fall turkey
Meaning Of Thanksgiving At The ‘J’ Ranch
What It Means to Celebrate Thanksgiving At The ‘J’ Ranch
As a holiday celebration that prominently features a turkey dinner feast, it is front and center in this author’s thoughts. Having had several medical “Hard Resets” in the past fourteen months, a celebration of “What am I thankful for,” has my undivided attention. Here at the ‘J’ Ranch, Joyner Outdoor Media, there is a long list of things to be thankful for. The shortlist for this grumpy old turkey hunter includes a good supply of gobblers to chase next season.
I am literally thankful to wake up each morning. Thankful for the love of a good woman, my children, grandchildren, family, and friends. I am thankful for a career that is peaking in years when most are retiring out. I am also thankful to be able to walk again under the stars of a Texas sky this past spring. Gaining back the stength to climb a ridge to be on the same level with a bird in the turkey woods is something I am so grateful for. I was nearly denied temporarily or could have turned out worse had my medical issues resolved differently. Those are just highlighted ones; the list could run through several pages and my ability to recall them all.
This Thanksgiving will be observed in its full meaning here as I hope it will be at your home. Most years, a jake or jenny taken in the fall is featured as an essential part of our feast. My fall birds this year were taken in Missouri. The bounty will be enjoyed at Squaw Creek Lodge in Northwestern Missouri. It is a milestone as the first harvested gobblers taken there since the opening of the new outfitting business. At the “J’ Ranch we may use a bird taken this Spring in New York. It is our tradition to use a wild turkey for the thanksgiving feast or Christmas meal. Some years it is done for both holiday festivities.
This Thanksgiving, every holiday, truthfully every day, we rise to take on the day. We have much to be thankful for. Our lives are not perfect reflections of bedtime stories, romantic-themed movies, lofty ideals. It is seldom the fast-paced living on the edge, amps on 11 lifestyles. It sure looks good in a video and especially looks good on paper. Our lives twist and turn, we lose those we love. We are at times disappointed in ourselves. We can be discouraged by events. Sometimes let down in our expectations of others. It happens to all of us in varying degrees. It occurs at different times and places without regard to our stations in life.
We dust ourselves off from the imperfections, disappointments. We resolve the intentional or unintentional offensives and we take it on again the next day. That is the American spirit that we are proud to say. It is our common connection to others no matter where they come from. We celebrate the good in our lives, in others, the special moments, and the successes.
Your crazy deranged relatives at the Thanksgiving dinner table are actually human by birth. You might be surprised to know they live, love, lose, worry, and suffer for the same reasons yourself. They take joy in spending a day with you in it. Having the company of others on this holiday is no more complicated than that. Some of you may accept the challenge.
With many followers and friends here on social media, there is a continual list of those to pray for. Some, for the most tragic of circumstances. There are those passed unexpectedly, afflicted by disease, severe medical issues or addictions. There are many reaching out, struggling with divorce, and those with broken or dysfunctional families. I am one of many who include you in our collective thoughts and prayers. It is a stark reminder of what blessings I may have and to not take them for granted. We can for at least a few brief moments be of comfort in our responses and our actions. Not facing your strife alone, to know others are rooting for you is the upside of being human.
It is my sincere wish that all of you enjoy a day with family and close friends. May your joy and love of others leave no room for/cast away the things that divide us. We can surely do without the hateful politics, and contrived drama far from our homes and hearts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Memories of the Hunt, the Old Sweater
Opening weekend of New York Southern Tier firearms season for whitetails is in the books as one of thirty four seasons spent in the great forests of my home state. Thanksgiving morning, holiday weekend hunts to follow are eagerly anticipated as in the past. Deer camp has certainly changed from a deer camp weekend with a monday opener to a Saturday opener. I do miss the weekend of camp as a prelude to opening day.
With thirty three seasons under my belt it is the time with others that I recall more fondly, reminisce about the most. It is during these solemn moments to recount the hunts of years gone by. Hours in a favored stand, before first light, the often quiet surroundings as the evening sets gives plenty of opportunity to ponder. The day ebbs and flows and is not a constant parade of quarry, and often times the moment of truth occurs in just a view brief moments.
I recall most all the hunts, in all melancholy, days I hunted alone, with others, what was seen, what deer we tagged. As I grow older it takes a bit more time to exact some of them. The task of returning to the truck were sometimes epic efforts before the commonplace of atvs that made for far less dragging and the sore bones and aching muscles. It was always a welcome pleasure to have a few in the hunting party that could double as a front line tackle for a pro football team.
Deer camp is always the best. Annual get togethers and catching up on another years worth of living. Difficulties were discussed in good company and you would have any and all support required. Announcements of job changes, retirements, weddings, the births of children, grandchildren and we would also learn of those passed and their presence in camp would be in spirit. As I said, it’s the best.
It is for the most part a heartwarming reminiscing in appreciation of others, time in the great forests, time with family and friends. It is also a time to remember those that have passed, time with fellow hunters whose lives have changed. placing them in far away places and past friendships that have concluded as people change, not always for the better. As such they are memories of places and times I am fortunate to have. Deer camp embraces a full cross section of folks and our way of life. Away from work, the demands of daily life that I truly love the traditions of opening day, opening weekend in a well known, and familiar deer stand.
My bride of 18 years and I would be the only ones on our ranch this past weekend, a first in a very long time. Sightings leading up to this past weekend were excellent, and our hit list was longer than many years in the past. One brute of a buck I named pile driver from an encounter I had with him two years ago. The buck was not captured on a single game cam. He went without being spotted before, during or after season last year. This fall he came back to the area, and grew in many ways. He still evades the cams.
Having passed on small does and bucks during archery season, it has been my personal choice to only cull a few does in keeping with our current management plan and take only racked bucks. It is not a statement on other’s choices, but is ours to reach a specific goal on our place. There was a time where a fork horn or small six would be big news on our hillside and where it was common to see 15-17 does for every scrub buck we saw. Eighteen years later we expect to see a few good eight pointers and a few in Pope and Young, Boone and Crockett territory.
With fresh snow and a day in the stand ahead, I donned a familiar old sweater. For some it is a trusted old shotgun or rifle that is a link to the past generations, for me this was a present for my very first deer season, from my parents in 1985. My father, and my grandfather had stopped hunting long before I became of age despite being hard core Adirondack deer hunters that would boat plane into remote lakes for weeks at a time. Knowing as I do now, I would have loved to experienced that so many years ago.
The old sweater is an offering from the Remington sporting line of clothing, heavy wool with a padded shoulder patch, and rather oversized. My “lucky sweater” is of great warmth and comfort in the most miserable of hunting conditions. For me it is a direct connection to my parents who now have both passed. A most practical gift and with an emotional attachment and comfort to still have it. It is an essential must wear item on many cold days in the forests. Far more meaningful than the knitting of wool threads and practical use it would otherwise suggest. In retrospect it is one of the very few items that has remained in use since my first season.
In difference to many deer tracks and beds spotted from the day before, only one doe was seen early. No shot opportunity with thick stand of saplings between us. Nevertheless, it was early light excitement and enjoyable to watch her walk along in a most casual way. The typical volley of shots we normally expect to ring out in the valleys below and on our hill were far less frequent than past years.
Lee and I would do a few short pushes to each other, with no sightings to report. Sunday was even quieter and we would come across fresh beds from the night before just above our log home. One bed and a set of giant buck tracks suggested a bit of mockery and a teaser challenge. Challenge accepted of course. On both days, my legs and hands would start to cool, my trusty old sweater kept me toasty warm as it had so many hunts in the past. I thank my parents for so much they did for me. I am inclined to silently repeat this often.
All in all, a quiet opening weekend. A good time afield and time on our land is highly coveted with the busy lives we lead. As the season marches on, I wish you many good days in a deer stand, a great deer camp with friends!
-MJ
© 2018 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
#deerhunting #oldsweater #deercamp #family #deerstand
How To Improve Every Turkey Hunt You’ll Ever Have
You can vastly improve every turkey hunt you have ever been on or will ever have…
Once you get out on your first turkey hunt and unless you absolutely cannot deal with getting up very early, you’ll be hooked and addicted. A life sentence for most of us. It is a given that it is just a short period of time before those that pursue wild turkeys become lifelong members of the Tenth Legion. If your fate has brought you to this place then my musings may ring true for you.
As a self-professed grumpy old turkey hunter, it has become evident in the seasons that have marched on and the many pairs of boots worn out, that unless you possess the rare skill of an ironclad memory you will at some point fail to remember the lesser details of times afield in the turkey woods. Remembering the highlights of many great hunts is something even us old turkey hunters do well enough. The exact places and times, weather, important events of the times, thoughts, things you notice while afield become harder to recollect as time marches on.
Turkey hunters, in general, can tell great stories as there is so much to recall and so many interactions to add to the depth of each story. Fishermen are well known for storytelling abilities, especially some whoppers of questionable origin. They have nothing on turkey hunters as we can spin tales for days on end. Never underestimate the value of time spent at the tailgate of a pickup truck, or at the local diner. The conversations, the stories are priceless in my opinion.
As an author and what I wish to share with each of you: I cannot recommend it strongly enough the value of capturing your days afield in any of the mediums available within a short period of time after the hunt or during your time at camp. Whether you have inklings of publishing your stories someday, posting to your friends on social media, or as a keepsake for yourself and your family, you can take it on good advice you will not regret capturing your experiences. If you are a poacher, maybe not so much. That aside, as the decades roll by, the value of this effort grows with each passing season. If you are at all like me, each season adds many days of grand experiences worthy of remembering, worthy of being captured as a keepsake.
You can improve every hunt you have had or ever will embark on with the use of a daily journal, a blog, a camera, even your smartphone. It has never been easier in my lifetime to capture the essentials of a great experience in the turkey woods. It is not a requirement to be a schooled writer, a professional photographer, recording engineer, or a movie director. A handwritten journal is something your family will cherish for generations. Although a handwritten journal is something more common from my generation, modern day office programs do the job well. The apps on your smartphone can also do much of that for you.
Along with capturing the moment, anyone who uses a daily journal will be quick to tell you how useful the daily capture of data, tidbits, observations that can be gone over later that reveal trends, little secrets which you can use to your full advantage in future seasons.
By utilizing easily accessible tools you can capture the little details that jog your memory, paint a picture as you saw it, as you experienced it. A smartphone is a tool that tends to be with you most of the time, and the one you can use at a given moment is a most useful tool. Some models take decent pictures, record video, and audio, and allows for note taking, even word processing. I do carry a professional camera for essential shots, even then the smartphone is a go to as it is easily accessed. I have in the past written entire stories, blog posts, even a movie trailer on my smartphone while on a plane or passenger in a truck on a road trip. I find it handy when my thoughts come together and capture them in the moment. Unlike my daughter, I do not possess the skill or have small enough fingers to be masterful of the smartphone interface for typing. If I could only master that tiny screen keyboard…
Take the time to take lots of pictures. Learn the basics of how to frame a good photo, set up proper exposure and focus points. Take notes as you go. Save them off on your home desktop or laptop, and back up the files. These captures are your digital keepsakes. Just as in shorthand, worry about making it perfect or the way you want later, Get it captured first and foremost.
Just as you direct your attention to display tail fans, beards, and spurs, you can go back and edit, and print your pictures, clean up your notes or fully write out your stories. If inclined as some might be, organize and edit your audio and video files. The ever growing use of social media promotes this to a large degree and the skills used in posting events are directly applicable in capturing your days afield.
The best hunts are those that you can remember well and as you add to those each and every season I am confident you’ll be glad that you took the time to write it down, type it out, photograph it, and or record it. Today is the day if you haven’t done so to write down any and all details from hunts of the past, gather photographs, and organize each of them. Your memory tomorrow may not be as sharp as it is today.
To the many memories made in the great turkey woods and to the many more great memories to be made in the seasons to come.
-MJ
© 2018 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
#turkeyhunting #oldturkeyhunter #wildturkey #turkeywoods #respect
Turkey Hunter Courtesies, Ethics, Refresher Course 101
New York State spring turkey regular season opens in a little more than a week away. With nearly three quarters of a million turkey tags spoken for it is a large group from all walks of life, experiences, and wild turkey pursuing skill levels. It is prudent to review some of the most basic desirable courtesies, ethics and humanities towards fellow turkey hunters, land owners and the quarry we seek. My comments are from a perspective of a quarter century of fall and spring seasons, many states, many tags filled. I do not fret about harvest success as the hunt provides so much in so many ways, and manage well enough to find the most foolish and the least intelligent gobblers to be had. My friends will back me on this.
Turkey Hunter Courtesies
As a dedicated aficionado of the time honored pastime you may have spent the entire winter observing flocks, taking notes on monster gobblers. As the annual breeding ritual repeats itself as it has through the centuries, you may track with much due diligence. The miles of boot leather locating roost trees, strutting zones, travel patterns both feathered and human, have you well prepared to lay out the most well engineered strategy. Your foolproof plan has you back at the diner by 6:15 AM opening day with a tagged bird in the truck and a story to tell.
Opening day at 4:30 AM, Elmer Fudd who hunts this very spot every year carrying the oldest known working blunderbuss of questionable suitability is viewed leaving his 1985 Ranger and is 50 yards in, waltzing down the very trailhead you are set on to begin your assault. What do you do?
Do the phrases of “well it’s public land, he don’t own it, I can go wherever I wan’t,” “I have permission from the landowner, just as much as he does, I’ll park right behind him,” or “Screw him, I’ll sneak around and set up between him and the roost” come to you as plausible choices? Read on:
- An ethical and courteous hunter moves on to other hotspots to try. As a dedicated participant you have a long list of hot spots with known quantities of lusty gobblers with matching hen ratio. Pay it forward as you will benefit from the same courtesy. Your fellow brethren will have an unhindered set of circumstances to match wits with a gobbler. It is fair and reasonable to have the same for ourselves as we engage a mouthy gobbler.
- Revisit the same spot later in the morning, as the hunter may leave after a few hours. It is a productive strategy to arrive later after the gobblers are done with their hens and reviewing possibilities they heard earlier. Birds worked at first light can be very eager after being warmed up. Think of it as 1:55 AM at your favorite bar and it’s last call. If it is going to happen the gobbler will be in a hurry to get to you.
- Should you be of the persuasion that pulls up next to a truck already there and proceed to intrude on the hunter already set up you can rightfully be accused of unseemly poor behavior and lack common courtesy towards your fellow turkey hunting brethren. Over the years I have come across many exclaiming they will and can go anywhere they want to, period. On its face it is either ignorant or a form of harassment. If you find yourself at odds with this condemnation, during a much needed session of soul searching you seriously need to answer why your enjoyment of the turkeywoods should come at the expense of another.
- Accosting a hunter already in position working a gobbler or while intruding, attempting to out call, flank or simply bust the bird off of them is a deliberate act of contempt for a fellow hunter. If you find this to be judgemental, it is, no apologies
- There are times an unintended intrusion occurs from more than one way to enter a set of woods or from those that run the ridges and cover appreciable distances in a given morning. As a courteous turkey hunter when discovering you are intruding:
- Assume first that hen talk is from a hunter, pay heed and respect.
- Do not wave or issue turkey calls, assume motion or calling may be interpreted incorrectly, follow safety rules.
- Back out quietly if safe to do so and without further disturbing the hunt.
- If you cannot reasonably back out, stay your position and silently bear witness to the hunt in front of you.
Land Owner Courtesies
In a closely related topic, we as turkey hunters ought to be mindful of and respectful of the public grounds we are generously allowed to access as well as the private property of our friends, neighbors and of others with permissions to access their lands.
No signage is not a carte blanche invite with special privileges. If a posted sign or ask permission first sign reads as an invite to you, then my words are little more than annoying. Far too many land owners post their properties in response to those that disrespect their property rights. In New York you need to ask for landowner permission, whether signage is put up or not. Whether LEO’s or ECO’s will enforce the property rights laws on the books or whether a judge will toss it out, it is a breach of ethics. It may work as a loophole to get out of a fine, jail time or a difficult in your face encounter but you will leave making a bad impression on the land owner, and give us turkey hunter’s a black eye collectively. Personally, I never have enjoyed hearing someone denied permission with the land owner stating “You turkey hunters…”
- Visit prospective property owners off season, after season to gain permission, be courteous, be willing to help them out, volunteer to help with chores.
- Showing up the week of the opener may result in more no’s than yes’s and it makes a poor impression.
- Landowners want those they allow on their properties to be courteous and respectful of their lands during season and offseason. Building land owner relationships may result in a lifetime of access and opportunities that come from it. Make the effort. Taxes are very high in New York. Trust me, as a landowner, offers to help relieve any long list of chores are appreciated.
- What ever permission your 3rd, twice removed cousin or great great grandfather’s high school buddy had to a property has no relevance in law or ethical perspective of permissions to hunt. Unless you hold the title, pay the taxes, whatever anyone in your tribe may have done or had access to decades ago or over the many owners from changing hands is irrelevant, entirely moot.
- Leave gates as you find them, a farmer will more than appreciate it.
- Use common sense when using your truck, atv, utv as you’ll sour your privileges in a hurry if you tear up a clover field, or freshly planted cornfield.
- Treat others you come across (unless determine to be trespassing) as you would the landowner.
- You are being afforded access to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of prime forests and fields. it is a generous privilege. Let that be the basis for any actions or thoughts you may entertain. On public ground it is the same, but overseen by those we elect to manage it. In New York we have access to thousands of acres of hunting lands and waterways to fish. Treat it as the great resource it is and that we all enjoy.
- If the way you treat other hunters or conduct yourself varies according to hunting private vs. public lands you may not have the best intentions. Ethics are not defined by any map program I am aware of.
- Diplomacy and good will is always warranted as you are a guest. It is essential even in the most difficult situations that arise from friends of the landowner, often times from loose definitions of family. Your ego or perceived rights are quickly refuted and revoked in a denial of permissions should you fail the wisdom in this. A landowner is not obligated to be a referee nor signed up to endure headaches over your privilege or that of others.
- On public grounds even the most difficult personalities merit diplomacy and effort to calm things down. If Illegal acts are involved an ECO can do the job required, if rude and inappropriate you may not persuade them to remorse and correction of their errant ways. You are not the Jackass whisperer, and it does you no good service if one cannot tell whom the jackass is during a dispute or altercation. Take the high road… Always.
Respect Of Your Quarry
What is sometimes very controversial is ethics of hunting methods. My intent here concerns a clean ethical kill/harvest, safety, care of table fare. Methods are varied in both ethical perceptions and legal and civil penalties by states, and regions. My negative opinion on reaping and fanning does not ring true for the massive open fields in the midwest, just as feeders in the regions of south Texas are not allowed up north. Unless you get off the keyboard, give your pro hunter rhetoric a break and lay down some boot leather in many of the places gobblers roam, you may find other perspectives to be foreign and difficult to comprehend much less understand.
As an observer of wildlife in a most inspired way, it is a respect for and in awe of all god’s creatures. As stewards of our lands, and our role in the natural order of living things I firmly assert that it is the time honored pursuit of hunting that dates further back than recorded history. It is a reverent respect that is appropriate. Our quarry perishes in that pursuit and becomes sustenance for our bodies, and in keeping with grand design as hunter gatherers. As ethical hunters we conduct ourselves in a sense of fair chase vs. filling a shopping cart at the local Piggly Wiggly, or up North at the local Wegmans or Price Chopper (no endorsements intended or implied)
Vegans claim that animals are not utilized or perish in their diets, but under a more thorough review the claim falls short when examining what wildlife habitat is altered/eliminated and what “pests” are exterminated to provide the gathering side of our diets. The equation is not so straight forward to produce consumables. The “Air Diet” has not gained that much in popularity.
As an ethical hunter and in the concepts of fair chase you owe it to the quarry you chase:
- Fully pattern your shotgun or dial in your archery tackle to produce a decisive clean kill at a known distance that you can reliably repeat.
- Expend any effort to reduce probability of equipment failure by maintenance, and routine pattern testing well before opening day.
- Acquaint yourself to become expert with distance estimation. Rangefinders are effective tools to reaffirm your estimates.
- Hail Mary or a golden BB as promoted by long shots and must kill by any means and all costs as a decision is a lack of respect and a willingness to gamble at far lesser odds that you will not maim, or mortally wound to die later. It is in many ways reprehensible and a confliction of misguided ego.
- Should you wound a gobbler which is not a desired event for any ethical hunter, you owe every effort to recover and bring a swift end to a less than decisively lethal shot if required.
- As an ethical hunter. legal hunting hours, applicable games laws, legal hunting methods, and safe weapon handling is followed and expected of others.
- A clean decisive kill requires clear sight picture of the head and neck, or commonly known as the boiler room containing vital organs of heart and lungs, Sight picture to also include a clear and safe foreground and background. You owe me that. I owe you the same.
- Sound or shadow shooting is in plain english unsafe, reckless and unethical. It is also an act of negligence.
- Take proper care of the game animal to produce the best possible table fare. as it is a precious resource.
- As a gobbler’s behavior is governed by thousands of years of honed instinct, a will to outwit all known predators, you will not win the day each time afield if measured by the kill. Over time, your reverence, your learned respect, it will be revealed the hunt itself is the reason you are there…
To hunt and fish in my home state of New York is a privilege that after all these years I am still in awe of. The perspective that I express here in reviewing some of the basics comes from many sunrises in the turkey woods. The hefty feathered carries over my shoulder while returning home, chasing turkeys in the snow over an excited weimaraner, and far too many days to count of just resting up against a towering maple, taking it all in, are all in part of being at peace with my surroundings. In that perspective, the reverence, respect and regard for the feathered monarchs of the turkeywoods and my fellow turkey hunters is a most natural thing.
-MJ
© 2018 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
. #turkeyhunting #oldturkeyhunter #wildturkey #turkeywoods #respect #ethics #courtesy
Trespass In NY- Turkey Hunter? Deer Hunter? Fisherman?
For those of you that are not familiar with the great Empire State, it is a very short drive from one of the largest cities in the world, even shorter drive from the lesser known cities to find yourself amongst the great farmlands, forests, mountains and fisheries of New York where I call home. Despite bizarre politics, stifling regulations, punitive taxation (#1, highest in the Nation) that has driven out industry and the prosperity that goes with it, it is one of the most resource diverse states when you come to appreciate the four million-plus acres of public lands, nearly another million more acres under conservation easements, the raw natural beauty, and recreational opportunities we have here. I reside with my bride in one of the seven valleys of Cortland County which I am more than fond of. The topic at hand actually applies across our great nation and not solely unique to New York. As I truly love what I have here as my little piece of paradise, I’ll refer to my beloved state as my frame of reference.
With such highly coveted resources, much of which is available to everyone as public lands and public waterways, the subject of trespass, destruction of property, theft and other criminal behavior appears to be more common even in the off seasons, despite numerous large tracts of state and federal lands for all to share. My comments are aimed specifically towards sportsmen and sportswomen. Criminals, common thieves, polluters are not likely to be moved or swayed by any opinions you, or I may have or convey. As a landowner and as a member on a hunting lease from time to time I have that set of perspectives. I also hunt and fish on a mix of state game lands, waterways, and a fair amount of private holdings that have granted me the right to spend time on and enjoy. I’ll break down my thoughts in lists for each viewpoint.
As a hunter:
- Do we show ourselves as being fortunate and privileged to be granted access to private lands that another pay taxes on, farms, maintain for their business or homestead, manages for wildlife? Do we show respect for them and their property? Do we fundamentally understand that landowner rights take priority over any right or desire we may feel to hunt or fish?
- On lands that are commonly known for open access do we make it a point to learn of the owner’s name as a courtesy to thank them or to learn of any concerns they may have? It helps to avoid future problems. Do we take for granted these lands and treat them as a free for all, our personal playgrounds?
- On state lands do we treat it as if we own it? In a roundabout reasoning we do via the income taxes that are paid. Being respectful, having regard for our resources should not be a conditional thought or action.
- Challenging a landowner or another hunter, in general, is not the smartest idea, nor a step in improving hunter/landowner relations. The exception is the arrogant slob hunter who is not authorized to patrol a property or trespassing themselves and falsely claiming a spot. Too many stories of others trying to throw people off that have permission including landowners off their own property.
- Items we may come across while hunting without regard to who owns the land, do we leave undisturbed, unmolested unless clearly lost (such as a jacket, wallet, personal camera, game call). Stealing or destroying treestands, game cameras, blinds, traps, etc. is a despicable, lowly act to inflict on a fellow hunter. Even when we find such items on our own places that are not supposed to be there, do we attempt to find out whom they belong to first and get the word out? If that fails to produce a result in instances I have come across, I bring it back to the house and attempt to find the owner while notifying the county Sheriff’s/ NYSDEC ECO, and they can retrieve their items after an intimate chat with law enforcement. Charges may apply if egregious, or not your first time trespassing. In principle do we take another’s property while not knowing fully the circumstances.?
- While being respectful of the lands hunted, it is good practice to extend that to fellow hunters. Having someone purposely interfering with your time in the woods is greatly unappreciated. A common occurrence with the mentality of having to get your gobbler or buck before the other hunter does. As sportsmen, sportswomen we are better than that.
- Access to hunting properties has dropped while the behavior of some fellow hunters deters hunter recruitment or makes the hunting experience on state lands or private lands less desirable for the recreational hunter, fisherman. The same foolishness, monkey business that is assumed all too common on public grounds in known to be just as much a problem on private holdings. Private land is not immune to breaches in ethical or sportsmanlike conduct. There is no legitimate excuse for treating fellow hunters and fishermen in a poor manner that occurs. Trespass shows disrespect for the landowners and fellow hunters alike
- Of our sport, the passions we so dearly love. are we humbled and appreciative of the great forests and waterways? Are we humbled and appreciative of our fellow hunters and fishermen that we share these great resources with?
As a landowner or lease/club member:
- Vast amounts of money are involved to purchase, pay county & school taxes, or fees to lease. Land taxes have risen well ahead of inflation to the tune of 2X-3X over other states in the union. It can be viewed as legalized theft in some lines of thought. As a landowner, it is a thought process quickly learned and a reality. Leases have risen due to taxes, and the popularity of outdoor-focused leasing /realty companies. The continual loss of farms and the increase in development further increase the cost and demand for recreational properties. Maintaining a property for wildlife involves plenty of funds and sweat equity.
- Because your past three generations of family hunted there, it does not trump or replace courtesy, respect, or asking permission. Your ignorant boasting of entitlement to hunt wherever you want is a false premise. It is all too common a complaint about local hunters. Your family or those that passed on are not maintaining, nor paying taxes on the property. You can easily change that, be a great neighbor.
- Fishermen do not get a pass on self-granted rights to trespass as access to private honey holes is not an entitled right of way. In New York, navigable waters have a separate set of laws that apply.
- Poor behavior, trespass, destruction of property, theft, infighting between hunting parties, poaching, ignoring specific instructions, or requests are all legitimate reasons why landowners say no or rescind your permissions. As a landowner saying no is their right that may or may not come with an explanation.
- It is a major irritation to expend time and money to thwart, report and or prosecute trespassers only to see them given a slap on the wrist or a minor fine. $50 to$250 fines are not enough to deter the disrespect, the ignorance that exists in the hunting community.
- How many of you visit to help a landowner in the offseason or in season, send thank you’s or visit to thank in person? Do you invite them for a home-cooked meal, or in general conduct yourself as a good neighbor, an ethical hunter that appreciates the privilege?
With the acceptance of game cams as scouting tools, it has become an additional season of installing and checking in the summer months. With the competitive nature of some in our ranks, the quest for boon’r buck or record setting long beard or the best fishing hole in the county causes some to steal memory cards, game cams, or destroy them and any stands or blinds they come across. In the past few years, the frequency of this type of criminal activity is increasing if judged by posts on social media. Whether there is increased trespass or that we now have better tools to capture it is made far worst that it is being done in many occurrences by fellow hunters. Clicking through the various hunting groups on social media it is astounding the number of reports of tree stands stolen or rendered unusable, deer cams broke or stolen, SD memory cards stolen.
In the following list are links to NYS sites that deal specifically with trespass, regulations, posting info, etc. I have included other useful links as well as one to a prior blog on game cam strategies.
- Public Fishing Rights and the Landowner -NYSDEC
- Posting Information for Landowners, Boaters, Fishermen and Hunters -NYSDEC
- Avoiding Conflicts Between Waterfowl Hunters and Waterfront Property Owners -NYSDEC
- ASK -NYSDEC
- Dealing with Trespassers -Cornell Univ
- Recreational access and owner liability -Cornell Univ
- Post Deer Season- Time to Implement a New Game Camera Strategy
As a landowner, I can tell you first hand you will quickly expand your fan base in a less than desirable way by wanting to control your property in any configuration. Some folks feel or even insist they have a right to your place. You and I may have an adverse response to such arrogant entitlement thinking. Trust me it is out there as many are not shy about it, in fact boastful.
Diligence and willingness to press charges does pay off as it eventually reduces trespass once they learn you have a spine and will do what is needed to fully enjoy your place as the owner of the property. I can tell you that sending a certified notice against trespass or having the local sheriff deliver it in person is an effective way to get your point across. Posting, maintaining signs, the expense of cameras, batteries,and other items just to secure your place takes away from time and money otherwise spent enjoying it.
Poor behavior is not a one-way street, as we all know that one special landowner that tries to claim rights to other properties, accosts anyone that comes near their boundary or travels an adjacent road along their place. It makes for hostile or worse interactions. I have been privy to one property owner near me that claimed to own the county road that dissected her place. Unnecessary conflict and bad relations for all involved.
It is my well-learned opinion that we New Yorkers have easy access to thousands upon thousands of the best public hunting grounds to be found in our great nation. Our waterways are world-renowned and something to cherish. As ethical sportsmen and sportswomen, criminal trespass is an abhorrent act towards each other and especially landowners. As hunters, as fishermen, as landowners, there is much room to improve relationships with only a little effort and a large dose of mutual respect. We all deserve this from each other.
-MJ
© 2017 Joyner Outdoor Media
Social Media A Great Tool For Hunters?
There are several ways one could hit the ground and run with this. Anti-hunting advocates vs hunters are one aspect of social media online to dive into. You might win the hearts and minds of non-hunters with principled ideas, rational behavior, any and all of the great things we love about our impassioned time-honored way of life. As to the anti-hunting crowd, you might find other more constructive things to do. Rational, sound logical reasoning falls on deaf ears of those unable to think beyond the propaganda, the overhyped irrational emotional responses. It is a telling picture to see such unhinged individuals crying and screaming in the streets. As a hunter, you can be assured of outbursts of pure rage against a legal activity, an instinctive natural way of eating and surviving as further back than biblical scholars can find as well as scientists who chronicle the story of evolution.
My thoughts for today’s wanderings lead me to social media vs hunters. A recent post concerning ‘real’ women hunters vs camo bikini-clad wanna-be female pro staffers gave me pause as to why with all the great attributes of instant communications do some within our hunting community subscribe to the worse attributes of social media that are typically displayed by our anti-hunting foes?
To those of us that lay claim to bearing some semblance of adult-like behavior, enjoy the company of fellow hunters, and not suffering sociopathic tendencies there is much to enjoy and take advantage of Facebook, Instagram, and any other of the choices of online communities to connect with each other.
I’ll lay claim that I barely squeak by in fitting it with the ‘normal, socially adjusted group.’ In doing so I will list what I think are the main positives associated with the online experience.
• With a little effort and time, online one can quickly seek and find like-minded hunters to any level of specialty that you want to hook up with. My passions are turkey hunting, and deer hunting, archery, rifle/shotgun/pistol shooting. Easy to find folks that share my interests. Many friends and friendly acquaintances can be made. If you singularly focus on hunting with 1800’s era flintlock firearms wearing only period-correct clothing you are in luck as you will find your tribe.
• As with news in general, anything outdoor-related, happening in the world down to your hometown can be learned that week, much of it the day that it occurs. New products, records broken, Changes in seasons and regulations, weather conditions.
• Sharing of stories, sharing or pictures afield soon after returning home or in the field as it happens. Facebook a post that you sunk your 4×4 to the axles while getting your elk out will rally the troops to your rescue. You can blame your truck and swear profusely on live Facebook for additional effect.
• Social media can be a great tool for researching your future hunts, outfitters, things to see and do on your next adventure. Personal contacts give you a much better insight.
Personally, I love having such great friends online (whom I have spent time with in hunt camp), to learn their stories, to share mine. Same with pics from successful hunts or the scenes so breathtaking you just have to capture it. Facebook has been great to meet up on hunts, meet up while traveling. I try to learn from what other successful hunters do and share amongst us. I enjoy seeing the pics, especially those that took the time to make a great pic in respect of their quarry. As much as I like the efficiency of the online experience and at any hour. It does not replace what you get from a phone call or time shared together. I view social media as a useful tool to embellish my experiences that I have with those I have had the privilege to spend time with but do not live close enough to see frequently.
What is it with some of our ranks that are compelled to eat our own? The downside of the social media experience is the emboldened behavior of keyboard trolls that lack social graces that help us all get along. I’m not going to distract with a lengthy discussion on sociopaths or anti-social behavior. Is it reasonable to put up with such ill-mannered, fragile egos or those bent on tearing other fellow hunters down? It takes only a single picture of a record book deer or a monster gobbler to attract the worse responses. Even pictures of kids after a successful hunt will gain uncivil responses. I expect that from the anti-hunting zealots, not fellow hunters.
I’ve been accused of “eating our own” by opposing turkey hunters over my position on reaping or fanning methods despite clear reasoning on safety issues and what I regard as unreasonable risks in many (not all) turkey hunting scenarios. Even after consistently acknowledging how exciting the method is, I am labeled an elitist for my opposition. There are many forms or styles of hunting that I do not participate in or find alluring. As such I read those stories and enjoy the after-hunt pictures like I do others. On matters of safety, I am not one to compromise. As to what bow you use, or what specific caliber bullet you shoot, whether you sit in a blind all day or hunt ridges as I may do, I don’t have the urge to criticize you because it may not be my preferred choice. Let’s skip that nonsense and tell me of your epic story.
With the prior blog posting I saw this morning concerning female hunters or huntresses as mentioned, it causes me to comment on where this comes from, the source if you will. The frustration that is becoming more visible within our ranks does come from the over marketing, the overzealous behavior of prostaff, huntresses, TV hunting shows, game call companies, and the list goes on at the irritation of the hunting community, a market segment they are hoping to gain an audience with.
As to huntresses, I have only a few brief observations. I know many women who hunt, have been for many years, and as hardcore as any male hunter, I have shared camp with. I find that female hunters, in general, to be more conscientious, more deliberate in their shooting, less likely to take risks. In that, they show the concept of huntress in a very good light. I am pleased to see more moms and their kids join our ranks as well as single women. Always welcomed in any camp I may attend. The whole thing with sex’d up camo pinup models that appear to be pampered, fully catered huntresses is to be expected in the old marketing model that sex sells just about anything. In my opinion, I think that once you take away all the pampering, the glamor shots you are left with little of the experience of being self-sufficient and being immersed in the turkey woods is lost in favor of a thong. Some of the same mentality applies to male celebrity hunters who are known to be lost themselves without a fully catered hunt.
It is nearly impossible to watch a thirty-minute hunting show without it being saturated with commercials and the storyline constantly pulled back at every turn to hawk a product. As a medium for hunters to learn from, to enjoy, it fails miserably as a nonstop infomercial in the guise of a hunting show. It is a business model that compromises the viewer’s enjoyment over ad space sold.
As with the over-marketing that is rampant with TV shows it is just as much a part of the dialog that occurs on Facebook, Instagram, and others. With that comes the emphasis of who has the most likes, the most Facebook friends. It has become so absurd, to the point it was posted on Facebook that a hunter made the claim that they were a better hunter because they had more likes? Difficult to wrap any logic around that. Having reached the 5K limit on Facebook, I have yet to enjoy that arousal of “better than thou hunter” that I am told about. I worked at it over a long period of time to broaden my base of possible readers of books I have published and will publish in the future. Efforts with my keyboard help make that happen, what abilities or skills I do have in the turkey woods are from lessons learned from time afield, from hunting with others, and for me, it has been many hours over many seasons.
The competitive nature of some of us produces an unhealthy interaction, focused on numbers, not people. I am concerned with being a ‘good hunter’ as I believe you are. I am also concerned with being a ‘better hunter’ when compared to myself five years ago. Whatever measure you wish. If we all strive to be good hunters then may our freezers be full. Is it not fair, a good thought that we all try each day to be better as people, as hunters?
What I see occurring in the realm of social media is the parallel, the concept of TV ratings becoming a parameter in which we measure ourselves on Facebook, Instagram, or any of the other social media offerings. Would I lose the love of family if my friends list shrunk or likes on my posts dwindled away?
There is the danger in that should you make a mistake, honest or deliberate, it is known in such a short time by all that is nearly unmeasurable. Bad news travels fast. Commit a game violation and your hunting buds will know more about your case than you do before you return home from your trip. Poach a record book elk and by tomorrow you may be a Facebook featured post!
For those that believe a picture is worth a thousand words, it is, for the most part, a truism until one pulls it up in photoshop, and modifies it to suit ego or other less than admirable purpose. A game contest is useful for exposing such less noble attributes in hunters that sport overblown egos. Posting on social media has taken these lesser ideals and supersized them as you might expect. I’ve seen lots of turkey hunters holding up their gobblers with a bent elbow and claim 25-28lbs all day long. I have witnessed far too many gobblers that weigh no more than the average 18-19 pounds to know what the girth of the bird appears as, and span of the wing butts to know that in only a few cases does the bird actually match the claimed weight. Only in a few select areas of the country, is the average weight much higher. Such heavyweights appear as if another subspecies in the turkey woods when accurate. Deer are often posed and angles chosen to appear much larger. Photoshopping antlers is not uncommon.
Other ill social media acts include ‘borrowing’ other hunter photos for product ads or photoshopping to appear taken by another hunter. Unless the deed is executed by a skilled person excelling in photography and lighting theory as a background it is all too easy to spot where edits were done. For the more sophisticated edits, a few applied filters and exposure adjustments reveal the modified pixels.
The sins of boasting, false storytelling (ok for fisherman though) hoax photos are an offering of the dark side of social media. In of itself, it is not new, but the modern-day equivalent is much faster in producing it. The false perceived pressure of having to achieve more friends, more likes, more hits, more web traffic comes at the expense of impressing profiles of people you have never hunted with, shared a beer with, or even met on the street. In the end to fall into that trap side steps real friendships, and causes one to miss the sheer joy of time spent in the hunting grounds of their choice.
My opinion is that social media is a great tool for hunters, especially for myself as an outdoor writer/author, as with all things it is neither perfect nor the end of all things in communicating with one another. To understand it and to use it at face value is a very useful way to keep track of and share with all those that you care to include. As we refute those with less than good intentions we make it a better space to share these bits and pieces of our daily lives.
-MJ
© 2017 Joyner Outdoor Media
Joyner Outdoor Media, State of the Union, Book Projects
Many projects on the back burner since the winter of 2012-2013 At the tender young age of 52, I found myself out on the street the 18th of December, making a worrisome Christmas. The company I was a founding partner in, later acquired and later sold to our VP of Sales. After a fourteen year stint, given the politics with the new owner, It was an impossibility to work together. Fate, Karma is a cruel master at times and there is a tragic story that follows. I’ll not divulge further. Only days after being put out to pasture I formed Town Line Technologies, LLC on what was a very quiet Sunday morning looking at office spaces. I had an offer for contract work for the US Navy through the old company, cashed in my 401K, no safety net, no benefits. Five years of working hard and still going. It is the primary reason why projects slowed, put on hold and accelerated my aging.
With some things freeing up, I am bringing to the fore front the existing on-going projects that I am all too happy to get back to. ‘Grand Days in the Turkey Woods’ was a bit of an unexpected event in my timeline as an author. As it is common for me to write up or at least outline memorable stories as they occur each season, I found back in 2014 that I have more than enough memories/stories stored off in a future projects file that I was able to quickly publish as a story book which is in keeping with ‘Hills of Truxton: Stories & Travels of a Turkey Hunter’, and ‘Tales from the Turkey Woods: Mornings of My Better Days’
I will update in order- books currently available, current projects, and intentions of future works which will not march full steam ahead until my current projects are out in print.
Books in print:
Hills of Truxton: Stories & Travels of a Turkey Hunter Currently available online at Amazon and other online book stores in paperback, hardcover, and kindle format. Hills Of Truxton Paperbacks and hardcovers are also available from me, signed with bookmarks and post cards tipped in. Author’s Online Store
A 2.0 version is coming with a new cover, a few updated pictures and the typical text corrections and small edits in the effort to follow in some semblance of the Queen’s English. A hardcover w/ dust cover will also follow in the 2.0 version and will mark the end of the laminated hardcover edition. Release of 2.0 will be announced later this summer
Tales from the Turkey Woods: Mornings of My Better Days Currently available online at Amazon and other online book stores in paperback, hardcover, and kindle format. Tales From The Turkey Woods Paperbacks and hardcovers are also available from me, signed with bookmarks and post cards tipped in. Author’s Online Store
A 2.0 version is also coming with a new cover, a few updated pictures and the typical text corrections and small edits as with my first title. A hardcover w/ dust cover will also follow in the 2.0 version Release of 2.0 will be announced later this fall.
Grand Days in the Turkey Woods: Currently available online at Amazon and other online book stores in paperback, hardcover, and kindle format. Grand Days In The Turkey Woods Paperbacks and hardcovers are also available from me, signed with bookmarks and post cards tipped in. Author’s Online Store
Current Book Projects:
D.D. Adams, Evolutionary Turkey Call Pioneer: For those that I have contacted or attempted to contact at the beginning of the project: I will complete interviews this summer. I have just a few very key interviews to complete so time is short as I need to commit to a writing schedule.
If you knew DD personally and have insights or a great story to share I would love to interview you for the project. I have a lot of pictures, more than enough to show a comprehensive view of his call creations.
Empire State Limb Hangers- New York Wild Turkey Records: For those that I have contacted or attempted to contact at the beginning of the project: Your stories will be available to review as I complete them.
If you haven’t been interviewed and would like to be included, please contact me, I would love to include as many as possible that met the original score criteria. The placings have shifted some, however I am still going by my original list as what was unique and noteworthy then still is of course. There will be future editions as records are broken and those I attempted to include, catch up with the project. The more hunters that come on board that I originally sought to interview, the better.
Any record book gobblers bagged in NY during the 2016-2017 spring/fall seasons? or years prior? If your bird meets the following scoring criteria, I would love to talk to you about being included in the book!
Typical score > 75.0000 (weight x1 + beard x 2 + spur(s) x 10)
Non-Typical score > 105.0000 (weight x1 + beard(s) x 2 + spur(s) x 10)
Weight > 26.5000 lbs. (verified certified weight)
Beard > 12.0000″ (verified length)
Spurs> 1.6250″ (verified length)
Future Projects: Other than some very preliminary housekeeping, outlines etc, future projects are on low priority until completion of the current Que. In all fairness to the hunters I interviewed some time ago, my efforts are focused on completing these anticipated works. There are several ideas for a scifi novel and a hunting themed novel. Very far out there, but possibility’s for a time not as hectic at the moment.
Roost ‘n Time Tales: Will be a continuation of stories as told around camp, the local diners and the back of pickup trucks parked at the gate. It is expected to take any number of years, dependent on travel plans, funds, and a 55 gallon drum of good-luck and fortune to capture another memorable collection of experiences in the great turkey woods.
Old Turkey Tree: A collection of my favorite stories from current titles and future ones. Expect additional perspectives, additional photo’s and other surprises to those following my previous works. May include other unpublished stories worthy of inclusion with such grand memories.
Forever Roost: An introspective view of why I hunt, deeper meanings and how it is much more significant in modern times as well as my later years if a full and meaningful life.
I would be remiss if I neglected to appeal to those contemplating your own works as self published or assisted publishing. If interested in engaging Joyner Outdoor Media to help your project get off the ground or hire us to work up graphics, covers for your book give me a shout at: mjoyner@joyneroutdoormedia.com
I would also encourage you to check out the New York Outdoor Writer Association or on facebook as a writing professional or inspired up and coming author.
-MJ
© 2017 Joyner Outdoor Media
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