I was out at about 4:30 AM on Thursday. Beautiful cold, clear morning. Birds were vocal and I was in a perfect spot. I did a very few tree yelps on my 20 year old Quaker Boy box call and had birds responding, when all hell broke loose. I heard a turkey in distress and alarm putting and clucking. Next thing I saw was a coyote come out of the thick with nothing to show for his efforts. Went right past me in front. Next I see movement behind me,,,,,,,,,another coyote..........Then 2 more and one huge male stood right in front of me. I did NOT shoot,,,,,for two reasons. One NY has a season on them and the season is not now and the second is that there were too many birds around. About 15 minutes go by before I call again. I do and got a thunder back. I could see 2 birds coming to my decoy and calling. I let them get into range and waited for them to split and shot 1 of them. It was a 15 pound jake. The date on my camera is off by 1 day so please don't hold that against me. The next 2 days were rainy and terribly windy and even though I hunted both days, I came up empty. On the 4th morning it was rainy but it stopped a little after daylight. I heard gobbles, but had to relocate to take advantage of the situation. I had birds responding from 2 different locations. I was set up near a stone wall and the closest bird was on the other side. I made the fatal mistake and moved ever so slightly to get to a spot where I could see the other side. When I moved I was looking directly into the eyes of a huge longbeard. I was jiggered immediately. At the same time I heard alarm putting behind me. I looked and there were 4 jakes watching the whole thing unfold. I was able to rotate my upper body enough to get my already raised shotgun on one of them and got my second bird. This was a 17 pound jake with a 5 inch beard. I was perfectly happy with my 2 jakes. That's why they call it hunting!!!

congrats on your hunts....

Allright! congrats you and me both got jakes....WTG.

Congrats,I luv NY too!

I have hunted and fished NY each and every year since 1988. It has more to offer than any state I have hunted or fished. Thanks all.

So-weet!

LBK, I like your avatar too.

Thank you,,,,,,,,,,,,your's ain't too shabby.

Thanks, I love elk so my avatars will probably always be an elk unless I get a wild hair.

Way to go Longbeard. Nice job.

You've enough spurs on that hat anyways!!! grin

Nice job.

DB

Thank you. Truth be known, I think deep down in, EVERY hunter wants to shoot a trophy buck, or shoot a hughe longbearded turkey. BUT that just isn't the way it always goes. That really why it's called hunting. You play by the rules and take what comes along. Everything put in the proper prospective make the hunt one to remember. I just happen to love hunting (and fishing)and the memories the trip makes for me. After all, I am not getting any younger and cherish every moment afield or on the water. Thanks for the compliment on my hat. I had nothing to do with it. My wife put the hat together and knit my my camo sweater.

Nice job!
Where were you hunting?
I got a 19lb 10"beard 1 1/8 spur this am.
Im in western NY .
CONGRATS!

Hannibal, N.Y Oswego County. My second home!!!!!!

LBK, Congrats, and I'll echo what you said.

Thank you !!!!

congrats! And now I know what to do with those turkey spurs....

Hush your mouth!....We don't want too many people knowing that there is absolutely no place on Earth like good old NEW YORK!

I been been quiet and just readin. First of all, thanks for keeping the thread going. I hate it when turkey season is over and all the hype winds down., People from New England sort of laugh at me when I pump NY state up. Everyone thinks of New York as the city. Same thing about Massachusetts. If they would tow Boston into the ocean and give it foreign aid than the whole state would be better off. New York is a wonderful place. Too bad the city dictates how the rest of the state lives. I'll be back this Thursday afternoon for another long weekend of fishing. New Youk STATE has the most to offer in the northeast. HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty bad I can hunt and fish NY as a nonresident for LESS money than I can in NH as a RESIDENT. I can even register my boat in NY for 3 years for less money than I can in NH for 1. I am happy that I am a non smoker though.

Wow! I'm surprised anywhere is more expensive than NY! Seems liek every time I look, the prices and added fees just keep going up!

Is it just me or was it really strange to have birds around while the coyotes were there? I figure that if I see a dog or coyote that deer and turkey have been chased out of the area. Guess I'm WRONG!

It was THE most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life. I am nearly 64 and have been hunting before I reached my teens. There I was calling to a couple gobbling turkeys, minding my own business. When all I heard was alarm putts and clucks that were quite frantic. Then everything went quiet. Till thsat point I hadn't actually seen a bird. Then 1 coyote, then a 2nd went behind me. Then a couple minutes pass and then there's two more. I could have (and SHOULD have) shot 2 of them. BUT as you know NY has a season on them and it was closed. However, it wasn't much more than 15 minutes and the birds were gobbling again and that's when I shot the jake. My menories of that day are fantastic.

It always makes me chuckle the way hunters and fisherman in other states think of NY as nothing but city folk and tall buildings!!!! Here in Western NY i'm as far away from NY City as I can possibly be while still being in the same state, and here I have everything I could possibly want in hunting and fishing.......Oops, I mean no, there isn't any game here????

Hey JJ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we don't ALL think that way. Some of us know MUCH better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gosh, I do miss being back there. I lived in Orange county, now home to half of NYC, hunted in the Catskills, Peekamoose Mt. for 40 years, then moved to Canandaigua, NY before moving out here. Loved the mountains at the south end of the lake. Rachel

With the politics the way they are here, u are better off there Rachel!

I have a sister in Canandaigua. Now they have a state run racino in Victor and there seems to be new subdivisions everywhere.....

It is pretty country though if you can picture it without the houses and people....

It aint that bad in Canandaigua

Actually, I guess you get out of something, what you put into it. I just got back from 9 more days in Oswego County. I continue to meet some of the nicest people I have met anywhere. I hunt and fish and visit. Most of the people I meet do the same. Therefore, I suggest that is is the PEOPLE that make New York state exactly what it is. Politicians are what they are. They will never change. We complain and complain and yet we elect the same politicians year after year. Shame belongs to us aand only us. However, the people from upstate New York that I have met are second to none.

Stephen
Great Bird,,Cool Hat! Way to Go.
A Late Congrats. But a Great Photo and Hunt!
Very Happy ya Did Well.
Steve