told him I would verify that by telling him the same thing during bow season in the fall, which I did, multilple times. Last night I sat up on Puro's pond and listened for gobbles in the "corners", an area where I have permission on multiple properties around a certain intersection. One of my last hoots brought a single gobble from just across the road down in the creek bottom below the pine plantation. I knew right where the bird was, so I had my morning plan all ready! Jason Sayers met me out front at 4:30am and we drove up to the corners. We parked and walked down the road to the edge of the pine plantation. He hooted once and the bird gobbled about 100yds away, I knew where he was and the terrain was right, so we snuck into position around a small green knoll just inside the woods. It was warm, about 50 degrees and no wind and a clear sky. The bird gobbled his head off for a while until it was light enough to fly down. Jason was setup about 75yds from me towards the road and I was in the lower corner of the clearing. It was almost necessary for him to fly down to this perfect little opening to begin his daily courting. We split up to ensure we could cover the entire clearing, neither of us are that greedy that we HAD to setup together. Well, I saw the bird pitch down towards us, after I gave him a short, soft tree yelp on my new Woodhaven Scorpion. As soon as I heard him hit the leaves I gave him the good stuff, and he answered right back. He gobbled a bunch and then proceeded towards us! I shut up to draw him in the last few yards, so he didn't gobble back, and I was scanning for the first sight of that snowball boppin' through the woods. Well, next thing I knew I heard that all to familiar sound of spitting and drumming. Where was he? Well, he was standing directly behind a baby pine tree that was only about 3' tall. I could see him turning his head in search of a hen, but I didn't have a clear shot, he was only 35-40yds. He turned around and I couldn't see him anymore, so I just waited, and the next time I heard him, he gobbled about 150yds down in the woods. I called and he answered, and so on.....as I got more aggressive, he got more excited, and ran right back to the clearing. This time I saw him moving around the edge of the clearing, just out of Jason's sight, and too far for me to make a good shot. He poked his head up once to check for the hen, and didn't see anything, and went back down into the woods. Jason is against decoys for the most part, so I would like to blame this on him, however I didn't think we needed one in this situation. Oh well, what fun would a two minute hunt be right? We snuck down through the pine plantation to try and get ahead of him, and when we reached the edge of the extremely open hardwoods, we called once and were answered by the gobbler who was standing about 80yds in front of us and in plain view. We froze, waited for the right moment and sat down. I was able to coax him in again, he paralleled the edge of pines at about 60yds and wouldn't come any closer until Sayers started scratching leaves behind him, since he was laying flat on his back because he missed the tree he was trying to sit on. The scratching brought the bird closer, but he never offered a clear shot. The beard on this joker was over 10", I'm guessing between 11"-12". He eventually walked off again. We made one more circle on him, and when I set up I was within 50yds of him, but he just gobbled and walked off. I guess they don't get that big being stupid! We made tracks getting to the next spot only to walk up on another hunter before making our first attempt to locate a bird, so we went across the road to another spot I have. We setup in the most likely spot and called for a while to no avail. I thought I heard one gobble, way off, but that was it. Jason said the same thing, so we just walked out into a little opening and gave the box call a try. It was answered by a pile of birds up on a mountain. It was hard to hear because there are multiple streams in the area that drown out most sounds. We started up the hill, which is steep as hell, and as we neared the bench where I wanted to setup, we stopped to catch our breath. As we stood there calming down, the birds gobbled about 75yds to our right. I sat right where I was, and Jay ran back behind me about 70-80yds. His first call was answered by at least three birds, all sounding like jakes. I didn't care, I just wanted the action. These birds were cutting Jason off as he called and each one gobbled, double gobbled, and triple gobbled at the others gobbling, so there was quite a show in front of us! The first bird to appear was a longbeard, and he strutted at 50yds on the top of the ledge in front of me. He turned and made a few steps down the hill towards me, and then stopped behind a tree at 40yds and stutted. The next birds were two jakes that came running along the top edge of the ledge until they were 35yds from me and turned to head down the ledge. They gobbled and looked around for the hen that was making all that racket! Just then a bug flew into my eye and I didn't have any choice but to blink hard. The jakes saw me and started to putt, and turn circles. I thought that the jakes getting nervous would make the big boy step out from behind the tree, and I fixed my eyes on that area. Well, by the time the jakes and given me plenty of opportunity to shoot one of them, and walked off over the ledge, I had realized that the big bird had snuck out of there stage left, without me noticing. Screwed up, my fault, move on! We headed over to a piece of property where I didn't have permission, but had seen three jakes and a hen the day before. I put my life at risk and walked up to a house with three doberman pinchers to ask who owned the land. I stopped by the farmers house and got permission for hundreds of acres, including where I had seen the jakes. That farmer was quite a character, and that is another story all in itself. Anyway, to make a long story short, we called our way into the woods and about 400yds deep, we were answered by two birds less than 100yds away. We dropped in our tracks and got ready. The birds came in fast, and showed up to our right, both jakes. We didn't have our guns in the right direction, so we had to wait it out. One jake came straight at us until he was about 15 feet from Jason and I. At that point, he turned around and put his head in the leaves to find some food. Sayers rolled off his butt and onto his knees, and put the bead on the bird, making enough noice to scare any wild animal within a few hundred yards. The bird never even lifted his head. With a quick yelp from his mouth, Jason raised the birds head and then lowered it with a bang. First bird of the year, down at 11:10am on May 1! We made it back to the house in time for me to get picked up by Jason and Libby and hear about Beeler shooting his first turkey ever with Greg and Tyrell over in Middleburg, NY. Congrats to both on their birds!