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The Turkey Woods- A Special Place
Early yet in the first week of New York’s spring turkey season. It is an annual pilgrimage each year at our household like so many others. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, family health issues has taken center stage and supersedes even the most ingrained rituals one might have. With myself and one of our daughters cleared from a cancer scare, we are batting at good odds, one more family member to go. None of us will rest easy nor sleep well until such time as we get the all clear news…
Opening day was a late start with Lee, my bride of nearly 17 years. It has been a couples date every season with only a few exceptions. with all the non-hunting related issues going on, and the both of us recovering from pneumonia, it wasn’t much of a surprise. We slowly hunted our way in, and the late start was not much of a detriment as with all the countryside we could hear you could not buy a gobble much less lather up a lusty gobbler. Owls and crows were no more successful at pulling out a gobble as we found out quick enough. We did set up at the strategic spot we like on our property and settled in for any strong but silent type gobblers that might be out for a morning search party. We did hear one single shotgun blast early but that would be all we heard until a distant blast an hour later. After several hours we decided to hunt back to the house and managed to raise a rather large Jake. He gobbled on top of any calls I made and was covering lots of ground. He, in fact, showed up in range but behind us, and in one hell of a hurry as he scurried away as fast as he showed up. He headed up the hill away from us and in a few short minutes I called him back just as quickly as he left, except this time he was in a more open area. I had clear target lock on him, but no significant beard to be seen. Looked to be every bit of sixteen pounds, a big jake for sure, maybe a two-year-old with his beard hugging his body as they sometimes do. As before, the jake left nearly as fast as he approached. Apparently, he was racing around from spot to spot much like Rio Grand Turkeys like to do. Lee nearly got an opportunity, but the bird moved on before she could get her gun lined up on him. No third time is a charm calling him back. All in all made for a very nice morning excursion with some action and a live participant to boot.
This morning I went solo for just a brief hunt as work demands I be in the office early. Much cooler and with a slight drizzle of rain, I decided to see what I might make happen in the turkey woods. I headed over across from our property to that of our good friends Jeff and Missy. Many fond memories there as it’s where I took my first gobbler in 1993. Lots of gobblers carried back to the truck since that time. I headed to their back twenty acres as I knew it would be protected from the wind, and I would be able to hear anything resembling a wild turkey. Being located in a large horseshoe-shaped bowl I could hear a lot of territory including properties I could not hunt and some that would require getting the truck to drive over to. Fly down time from the roost came and went, and not a wing flap, a yelp or a gobble to be heard anywhere. That would be a consistent story, set of facts to be entered into the records up until I left for work. With the all the quiet, the tranquil surroundings I would close my eyes and could hear the chickadees from far enough away I could not accurately tell you how far. As much as my quest was to have an epic battle with a monarch of these woods, I found leaning back just enough to watch the clouds roll on by to be just as enjoyable. As I would remember as a little boy, I have not forgotten some of these most simple pleasures. The rebirth of all things in the spring is ever more so in the turkey woods. Today I relaxed long enough to take it all in, and enjoy it for what it is, in its most simple forms.
With all the happenings going on in my family, myself, work obligations, and the list of things that dampen my well being my soul, situations I cannot change nor have yet found a way to accept, I find peace in the turkey woods. Whether it be non-stop action, a hot gobbler marching in looking a for a ride in the truck or in this case, my case, needed food for the soul, it remains as a favored sanctuary wherever I spend time in the turkey woods. My brief time this morning in a place that I have spent a good share of during the past twenty-five seasons was as uplifting and satisfying as any of the grand days I have had the good fortune to experience. The only downside or regret while walking back was that I could not enjoy a bit more time there. There will be other days in this special place or others I have deemed to be, and I look forward to more times in each of them. It is my sincere wish that each of you have such places to enjoy or come to know well enough as the seasons’ pass.
With most of the season yet ahead of us I wish you all much success in as many ways as you may enjoy. May all your days in the turkey woods be grand days…
-MJ
© 2017 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Turkey Reaping & Decoying- Unsafe? Irresponsible Danger? A Review…
Three years ago I penned my thoughts on Turkey Fanning, Turkey Reaping which has gained popularity by hunters and prominently shown on many Outdoor TV shows. The list includes some long-time veterans of the outdoor industry which I find surprising as most of those labeled with such a moniker have gotten there by being careful, conservative in their actions. Here’s a link to my original blog post: http://www.turkey-talk.com/tblog/?p=126
Back then I stepped up on one big soapbox and said my peace. No apologies, no retractions as my thoughts have not softened or changed much on the subject. I sure rattled a few cages and there was plenty of pushback and claims that I had no proof, no such foul play has ever occurred, totally safe, an elitist, and so on… I’ll step back up again…
Writing from a perspective of firm conviction, without conflicts of interests, or other detracting voices along comes the unfortunate truth of what I believed would be the inevitable outcome. Not against decoy use in general, but I find myself using them less as I find better ways to set up on an approaching gobbler. If there was ever something I would be all too happy to be wrong about, it would be this subject. I ran across several stories offering evidence of how unsafe it is, which sadly I’ll get to shortly.
It is not the perspective of “my way” is better than your way. Personally, I absolutely love roosting a gobbler on a big ridge, figure him out, call him in strutting to 30 paces and outsmart him for one single last time. Lots of hunters prefer hunting the edges of fields, I generally do not, but on occasion, I will if it is on the menu that day. Hunting with different people at times, the menu and properties change. You have some hunters that find Turkey Fanning, Turkey Reaping just as alluring as I find going about it the old time-honored ways of matching wits on the gobbler’s terms. In my last remark, It is not one way is better than the other. Very easy to imagine how much you would be on edge, your heart pounding in your throat while fanning up a big old gobbler. It has to be exciting, I get that. In all that excitement, and the snap shooting judgment that goes with it, how brief is the time to safely assess your sight picture, foreground, and background while the gobbler is making a hasty exit? In my opinion, it’s not worth the risk that comes with it.
Turkey Fanning, Turkey Reaping is absolutely effective and a high percentage way to kill wild turkeys. Plenty of outdoor hunt footage can be found on Youtube with one gobbler fooled after another using this approach. One is labeled as an elitist (bullying tactic) for decrying this method as foolhardy and unsafe for both the practitioner and unfortunate hunter who may come upon it. Is it worth that either may shoot each other or be shot inadvertently? It is reasonable to have disdain for the unsafe scenario it sets up. Since it’s resurgence has any gun safety instructors announced their endorsement of this practice? In the rolling terrain of upstate New York, you are at risk. Should you be out in the middle of a flat 200-acre corn field yet to be planted, not a concern. There are a few states that now ban this method, I suspect the more wide open terrain states will not, and would not view it as problematic there.
Propping up a turkey fan affixed to your barrel, worn on your head, or out in front while moving towards a strutting gobbler triggers him to dominate everything in the field. They come a running. Is this much different than going out on the first day of deer season wearing a deer costume with a pair of 140 class antlers on your head or as an attractive doe? I’ll buy you more than a few adult beverages if you allow me to take out an insurance policy on you with my name listed as a beneficiary.
Sure I have my preferred methods of how I hunt gobblers, I am not crazy about the choices of some hunters no more than they may of mine. But where legal, ethical, and in different places in the world where one can pursue wild turkeys, it is how it’s done, take it or leave it. I have no quarrel with that. When it comes to Turkey Fanning, Turkey Reaping it is my opinion that it is entirely unsafe with the exception of wide open fields and where rifles are illegal to use. Keep in mind we have hunters boasting of shotguns shooting effective patterns at eighty and ninety yards which is something not seen in a positive light in my view. I’ll leave that for another discussion.
As promised, and while climbing back down my ladder, here are the links to such unfortunate events including one in 2013 resulting in the death of a fellow turkey hunter. The second link is a follow-up article that mentions the fatality.
http://www.parsonssun.com/news/article_84ea535e-1fc7-11e7-bb26-9bfd6518961e.html?mode=jqm
I would be perfectly happy if no such proof existed, ate my humble pie, and called it a day. Some things would be better on being wrong about it. I am a nonbeliever in calling such events “accidents” and nearly all of them could be avoided, rare exceptions noted. A form of “reapercide” we can do without…
My thoughts extend to any hunter injured or losing their life while chasing game in our great forests. Such events are stark contrasts to the beauty and wonderment of spending time in the great turkey woods.
You may or may not agree with my comments, but I do believe we can agree that we all want to come back home at noon or the end of the day with great memories from the fields and woods we so love. Whether or not we agree on this topic, I would much rather buy you a craft beer and discuss as loudly as we care to rather than send my condolences.
Be safe, shoot straight, and live well
-MJ
© 2017 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Poachers, Trespassers, and Thieves On Borrowed Time
In surfing the outdoor online forums, chat rooms, and social media sites, it is apparent that we have some cleansing of our ranks to do. The days of being too slick, too sly to be caught poaching, breaking game laws, trespassing and stealing may soon be made less commonplace. In short, a message to such unsavory individuals: You are on borrowed time.
The grand era of outrunning the law, jacking deer at night, trespassing at will is a testament to backwoods smarts, to being more clever than your pursuers. Some of the stories describe great inventiveness and ingenuity in not getting caught. A simple observation, not any form of admiration. No doubt that game wardens and ECO’s across the land would not describe these acts in any glowing terms.
It is a black eye to our fraternity of hunting brethren, to our time honored sport. The poaching of game at night, or out of season, the game hogs who harvest beyond legal limits, undermines our public resources and dollars in meeting game management goals. The trespassers who steal from and interfere with land owners that pay land taxes, put in their sweat equity, have their own land management goals or simply evoking their rights as property owners. Simply put, you are not entitled to another’s property. So many reports of tree stands, blinds, game cams stolen, or damaged. Unlike the era of running moonshine and jacking deer on the backroads, you’ll be more likely to enjoy the accommodations at the gray bar motel as you are risking it all on borrowed time.
The fantastic technologies as depicted in the last century and in the present: Star Trek, The Minority Report, NCIS, The Avengers, have become in some way partially true, or in many cases very real, and currently available. Should you be one of the unsavory individuals I describe, you are already caught, and you just don’t know it. It is no longer the ability to piece together a case against those that commit these offenses or to prosecute those in the future. Why some are not in handcuffs is a matter of available or accessible resources. Our NYSDEC does not simply call up the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon to get real time live satellite video (or retrieve previously recorded) to catch somebody out in the boonies spotlighting deer along with a loaded rifle out on the farmers corn fields.
We have much more available tech beyond robo decoys and CB radios. Now and in the foreseeable near future more of these technologies will become common tools for enforcement, and prevention. The same GPS location features in your smart phones, and Satellite imagery you use to pattern those big bucks are useful for finding two legged animals as well. Social media also provides investigative data as so many are prone to boasting/bragging. Those pictures contain metadata including time, date and location. You can equip your smart phone with a thermal imaging device for less than $300. IR and night vision cameras are now affordable to equip game wardens and other law enforcement. Drone technology is another tool that can fly sensor platforms you cannot hide from, even in the deepest woods. Big Data and Persistent Surveillance will be a game changer for even the most clever among us. That is a more involved topic and I recommend you search it online to gain a better understanding of it. It is currently in use in several major cities, and it is a matter of time to apply it to your neck of the woods.
The integration of these emerging technologies will be key to reigning in those that feel so embolden. These technologies that were once only available to our military are now finding their way to law enforcement and wildlife agencies. There will be a day that making a quick turn on an old logging road, or hiding out in a set of pines will no longer throw the local game warden off your trail. It may not be a drone with a thermal camera that tracks you to your truck, instead it may be big data that connects you to a debit card purchase at the taxidermist for your 160” deer when you reported a tag stating a lesser buck. Data logging your purchases at the feed store might give away your baiting practices, and so on. Your online pic holding a great gobbler might give away that it was shot before season or in a different state than you legally reported, and you freely disclosed it unknowingly. How happy might a landowner owner be to find out his stolen stands and game cameras were located with IOT location tags or to get an email from a cell enabled game camera with the thief’s face caught in brilliant HD quality along with the current GPS location coordinates (true story).
As I point out, there are technologies in place that will increasingly be used to thwart, lessen and curtail such bad acts. This comes at a price as we question our privacy and the power of government. However, when I hear a rifle sound off in the middle of the night as I did the evening before, the thought of law enforcement converging at the source of the rifle shot is something I might just be OK with.
-MJ
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
The Hunter, Blaze Orange? It’s The Golden Rules That Matter
With the news of a female hunter in Caledonia, NY succumbing to a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen during a deer drive yesterday afternoon, it is cause for a visceral reaction. Her name has not been released, and with due respect, not disclosed. Sorry if I appear to be a chauvinist. My reaction to this event is more pronounced, more upset, a bit sadder, and I’ll not apologize to feminists over this one. My wife hunts, at the behest of any and all the encouragement I can muster. Years of volunteering at Women In The Outdoors events has me inclined to support women participating in our favorite pastime. Yet, as much as I appreciate equal treatment of all, my sense of chivalry is disrupted by this very tragic event… Very few details have been made public as I write this, and my reaction is from what I know to be in nearly all cases to be preventable. I’ll not claim any wrong doing by anyone as the facts are not in yet.
This is the third such incident this fall season. Before I dive into an experience I had many years ago, let me first express my sincere condolences to the families in these tragic events. The loss of life, the possibilities of what if, the ripples in time from what they may have accomplished are our loss and more so of their families and loved ones. There is no upside for the persons who made the shots in these tragic occurrences. Their lives, their families will be changed in so many but different ways. With or without civil or legal repercussions, their lives will not be the same.
Our sport, our activity, is unique in that despite the common thought that it is a very dangerous, deadly pastime, it is polar opposite from the truth. The use of firearms understandably lends itself to that image as it is portrayed as such in movies and television. As reported by the NSSF in their 2015 report, the injury rate versus participation is 0.05%. This includes tree stand failures, falls, etc. All Non-Intentional Firearm Fatalities reported in 2013 are less than a fifth of that number. With over 17 million participants it is remarkably safe. To think you would be 30 times more likely to be injured while cheerleading would not be my first guess. No, I won’t be sporting pom-poms anytime soon.
In regards to those that have been fatally shot while afield, these numbers are meaningless. They offer no comfort to the families, to those involved in these incidents. The numbers are a yardstick to show progress, compare apples to apples, to affect rules, and policies.
In our sport, our ideal number is 0% fatalities, 0% injuries. We think one is one too many. You cannot apply this very well to automobiles, or medical practices. Actuary tables are applied to most activities, yet we preach in many ways, in many forms that 0% is the expected norm.
To illustrate where I am taking this, I’ll recount a story of my first deer going all the way back to 1988…
I was now into my fourth fall season of chasing whitetails with a bow, and my first full firearms season with my own shotgun. I had been a few times with a borrowed gun before that. Up to this point, I had not successfully filled a deer tag. A whitetail virgin if you will. Opening day I was in a preselected spot in a piece of open woods up on state land above the Deruyter Reservoir, not far from where I live now. I was with a crew of four other hunters. We would sit until late morning then do slow walks towards each other midday. We all sported blaze orange hats and vests or full jackets/coveralls. We meant to be seen.
I had previously built a small makeshift blind out of dead tree limbs that would conceal the lower half of my body while sitting. It wasn’t much, but I liked the spot, and deer crossed out in front and along both sides of my blind. Using a smooth bore barrel and a 1-4X scope limited my shots out to 100-120 yards if on a rest. I was relieved to find it unoccupied as I walked in. The morning was full of action including hunters walking about at 7AM as they couldn’t sit for more than a half hour. It wasn’t that long of a sit when deer started moving. I had a big doe pass out in front, well past my ability to accurately hit where I would aim. Just the same I was thrilled to see deer moving. Several more would come across from my right side and continue on, without offering a shot within my reasonable distance. Mid-morning I noticed movement to my hard left. Eighty yards out to my left. There was a thicket that ran down along to my left that was 150 yards long and finished out down range out in front.
With deer moving about, it was a promising idea that I would fill my first deer tag. I began to see patches of tan/brown moving along the thicket, then an occasional flash of black. Adrenaline was flowing. My gun was up and ready, and I knew that I would get my chance as the deer would eventually pass one of the two openings in thicket/hedgerow. The movement was slow and deliberate. Even with my scope, I could not make out a head, antlers, or a shoulder crease that I would want for an aiming point. Being that I had tags for either sex, I was giving thought to preferred choice of cuts at the butcher.
As the patches of brown neared the first opening, I was more than excited, the moment of truth was just seconds away….
Into the opening, a hunter appeared. After surveying the open woods I was watching, he looked my way. I had lowered my shotgun by the time he looked back. Rattled to my core, I was shaking. I had pointed my shotgun at something I would never intend to shoot, worse yet, another hunter. Unlike my apparel of blaze orange, the unknowingly lucky hunter sported well-used carhart overalls with a matching jacket and a black felt hat. His gun was also painted black which is what I saw in the underbrush of the thicket. I managed not to throw up, but in hindsight, it might have settled my stomach sooner. He walked off, without any acknowledgment, none the wiser. It would be the last day I ever hunted from that spot. Some time later I did fill a doe tag on a nice sized doe that crossed out in front of me and within range. Later in the day as I recall it.
Even after so many years, it upsets me to think how bad it could have all turned out, and how much both of our lives would have changed because if it.
Like all hunters in New York State, I attended hunter safety class and passed the written test given at the conclusion of training. I paid attention, for my sake, the sake of the foolish hunter I described, and for your sake. To those unfamiliar to firearm safety training, firearm golden rules, I’ll recall a few for your wellbeing.
- Assume every gun is loaded
- Control the muzzle. Point your gun in a safe direction
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
- Identify fully, be sure of your target, foreground. and beyond
- Don’t rely on your gun’s safety button/lever for safe handling.
- Never shoot at sound or movement without fully identifying the target
These short and very simple rules can keep you safe from tragic events when everyone practices safe, ethical hunting. As a shooter, blaze orange is not a fix all or prevent all as shown in my example. although I was clearly lit up like a tree, it did not deter my hunter friend from sneaking about in the very colors of our quary. Had he sported blaze orange I am absolutely certain I would not have pointed my shotgun in his direction. If he had worn a deer costume, as anti-hunters have been known to do, maybe it would turn out badly. My adherence to the basic safety rules kept me from a very tragic possibility. This was over stressed by the instructors at my class, and I owe them much for engraining that into my training. Despite my ill-advised hunting friend engaged in suicide by deer hunter, I owed him, any other hunter, and any deer I chose to shoot to clearly identify my target, and a proper aiming point. It is impossible to ensure a clean efficient kill without doing so.
As a hunter, blaze orange does not guarantee that you will be seen. As odd as that seems, it takes just a little bit of cover, terrain, alignment of trees to interfere with being seen. In general, blaze orange does the job of making you stand out as much as possible. As ugly or unattractive I might be, I have yet to look remotely like a gobbler or a whitetail at any distance. You as a hunter owe me and my fellow hunters the respect of identifying your target, a safe sight picture, no exceptions.
On deer drives, if it is hurried, or the shooter is snap shooting, it may not give enough time to acquire the entire scene, and the target, or more importantly another member of the drive in the wrong position at the wrong time, Taking a little longer to take it all in may cost you a deer downed from time to time, but you’ll be safer for doing so. Deer drives I have been on are slow, methodical, where the pushers tend to get the shot opportunity, and the watchers are in very open areas in which to see what is coming and more importantly, who is not in the line of fire. My statements are not absolute and it is only your dedication to the basic safety rules that ensure we all go home safely from a great day afield.
As one who believes that nearly all of these tragedies are preventable by simply following safe practices, my words are not in judgment of those that have experienced these unfortunate circumstances. The goal is always 0% injury, 0% fatality. To prevent or contribute to this not happening again is worthy of being written. Again, to those that suffer the loss of these recent events, and those that suffer the consequences, the aftermath, you have my sincere condolences and wishes to learn and heal from it.
-MJ
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
For The Love Of The Hunt
As an exercise of thinking out loud, to convey a collection of thoughts, please take my observations as a very personal perspective of my passions that I care so deeply about and in some ways define us and our roles in the natural world. It is not all inclusive nor singularly about me, as from many of your expressed views, you and I share a deep bond in our love of our great forests, and the game we pursue, even those we do not.
Like our political division we are in one way or another sucked into the “mean season.” In my humble opinion it has splashed over into other aspects of our lives. In particular the fraternity of hunting is of my concern. The social media hunting pages show this continuance of mean season in startlingly bold ways. Whether it be a trophy buck, a small buck or doe to fill the freezer, young turkey, old boss gobbler, how it was taken, where, by a woman, first time hunter, or a young hunter, the comments made fall very short of congratulations, or any sense of civility. Very divisive, disparaging remarks by hordes of “master hunters” or more correctly, keyboard warriors in full internet bully mode. Post after post of trashing successful hunters, trespassing, stolen stands/equipment, hunter harassment, lack of courtesy, embolden displays of disregard for the quarry, game laws, and land owners. Are we as part of the hunting fraternity willing to idly watch our ranks stoop to such depths or poor behavior, especially towards each other?
Personally I think we could do much better than what I currently observe in the public purview. I’ll stick my neck out in that it is doubtful this is the impression we wish to convey to non-hunters as to our love of our favored passion. How are we to be taken seriously when we berate each other in such fashion?
Like each of you, I have methods, choice of implements, and preferred strategies that I employ while chasing deer or turkey, other quarry. There are just as many other choices I may not be so keen on. Where it be illegal or unethical, I may speak out. Otherwise, why not enjoy the success of other hunters? Do our ego’s require that only ourselves have our hands around the biggest set of antlers or spurs? Like many of you, I have experienced, and admired the lengthy pursuit of an exceptional quarry spanning an entire season or in some cases many seasons. Not all of these epic adventures end with a happy hunter posing for a hero photo. The memories I’ll submit are for the love of the hunt. Yet after stating this, do we not also enjoy the brief alignment of the stars and fate for a chance encounter that comes and goes in a brief instant? Even as a professed admirer of “preparedness meets circumstance,” you can talk me into buying a 100lb bag of dumb luck all day long. Does it make it a lesser experience, or any less of a hunter for experiencing the hunt in this way? Of course not. Each of us experience the hunt in just as many different ways, and even more over time.
Admittedly I have some advantage of perspective with 32 seasons worth of memories to reflect on, to learn from. Fair to say I am in the phase of being a hunter that savors the hunt every bit or more than that actual taking of game, and find every bit of enjoyment and satisfaction in learning the experiences and successes of other fellow hunters. This is the lens I see through.
It would be a shortcoming to make these points or the case without some resolve to improve upon it, to make it a perceivable amount better. I’ll continue to admire, like and make positive comment of the successful hunts of my hunting brothers and sisters. I’ll continue to be fond of first time hunter success and especially young hunters. I can assure each of you, should we meet on a ridge, in the middle of a deer drive, I’ll not ask for your voter ID card, but I’ll ask how your season is going and offer congrats or encouragement. At the butcher shop or the taxidermist I’ll be quick to congratulate and admire a good day afield. Lastly in the public forums, I’ll be just as quick to enjoy your successes as my love of the hunt extends to the hope that you enjoy and love the hunt as I do.
-MJ
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
A Whitetail Season Opening Day- Final Season… Almost
Opening weekend of the Southern Tier whitetail firearms season is now in the books. Judging from social media posts, there are a lot of happy hunters out there. I’d say the taxidermy business might have a good year also. It is a bit odd for an opener that has gone from t-shirt weather to near blizzard conditions on Sunday late morning.
I was able to hunt the morning and late afternoon and a few hours Sunday morning, as has been the norm in recent years, work limits my other otherwise die hard desire to go at it from before sun rise to after sunset. In early ahead of the crowd, Out late as to not bump any deer on the way out. Still I am thankful for work and being gainfully employed.
Stan Sawicki, our good friend, scored early in the first hour with a nice 8 point buck on the ‘J’ Ranch. My wife saw deer throughout the morning. I would eventually lay eyes on a monster buck at 10 am, which provides a very different story as follows…
Going on towards 10 AM, I had yet to see a deer from a favorite stand. Over the years it has been deemed a meat stand as it covers several well used deer paths with nearby scrapes and rubs, and well known escape routes when bumped by other hunters on adjoining properties. This year not so much. It was getting warm out, time to retrieve Stan’s buck, and get him out of the woods to be taken care of. I got down, and slow hunted my way over to and down a ravine to the main creek on our property. Our ATV was parked above the creek on the other side. Having bulldozed a path some years ago, it makes for a convenient spot to park it. Where we cross the creek has several smaller ravines and feeder creeks meeting up together there. Deer cross the same spot for much of the same reasons.
As I neared the bottom, I got a phone call that a buck was just shot nearby. Having heard the shot, I thought Stan or Lee may have shot. While on the phone I thought I had heard something, only to look up to see a monster buck coming up over the knoll not 15 yards away and coming straight at me. I had no where to go, as he would pile drive me 20 yards further to the creek just below me. Given that his rack was 5-6″ out past each ear, with long dog catchers (brow tines) and impressively long G2-G3 tines, I would not survive the imminent impaling. For an immeasurably short moment in time, It would be my final moments. The pure power of such a large buck was breathtaking at the same time.
I dropped the phone, and awkwardly went to retreive my 30-06 from my shoulder. The buck then threw out his front legs in an effort to stop as he didn’t like this big ugly hunter in his path, and maybe just as startled as I was. His lower jaw nearly touch the ground as he slid. He came down the knoll with so much power that his hind end came around the side and up over, basically flipping over, swapping ends for a lack of a more precise description. He slammed down in front of me at less than 5 paces. Aside from being a bit more than thankful for not being driven to the creek and ventilated in 5 or 6 places, this bizarre and violent circumstance was his finally moment before piling up… not.
As quickly as he went down, he was back on his feet, motoring back up the hill. Having finally got the gun up I found his leading edge of his chest, and shot. Never touched him, but I can center punch a sapling like nobody’s business. I could not get back on him again as he traveled up and over. I found the blood trail coming down the hill, where he went down, and back up. Mostly a few drops here and there. After meeting up with the hunter (shall remain nameless) that put this all into motion, we tracked the deer for several hours, out into a 100 acre crop field and down to the river. Finally determined it to be a flesh wound. Upsetting to wound and lose a deer, but merely disrupted him from chasing does. Hope to see him again in more ballistic friendly circumstances.
Lee and I went back out later that afternoon before the storm came in. We both passed on a fork horn buck that went by both of us a half hour before legal sunset. Uneventful sit by any comparisons of the day. It is about as excited, elated as I might possible get while totally terrified, and fearing my last moments given a fateful brief moment in time. I am humbled and thankful that this was not my last day of deer hunting, and your learning of this from a memorial page. In all my 32 years of hunting whitetails this was a first. I have heard stories from others of rutting bucks aggressively coming at them, either on purpose or incidentally while giving chase on a hot doe. I know a neighbor that dropped an aggressive buck just mere feet in front of him, at closer range than my encounter. That buck did not get back up…
Good luck to all of you for the remaining days of the season and that your whitetail close encounters be less precarious than what you have read here of mine.
-MJ
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
A Morning Sit In New York’s Fall Turkey Woods
A rather odd feeling for me this year as we head into our fall hunting seasons here in New York. I love my time in the turkey woods, the deer woods (I’ll reluctantly call them that but default to turkey woods if it all possible.) This fall season so far does have a bit of a different feel for me. I’ll come back to the morning sit in a moment, as there is something I wish to convey while it is present in my thinking…
Our fall turkey season in the CNY area has shifted to the middle of October for a two week period, now in it’s second year of it. I have written previously about my conflicted opinion with the NYSDEC’s decision to go this route under the stated goal of reducing the fall take. I still remain steadfast in my opinion that they catered to the wants and desires of fall archers over that of fall turkey doggers (it is actually a fall turkey season right?) They could have adopted regulations to be bearded birds only and restricted shooting from elevated platforms. They did find some virtue of adding two weeks to archery deer season, thereby cutting out the time one could run a turkey dog without conflict with deer hunters. The hunting season dates would have been fine left alone. By doing as I suggest here, hens would have been well protected, the fall take would have dropped in a dramatic fashion. To be fair, their chosen regulations resulted in a reduction in fall takes compare to 2012, 2014, but only slightly lower than 2011 or 2013. I maintain it could have been far more effective with the right regulations.
Those of us that claim to be dyed in the wool fall turkey hunters, turkey doggers would purposely put on a turkey vest rather than a safety harness and make a day of it at any given time. I’ll probably catch hell for saying this, but in what logic, what wisdom would you consider the hunter’s satisfaction/perception of deer hunters with archery tackle in regards to fall turkey season over that of fall turkey hunters that partake the time-honored tradition of breaking fall flocks with a good turkey dog? Or the fall hunter who puts on a turkey vest with the specific goal of tagging a fall bird. Do not misunderstand my comments that I have a philosophical argument with those that arrow a fall turkey while deer hunting. As a generality, perfectly OK in my book. When it comes to regulating a fall turkey season, I have a firm opinion as to whom the considerations might go to first. I tip my hat to those that pursue fall turkeys with a focused purpose, over that of incidental happenstance while on a good deer watch. Again this is not a jab at archers as I hunt the fall archery season with great enthusiasm, and would arrow a turkey should I have a tag in hand. Under the old season dates, I would more often than not have those tags filled before the 15th. Back to this morning…
I passed on going out on opening day of fall archery season on the 1st for several reasons. For starters, my heart is not into it this time of year. I dearly miss the October 1st for fall turkey in our area. For thirty years I have become accustomed to the October 15th start of archery season pursuing whitetails. Even then I really don’t get that excited until the week of Halloween. Admittedly I am set in my ways, not unreasonably so, but it is my feeling that I have about it. In my conversations with fellow hunters, I come to know that I am not alone in that perception. The other consideration for the opener was an east wind, and it all but guarantees that you push out any deer on the property while getting to one of our many stands and most likely be winded while on stand given the way they are set up. On to day two…
I chose to head out on one of the best-producing stands on my property. Today would be a deer watch as I am waiting on a few possibilities to hunt the currently open turkey season up north. With a short walk from the house, I would find myself situated and comfortable as the morning unfolded. A moderately warm and still morning, it was just as easy to fall asleep as to be on alert. I would not dare doze off as I would surely miss something. I would not be disappointed in my short watch of two hours. Although I was not particularly driven to be on deer watch this early in the fall season, the great deer that were reported on opening day on social media was impressive, and it did not escape my attention. I do subscribe to the idea that opportunity comes to those that are vigilant and prepared.
During my peaceful time on a great deer watch, I had one tall four point buck stroll in a little after 8 o’clock. With most of the leaves still on the trees, I only saw bits and pieces of him about seventy yards out. He came into my chosen area several times. The young buck would jump, play, then bound away only to return several minutes later. Not exactly sure what held him there, but he returned twice this morning. He finally walked into my shooting lane and onward to where it was he needed to go. As much as I love the meat, and filling the freezer is a priority, I would let him go on his way, unaware of my presence. I would be hard pressed to arrow a whitetail of his weight, and looking for something larger than a deer I could carry out on my back. To watch him was a highlight of the morning. I am hoping to catch up with an impressive buck that I have pursued for three years, and came close on several occasions to sealing the deal. We hear of other great bucks roaming the hills where we call home. So early in the season, no particular hurry, and hoping to do a little selective shopping. Truthfully the one that I have my eye on, does have my attention.
Another first for me was to have a pileated woodpecker in very close proximity this morning. We see them on occasion. We hear them more often than see them. I heard this one for a bit before he landed on a tree no more than five yards out in front of my stand. Not the largest that I have seen over the years, but a good sized adult just the same. I got to enjoy his presence for a bit longer than four minutes as he worked his way up a healthy young maple tree. I knew that we would make his way over the gnarly old maple next to my favored shooting lane just twenty-three yards from the stand. As predicted that is were he went to and it got rather loud as he quickly found the rotted out hollowed sections which I am sure provided the meal he was looking for. Having various hawks and owls up close and personal over the years it was treat to have my pointy headed friend show up for me to have a good look at him. Another fun memory of the morning.
As always, a morning in the turkey woods was soothing to the soul. Today’s brief foray proved to be fun and heart warming. Over time, my regard for the past scheduling of seasons, loathing of the new seasons may subside. I will make the best of it. Adjustments are possible should my writings, along with yours, reach the eyes and ears of those responsible for setting season dates and regulations. Make your voices, your opinions known and heard. I sincerely hope that my comments on the fall turkey season provide for some thought, even resonate with your own thoughts. I am just as confident that some will not regard my comments so kindly as there are those that profess that archery season should be the only season and is superior. Although I love my time during archery seasons, I would not agree with such an elitist perspective as I enjoy the other methods/seasons for different reasons. That is my personal view, yours may be different. Although you may take issue with me on that, I do think we can agree that experiences like I had this morning while in the turkey woods, the deer woods is something we can all smile about and think fondly of. Best of luck to all of you this fall season.
-MJ
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
9/11, Not Forgotten
I have chosen to write this a little bit before hand, as we are in the mean season of elections and the political noise will rise predictable so as the anniversary of 9/11 arrives. 15 years have passed now since that awful day. I have not forgotten… It weighs on my thoughts at times. Usually from a passing comment, video clips that I may randomly come across. The memories, the feelings from that day have not faded, nor diminished. It was to be a perfect blue bird day in September. It was such a day until shattered by the first report to get out across the airways, across the internet. It changed my world view. For the victims, their families, their lives changed far more than I could possibly comprehend. It is to our great loss to never know or benefit from what great deeds and accomplishments from all those lost.
Watching on live TV that day did not take on the feel of a video game, there was no reset, respawn, play level 3… Knowing instantly that hundreds of innocent people died as each of the three planes hit their intended targets, the fourth plummeting to the earth despite one last struggle to regain the cockpit. As each building collapsed you knew again in an instant you were witnessing the senseless death of hundreds of more innocent people. We would learn later of the deaths of first responders doing a heroes job, of Nobel calling. Officially 2,977 were murdered, 6000+ injured, and it has been revealed just as many have died later on, from various cancers and fatal lung diseases believed to be caused from the toxic cocktails of smoke and burning debris at ground zero.
This evil act committed on our soil resonates with my condemnation of a twisted ideology, a barbarism, a savagery that was prevalent around the world a very long time ago. It has persisted as a cancer, a scourge upon humanity. Do you not as I, loathe the spread of hateful, evil views and those that commit heinous, cruel acts? Islam a peaceful religion? It raises reasonable doubts.
This not an indictment of peaceful Muslims. In all of the world’s religions it is a moral imperative to speak out against those that mutate and twist their faiths into radicalized, and violent interpretations of their core origins and beliefs. To those Muslims and other faiths embracing peace, please stand along side us in unity.
100’s of years of radical Islam, Jihadists, unabated evil, murder without remorse (in fact radical followers rejoice in it), defiling, and demeaning of women, and we as the human race permit this to not only exist among us, but to even flourish? Our leaders, liberal elitists are more concerned with political correctness, and not offending rather than standing up, relying on our founding principles, making precise, expedited decisions. Politics first may yet be the greater danger.
I choose to republish some from prior years as I find it important to repeat:
Each anniversary of 9/11, my thoughts return to two fellow NWTF members Cynthia Giugliano & Walter Weaver that we lost that day. A memorial webpage can be found at http://www.turkey-talk.com/9_11_01_memorial.htm
As you toe up on the start line of your favorite road race or triathlon or enjoy another fall season hunting our nation’s forests, fishing the lakes and streams of our great land, I ask that each of you give thought to those that serve us. In your travels I ask that you take the time to thank those that serve us, and continue to support what they do for our country.
Along with counting your blessings, say a prayer for all innocent victims, and that you do something on your part to make the world just a little bit better for those around you. We can all benefit from a little emphasis on acts of kindness.
© 2016 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Why Spear Hunting vs Under Armour Matters
In recent news, we learned that the outdoor clothing company Under Armour dropped their relationship, sponsorship of well-accomplished bow hunter Sarah Bowmar. That in of itself is not particularly newsworthy as sponsorships, company reps, and hunting shows do change for any number of reasons. There are however significant reasons and circumstances that all of my readers should be concerned with. I’ll recommend that you can take actions as well as make your collective voices heard. Causal reading of so-called news reports make it difficult to dissect the story as much of the reporting is emotional or conducted by reporters unfamiliar, nor resourcing specifics of bear hunting, or the relevant history of hunting implements. I will list out a few things in bullet form to make it a bit clearer as to the circumstance and relevant facts of the matter.
Sarah Bowmar accompanied her husband Josh Bowmar on a legal bear hunt in Alberta Canada. Both Josh and Sarah are accomplished hunters, athletes, and in particular, Josh holds All-American Honors in javelin throwing as well as other track and field events.
- Using a spear currently in the Canadian province is a legal implement, and given Josh’s background, an ethical one. As with all hunting implements, training, proficiency, and accuracy is a key factor in claiming it ethical in its use.
- Josh harvested a seven-foot long black bear using a spear which was filmed by Sarah. Josh’s well-placed spear resulted in a very quick and ethical kill. It was estimated the bear traveled 60 yards. I’ll stick my neck out and state that bowhunters and gun hunters would be more than happy with such a short recovery on a large game animal.
- The video footage was published online, resulting in a huge negative response from the anti-hunting community, complete with all the ignorance and emotional nonsense we as sportsmen come to expect from their ranks.
- An online petition https://www.change.org/p/under-armour-stop-sponsoring-bowmar-fitness was created and with little more than 4.3K signatures moved Under Armour to drop their relationship with Sarah. Josh was not sponsored to be factually correct, but a supporter and fan of their products as he publicly states.
As is typical in these controversies, there are the death threats, horrible dialog, and displays of ignorance so common with little-minded keyboard warriors with huge facebook/twitter balls. Such threatening aggressive language, bravado, rarely surfaces in face to face meetings. It is my intention to spend little time with that, as it is futile dealing with their mindset, their fairy tale liberal views of the world.
What I am concerned with, willing to spend time commenting on, and I believe that all of us as hunters and fishermen should pay attention to, is the lack of “I got your back” unity we need to have to prevail in the court of public opinion. In reading some of the commentaries in the hunting communities, It is clear we as a group can be accused of elitism and that of eating our own. It is the tired same ol same ol with archers embracing compound bows, inline vs flintlock muzzleloaders, shotgun vs rifle, and it occurs with every new or so old it is new implement as we now have with spears.
I’ll be upfront here; spearing is not my thing… Images of me in a loin cloth stalking through the woods is a scary image, and should not be viewed by small children or adults with weak stomachs…. Let me back up, I believe Josh was clothed in modern camo clothing and not the latest of Tarzan apparel.
Seriously, no offense, I like my rifles, shotguns, pistols, bows, and crossbows and I am reasonably proficient in each of their uses. I do not participate in every form of hunting or chasing of all available quarry. I hunt to improve my table fare, downtime away from work, and my connection to the natural world. In short, that happens to be my personal tastes, no worse, no better than the next hunter. As a group, we suffer from a few forms of elitism based on quarry pursued, implements used, style of hunting, equipment used, and a multitude of “ethical practices.” We’ll tear each other up, and verbally berate each other over of 25 grams of broadhead weight, or a few thousandths of an inch in bullet diameter. It is a very large black eye for us collectively and easily exploited by those that have the end of all hunting as their stated goals. Even more so, and to be more pointed we are subjected to a death of a thousand paper cuts, and sadly some of our ranks play right into it. Divide and conquer is applied daily in the world of public opinion and yet we sit around scratching our heads, scratching our butts as to how we keep losing ground in recognition of our contributions, senseless new regulations, new hunter recruitment, hunter participation.
To be frank, we all need to get off our high thrones and support all legal forms of hunting, legal pursuits. I am personally not a big fan of some methods of hunting, but I don’t need to be bashing my fellow sportsmen in public. I can vote my opinions with my dollars or participation. Like I mentioned, I am not into spearing or interested in trying it, but I have no problem with it during legal seasons, and the hunter is well practiced in their chosen implement, knows the limitations, and makes the same shoot/no shoot decisions we make with a gun or a bow at further distances. We all know bowhunters and gun hunters that could benefit from the same approach.
Turning my attention to Under Armour, do we as a group that spends something north of 23 billion dollars on equipment and clothing annually put up with being out voiced by a mere forty-three hundred signatures? Seriously? Would Under Armour get the message if we said screw off, and left all their products on the racks at Bass Pro, Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting goods, and any other retailer? Would having their products, their $40 tops sitting on a clearance rack for $8 get their attention? We are a direct audience for their products. Does anyone think the anti-hunters are buying their products in the same volume that hunters do? Have we totally forgotten what a powerful demographic we are as the purchasers of outdoor clothing, equipment, licenses, travel food, etc. Do we let a bunch of maligned, misinformed, misled anti’s outflank us as an influence in companies that supposedly supply, outfit our hunting trips.
A company such as Under Armour that measures sales in hundreds of millions must certainly understand just how large our demographic is, and what percentage, market share they anticipated gaining by jumping into the camo lifestyle. Personally, I challenge them to explain how such a small petition caused their decisions that may result in throwing a wrench into 4th quarter 2016 sales. There can be, should be a price to pay, a consequence for aligning themselves with anti-hunters rather than those of us that actually purchase their camo products
I’ll strongly suggest you make your voices heard directly to Under Armour, or any other company that picks the wrong team, get’s it wrong on hunting and fishing and still wants our dollars, our support. Make your opinion known with your purse, your wallet, as some CEO’s ignore phone calls, emails, and will not take the time to read your heartfelt letters. Remember, the anti-hunting & anti-fishing groups understand corporate decision making and the art of protesting while we’re too busy in the woods or wetting a line. By the numbers, we are stronger, and we give back, help sustain our resources. Make it count, and participate to take this back to where it belongs.
The knee-jerk reaction of Under Armour matters as it gives power to anti-hunting groups that do not respect legal activities, legal pursuit of time-honored pastimes, and do essentially nothing for the protection or improvement of wildlife and the natural resources that we as outdoorsmen so passionately cherish.
-MJ
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
#BringBackTheBowmars Sarah Bowmar #spearing #underarmour
Memorial Day, A Day of Respect
We have to our pleasure in the Northeast a weekend of blue skies and very summer like weather. With a long weekend in progress it is a time to enjoy time away from work to be with our love ones, friends, and to make the most of it. There will be those loved ones and families that may not enjoy it as I suggest. The loss of the loved ones whom gave the ultimate sacrifice may be a wound too fresh, a loss all to recent to console in a way that lessens their pain. I’ll ask or suggest that should you come across those that grieve on this day of remembrance that you offer your ear, your heart, your support. and your showing of appreciation of what they have perished for. A showing of compassion is in order on this day, as the other 364 days.
I get the two world wars, Korea, and not so much with Vietnam, and the conflicts that followed. Am I grateful that Saddam Hussein is gone from the planet, you bet. Osama Bin Ladin, yep him too. I like many of you find it harder to find my way through the political optics, political slant, cover ups, and bs associated with these conflicts. That is my view of the events, not those that serve us. Memorial day is about those that serve us, and gave their lives for our way of life and for the country we have. Warts and all that it may be. I do not waiver on being an American.
It is unimaginable to me to exit an amphibious vehicle on D-day into a hail of machine gun fire. To willingly move forward in the thick jungles of Vietnam, knowing it may be your last steps. To breech houses in the heat of the desert knowing the next step may be an IUD there. It is hard to comprehend, not hard to honor their bravery, their actions. They do the job we do not. For that they have my eternal respect, and I am grateful for what they do.
In remembrance I ‘ll be thinking of my father, grandfather who have long since passed, and my uncles and cousins who are still with us.
Respect and Honor is the day
God Bless
© 2016 Joyner Outdoor Media
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