Worst Turkey Season Ever...
06-01-2016, 10:56 AM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 2,820
My New York season ended yesterday morning. Was out a total of 10 mornings, and nothing to show for my efforts.
Called in 7 jakes one morning, and that was it......complete silence the rest of the time!!! Very frustrating season to say the least. Look's like the fat lady has sang her song.....
Called in 7 jakes one morning, and that was it......complete silence the rest of the time!!! Very frustrating season to say the least. Look's like the fat lady has sang her song.....
06-01-2016, 11:32 AM
#12
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
Crazy year for me too and I finally ended up with at least some meat in the freezer when I shot the biggest of two Jakes that came in late the last morning of my hunt on 5/18. We even woke up to an inch or more of snow on the 15th!
06-01-2016, 12:49 PM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
Birds acted a little odd in SW Michigan this year, mostly because of the wacky weather patterns. We had a week of 60 deg weather in early February that brought them out earlier than usual - birds were strutting in fields by the 2nd week in February. A month later - when they typically start strutting - we had a few heavy snows in mid to late March. Given the number of hens I still see with the toms, including those in the afternoon the last week, I'm quite confident that many hens started and lost nests.
The winter here was mild and we have a good number of 2 & 3 year old toms. However, late nesting will lead to large numbers of late hatches and small poults heading into winter, which will be especially bad if we get a colder than normal winter due to La Nina.
Maytom - you need to hunt a different section of NYS. I heard from friends that the birds in the Central and Southern tiers gobbled hard most of the season, with only the normal lull during the 3rd week of May. One of my friends and his dad, from where I grew up in the Southern Tier, had action every day the first 10 days of the season. His dad bagged his best bird to date in 40 yrs of turkey hunting and my buddy missed a bird he named 'turkzilla'...
The winter here was mild and we have a good number of 2 & 3 year old toms. However, late nesting will lead to large numbers of late hatches and small poults heading into winter, which will be especially bad if we get a colder than normal winter due to La Nina.
Maytom - you need to hunt a different section of NYS. I heard from friends that the birds in the Central and Southern tiers gobbled hard most of the season, with only the normal lull during the 3rd week of May. One of my friends and his dad, from where I grew up in the Southern Tier, had action every day the first 10 days of the season. His dad bagged his best bird to date in 40 yrs of turkey hunting and my buddy missed a bird he named 'turkzilla'...
06-01-2016, 12:52 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
You should have waited it out for tom this year! The birds started gobbling crazy again in our area on or around Saturday May 21. I filled my tag on May 22, and my son and I played tag with 4 toms the entire last week...
06-01-2016, 01:05 PM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
I couldn't because I had a 2 week trip planned to Wyoming that was to start a couple days after I shot that Jake. The 19th when I was packed and ready to leave the next morning my truck started misfiring and by the time I could get it in and fixed the short two week window I had was shot. The good thing is that I saw a great new red 2016 Silverado on the lot while they were working on my 2006 and it's now in my garage! I know what you mean though because I shot my bird on the 20th down here last year, so they are there for the taking the entire month of May if you have patience. I had the patience, but just flat ran out of time and then didn't have a tag for the final days of May when I was here at home after the truck problem.
Last edited by Topgun 3006; 06-01-2016 at 01:09 PM. Reason: Spelling
06-01-2016, 02:08 PM
#16
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Circleville Oh
Posts: 962
Wow! Congrats on the new truck. So you were just in Wy? My wife and I just got back last night. We were out for a week. Had planned on taking my wife to the place you and I camped last year, but we ran out of time.
06-01-2016, 02:20 PM
#17
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 7,436
I was a part of two classics hunts for the 14 birds taken. The rest came in strutting totally silent.
I did witness two good toms who where strutting and did gobble only to be attacked by 3 or more Jakes that came from no where! That right there will make them silent too! Those darn Jakes broke up to sure things I thought I had going. One bird was at 25 and I should have just pulled the trigger but I let it go.
My fault.....a costly one.
JW
I did witness two good toms who where strutting and did gobble only to be attacked by 3 or more Jakes that came from no where! That right there will make them silent too! Those darn Jakes broke up to sure things I thought I had going. One bird was at 25 and I should have just pulled the trigger but I let it go.
My fault.....a costly one.
JW
06-01-2016, 03:55 PM
#18
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
No, the Wyoming trip was cancelled due to the truck problem. I only had a short two week window because John was going to Ohio the first of next week and then as soon as he got back was going on a trip to Alaska. I would have only had a week out there due to the truck problem and I decided it wasn't worth two days each way for that limited amount of time when it wasn't a hunting trip, LOL! I'll make up for it this Fall with a two month trip that starts in AZ in early September and goes through the end of October with hunts from 10/1 all the way to 10/31 in Wyoming.
