Tag: fall turkey
River Boating for Fall Turkeys
With a bit of back-and-forth scheduling changes with work contracts during the summer, a fall turkey hunt trip back to the great state of Maine would follow the annual NYSOWA Fall Safari at Peck Lake.
As always, every trip to Maine to hunt with Dan Daman would be somehow different if not unusual, and a new experience. For several weeks leading up to the trip, Dan would inform me, that we might be doing a boat trip for fall turkeys and they were using a favored roost consistently. Music to my ears and added to the anticipation. With all the corn still up and unharvested in the many places we scout, this was a tactical improvement in the odds of working a fall flock of turkeys.
The drive from Peck Lake to Maine was a scenic one as I chose to take the northern route to enjoy a beautiful drive. Leaving just as the sky began to change I enjoyed an inspiring sunrise as I headed towards Rutland, Vermont to cross over the mountain passes toward Route 2 in New Hampshire. Well worth the extra drive time versus taking the major highways. I would scout more intently as I crossed into Somerset County, Maine. No feathered sightings were made until I drove over to meet Dan for a bit of scouting for turkeys. I did find a flock of gobblers on the way over, but not on a property we had access to.
Easy decision to go after the river access to a flock that had revealed themselves routinely that week. We took a flat-bottom Johnboat up the river to reach them. It was eerily quiet, almost surreal with the cool dense fog and near-pin-drop quiet in the predawn darkness. An ultra-quiet electric troll motor made the trip effortless, and just as quiet as our surroundings. We secured the boat and made the short uphill climb to our first sit. Turns out we had closed within 50 yards of the boss hen. It was a late start as far as turkey talk went. Once the boss hen opened up, we had a “significant” conversation up until she pitched down in the adjoining field.
The hen gathered her flock shortly after and we could hear her give a soft cluck in response to Dan’s slate call. She happened to like that slate call a lot. It was interesting when she got fired up on the roost, she sounded more raspy like the mouth call I was using. Switching back and forth between Dan and I, got her issuing 19-20 note assembly yelps, and we would add one more in response to keep her intensity at a peak. Having gone quiet for thirty minutes since fly down, I got up and moved toward a corner to a vantage point. I never got there as the flock was slowly working their way around. In short order, I lined up and took two young jakes. Maine allows five birds per fall season in some counties, no more than two on a given day in the fall. It was my first riverboat trip hunt for me, and I enjoyed the added element to the hunt. A prior boat trip in Clayton, NY to Grindstone Island during a NYSOWA Spring Safari was to get to the dock and then transported by truck to our hunting spots on the island. We thought that was pretty cool as well.
We would load up the boat and take a tour further upstream. Awesome views from the boat. On the way back we watch the entire flock fly out across the river in full view and a spectacular sight to behold.
A fantastic experience and will be added to our repertoire of approaches in the years ahead!
-MJ
© 2024 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
NY Fall Turkey Season In Decline?
The Fat Lady has sung for the New York second season covering most of the southern tier region. Unless I get hooked up for a hunt for the 3rd season on Long Island coming up, the turkeys are safe for a few months, until May rolls around again. The last time I filled a fall tag in New York was back in 2015. It is most certainly not due to a lack of opportunities, in fact just the opposite. The truth of it is I had opportunities each year since, and would come up in range for a shot opportunity or could easily set up a plan on a fresh sighting and march forward with battle operations either with our beloved Weimaraners, who both have now passed over the rainbow bridge or could set up near a roost the following morning based on timely intel.
With the lack of sightings covering large areas, and many options of parcels to hunt, including fantastic state lands that have been great each spring season, I opted not to fill a tag on a jake, jenny, or a hen in flocks I did find and were no more than 5-10 birds in the flock. A flock of gobblers, say a half dozen or more would be fair game, but as witnessed, a couple here or there wasn’t rising to the occasion given how depressed the population is currently and the decline of recent years.
Before you draw any conclusions or respond hastily, my comments are at best anecdotal commentary. There is no scientific observation or proof of authority suggested, not by my intentions. It is one data point covering a specific set of parcels, my travels, and it is assumed Murphy is riding shotgun and thwarting my best efforts to spot them at will. Not seeing much for scratching’s or scat you would find in known roost areas. I know of other hunters in different regions who report decent sightings and are successful when all is said and done. For the past nine fall seasons, the scouting has shown little promise for flocks large enough to want to take a turkey out of. I still hunt the fall turkey seasons in New York, and as of late, it is more like catch and release without the ballistic event or just wading in the stream.
As I wrangle out my thinking here, It might be a thought to hunt them with a camera and satisfy my driven tradition of hunting fall turkeys. I will hold any opinion of what the past two years are looking to add up to once I do my winter scouting and hopefully will get more up-to-date data from the NYSDEC.
-MJ
© 2023 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
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