Countdown to NY Turkey Season!

[Leatherstocking]

It's almost here. As usual, I can't wait. Love spring turkey hunting!!! I just wish the sun rose a little later this time of year...... makes deer season mornings seem easy.

[Mikey]

Leatherstocking - I'm not just countin' down the days, I'm countin' the turkeys.  They still come in every couple of days to pilfer my bird feeders and I already have one big tom picked out and am working on choosing the 2nd one.  I'm even thinkin' 'bout gettin' the stove warmed up now just waitin' for May 1.....  Mikey.

[woodchukhntr]

Leatherstocking - I'm not just countin' down the days, I'm countin' the turkeys.  They still come in every couple of days to pilfer my bird feeders and I already have one big tom picked out and am working on choosing the 2nd one.  I'm even thinkin' 'bout gettin' the stove warmed up now just waitin' for May 1.....  Mikey.

Is your blind on your back porch, or is it the kitchen window?  Right now I don't even have a place to hunt where I know that there are turkeys.  There is a place nearby where I can hunt, but haven't seen a turkey there in a couple of years.  I thought it might be because of coyotes, but I haven't seen any coyotes or tracks there either, so it is probably a food issue.

[Leatherstocking]

Hey woodchukhntr,

It could be coyotes. I'll bet they get alot more turkeys than deer, even though they get blamed more for deer take. But you know what I don't see much of anymore - woodchucks. At least where I hunt (mostly Otsego county) there are hardly any woodchucks around anymore. Seems like they really disappeared when the coyotes became abundant. Years ago we had lots of them in our hay fields but now they are a rare sight. Used to be that you could walk around our hay fields in a summer evening and easily see a half dozen or so. Now you see none.

[woodchukhntr]

Hey woodchukhntr,

It could be coyotes. I'll bet they get alot more turkeys than deer, even though they get blamed more for deer take. But you know what I don't see much of anymore - woodchucks. At least where I hunt (mostly Otsego county) there are hardly any woodchucks around anymore. Seems like they really disappeared when the coyotes became abundant. Years ago we had lots of them in our hay fields but now they are a rare sight. Used to be that you could walk around our hay fields in a summer evening and easily see a half dozen or so. Now you see none.

Same thing in southern Oneida County and Madison County where I hunt.  My favorite 'chuck field was loaded with them into the 80's, I've seen 1 in the last 7 years there, but 2 coyotes.

What is the reasoning for having a season on coyotes?  I believe that they should be hunted all year long.  Their pelts are usable for fur for a part of the year, but they cause great damage all year.

[Leatherstocking]

The question you raise about hunting them all year is a good one. Many would agree. And as a sportsman, I agree (because I want to see lots of game animals also!). But as a biologist, I am not convinced that they have truly put the ecosystem so far out of balance so as to warrant year-round hunting. If someone shows me some real evidence that things are truly out of balance and that more predator control is needed, I'll buy in. The absence of woodchucks might be one indicator!

[Leatherstocking]

Well, I'm done counting down and now counting up. Took a really nice bird bird Sunday morning. 10" beard, 1" spurs, 17 1/2 lbs. I have been thinking for years that I want a full body mount of a turkey in a displaying pose and wanted a bird with a 10" beard so this guy is at the taxidermist! I just hope the load of #5's at 22 yards didn't take too many feathers off the neck because I want him with his neck out gobblin', which is what he did one last time from 22 yards away. Never took a bird so early in the season so I am glad I have another tag because I love spring turkey hunting. Next one goes on the smoker if I am lucky enough.