Turkey
2022 Curtain Call NY Spring Turkey Season
Whatever grandiose plans you may have, the moment of truth has a shelf life of five hours and forty six minutes. Not that anyone is counting…
Apply what you have learned during the course of the past week, better yet with such little time to get it done, pinpointed gobbling or direct line of sight is the best tactile data. Make no mistakes,, add in a dose of good fortune and you’ll send the fat lady packing before show time. With exceptions noted, your choices will make or break the deal.
With a full green up and a depressingly suppressed population of wild turkeys, you are rolling the dice running spot to spot. If you know they are in a piece of woods, work it slowly and methodically. If you follow my musings you know I like my gobblers without an advanced education and dumb as a rock. Best advice-no short courses in hunter tactics and maneuvers.
You are appealing to social gatherings of less than forty yards for turkeys. Confidence calling, feeding purrs, whips and whistles light clucks, and very soft yelping. If one drowns out your call with a more than insistent gobble, get ready as they may not gobble again and come in silent. Late season encounters often conclude in minutes not hours. In recent years I’ve tagged three dandy gobblers with less than two hours left for the season. It can be done, stick with it. As I type this, three gobbles on the roost, and not sure which county he was gobbling from.
If you do get a hen that challenges you, match her and if she goes all in, add one more note, it either escalates quickly or whimpers out. Girlfriend mouthing off gets the boyfriend in trouble far more often than not.
Turkeys have been chased for four weeks and any mistake you make will in most cases result in a hasty exit. Attention to details on anything you wear or carry that makes an unnatural sound, the way you walk through the woods, calling too loudly, snapping twigs underfoot, are all subject to the scrutiny of a very wary bird. It is this scrutiny that amplifies what you can employ to your advantage. Using your fingers to imitate scratching for food in the leaves, using the brim of your hat to imitate a hen stretching her wings and scratching it on the tree bark is a far more effective call than you might first think.
Should you get a bird to gobble it should be noted that what you thought was two hundred yards three weeks ago is well under a hundred yards and closing. They often won’t gobble until very close, nearly in range the last week of the season, and if you aren’t focused and ready you may miss the opportunity.
Hunt all the way to your spot, and all the way back to the truck, the entire hunt can turn around in seconds and the action can be fast and furious. Stay sharp, safe, and alert.
Best of luck the final remaining hours of the season. Now if I can get this lady off my damn shoulder…
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
This Old Turkey Hunter Remembers
A bit of a melancholy kind of Memorial Day as we remember those fallen while engaged in battle, in service to our country. I am fortunate for those family members that have served, eventually came home to continue life onward with us, beyond service to our country. Each time my father returned home from a tour at sea I was too young to know or worry. He was our hero and assumed he always would. We are grateful that was the case.
We honor them on Veterans Day although it is today that we think of them also as they are our living heroes among us. Not to take away from the intent or deep meaning of this day of remembrance. The sacrifice of one’s life in service to us is a profound act that we honor today.
As a day of reflection I also reflect on a spring season of allowing me to get out and hunt which came perilously close to never happening again after a near fatal experience with Covid late summer last year. It is humbling to know that these heroes sacrificed their tomorrow’s of such days afield, time with family, and leaves me grateful to have had the time as I have had. Something very special after having so many memorable seasons over three decades in the turkey woods.
The turkey woods are by declaration my sanctuary, my church where I ponder my thoughts, engage in deep consolation with my maker. With the good fortune to do so this spring, I find my bearings, and return home grounded and in appreciation for so many things, and for so much that has been done for me and my fellow countrymen.
It is fitting for this old turkey hunter to reflect, to honor, and remember these fallen heroes on Memorial Day as it is not forgotten that all that I have come to love and enjoy came at a price that has been paid in full for our way of living.
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Fanning Reaper Bullies
Had a few comments made to me today and like clockwork repeated each time I visit this topic of Fanning, Reaping, and Stalking. I have revised a Facebook post from some years ago-
In as much accusatory tone as one might muster, apparently, I’m elitist, that I believe I am better than other hunters, and I blast those that don’t hunt as I do or see it my way. I have been told these things directly and accused of actually being an Anti-Hunter…
Sacrilegious… Fighting words… Cash Me Outside …
Seriously, please indulge me for a few moments while I shed a tear in this profound tragedy.
Delete and block are the modern tools in social media that have replaced a black eye and a sore jaw that one got for uncivil dialog back in my youth. Back then, you got real physical feedback for engaging your mouth before putting your grey matter in first gear. I digress…
To be crystal clear, we are talking about the practice of reaping, fanning, and stalking in the rolling, high grass, heavily wooded hunting grounds. This is not a point of concern in open prairies, wide-open mature forests, and large tracts of plowed farm fields in states where rifles are not legal in turkey seasons. I state this for the peanut gallery as otherwise, the village idiot could figure this out. I have friends who do this in very open areas, where the risks of incidents are not a factor. My criticism is directed at circumstances that present undue risk and defy common sense.
I am of critical opinion of those that choose to engage in risky methods in inappropriate settings in the turkey woods, potentially at others’ expense. No apologies, none forthcoming. We are expected to speak up when one displays unsafe gun handling, and engages in methods of undue risk. Is common sense no longer common? The common-sense principles used to promote defensive driving similarly apply very well to hunting. Ask any hunting safety instructor.
Turkey hunting has its inherent risks as in any form of hunting (arguably, factually low,) but why add undue risk? I do not wear antlers on my head or a deer suit during deer season. I am confident my life insurance company would cancel my policy if they were to find out I was rolling the dice on opening day with a nice set of booners on my head. Would a judge dismiss the case should I be shot for wearing a deer costume out in the woods for the opener? I guess yes. I’ll also guess the same when you crawl across a rolling meadow with a real fan and full-color neck and head decoy mounted to your gun barrel. Is the shooter to blame, you bet, are you the reaper to blame, you bet. The most incompetent lawyer across the land would get that thrown out of court. BTW not getting shot is the point.
My take? I hit a nerve and upset my counter-opinioned hunter to the point of a triggered, uncivil response. This is all over the continual debate over Fanning, Reaping, and Stalking wild turkeys. I do not stand alone in my view, nearly half of the state DNRs, DECs have explicit language, and safety information not recommending stalking wild turkeys in any manner. Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina (WMA’s only), and Rhode Island have outright deemed it illegal to use Fanning/Reaping Methods or engage in stalking turkeys.
The following States, and one Canadian Province issue a statement of caution specifically in their hunting regs and or species-specific guides against the practice of stalking as a matter of safety: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky (specifically fanning/reaping), Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Ontario-Canada. Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Despite the unfortunate shootings of two hunters while fanning in 2017, on private land together with a third, or that in 2013, a fellow turkey hunter suffered fatal injuries from these practices, we have the kill gobblers at all cost crowd claiming folks like me and others are full of it, have no proof, safer than driving, Indians did it, elitists telling us how to hunt and the foolishness goes on and on. There are other incidents that cannot be included at this time as the reporting is vague and one cannot separate decoy use from the topic at hand. Truthfully If I never again found cause to report a hunting incident it would be a great thing.
Me an Anti? Not in this lifetime. I personally don’t care if you choose other ways, or strategies other than what I might choose. Hunters make different approaches work however best it suits them. When it comes to doing things that presents a plausible incident scenario, I will speak out. Having regard for others, and some sense of logical reasoning, my viewpoint is not arrived at lightly or just to see what I might stir up.
The efficiency of the method is not in dispute, nor is the thrill of the experience. It is called reaping for a reason. It can get the job done. Snap shooting while the gobbler is trying to achieve Mach 2 in any direction but yours makes for very hurried, haphazard shots. Some of the youtube videos show this in cringe-worthy gun-handling footage. Throw into this entire mix, you have rifles legal in some states, shotguns pushing up to the 100-yard mark, actually taxidermy or dried fans for more “realism”, and my less than favorite, “I only do it on private land” as we all know those $50-$100 fines all but ensures peace, tranquility, and the ultimate of privacy on our own lands or private lands of others. The arguments for fanning and reaping are that foolhardy.
To round out my observation and comments on a revisit to this foray, do I think I am better than other hunters? I have my doubts as I remain a hopeless member of the tenth legion and I have plenty of lumps and scars from living through difficult periods, events of great loss, and “it’s reality time” moments in my past six decades. In short, hell no. Before I hoist that gobbler over my shoulder, it is pure adrenaline, heart in my throat moment up until he shows up. 30 years later it is every bit as good as my very first turkey hunt. I assume that most of you as fellow hunters have a similar experience. I sincerely hope that you do. I do enjoy other successful hunter’s postings. It pleases me as I know I will get out there as well. So no, I feel akin to my fellow hunters and enjoy as they do, not from a lofty better than thou view. I’ll be just as happy to see your hero pics. Your stories I like even better.
As long as we stay silent, afraid to “ruffle feathers” or hurt our collective reaper/fanning feelings (for some) We allow this promotion (or lack of opinion in fear of) to give a black eye to our great pastime.
Truly yours-
Not Afraid
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Back In the Saddle
There is something to be said for being driven, to be able to harness that energy to overcome circumstances, to bounce back from near death which I can authentically speak to now after a near-fatal Covid event. The passion of being in the turkey woods shares this drive with many other pursuits and you can translate this into whichever it may be for you, from your own source of inspired living. This in no way lessens the importance of God, family, country, and the love and care of your friends.
I won’t go into much detail about this past late summer/early fall brush with death, but in a nutshell; I was hit hard with Covid-19, delta variant, given a 10% chance of surviving, spent 40 days in four hospitals, 18 of which was sedated in an induced coma. As I write this, I am still actively recovering.
I missed the entire fall turkey season as it was not at all feasible at the time. It was a concentrated effort and succession of small milestones that led to sitting in a blind for deer season, not 80 yards from my home. We live in the woods, so it’s actually a viable choice. I can tell you that I was beyond thrilled to be able to do that much. By the end of deer season, I was able to take an ATV to a favorite sit, although I am far more into hunting all the way in and hunt all the way-out mentality. What walking I could do was on a treadmill in a controlled setting or along the country roads carrying a portable O2 tank.
Fast forward to spring recovery planning, and I would continue to increase walking, and see slow but consistent improvements. There is a blessing in going through such circumstances and coming out the end of it as a survivor. Seeing the ones you love, and friends you sorely miss are the most obvious things to be so grateful for. As I walked to my appointed listening spot under a starlit Texas sky, I took in all its splendor, so grateful to be able to slowly walk a mile and a half in without toting an oxygen tank or covering the distance with a walker. I enjoyed every step of that old dirt road.
To those that know me for many years, I prefer to take the game to the gobblers I chase. Not one to just hang out in a blind along a field. Sometimes it is the right strategy. As a ridge hunter, as my preferred terrain, I see a four-hundred-foot elevation change as a matter of time to cover the climb and the distance, not if I’ll go after a gobbling bird. I remain of a similar perspective, just much slower until I drop weight and put back some of that spring in my step.
Each of the three days hunting in Eden, Texas, I put in four to five miles a day of walking and carrying my loaded turkey vest and firearm. Walking on a treadmill is one thing, out in the field it is a bit more effort. On the second day, I had to walk a small hill for the first mile and finished the last half a mile downhill. Once again, a beautiful still morning and you could hear forever. I could hear a bird gobble as I crested the hill and heard him several more times as I descended to the river bottom flat that I was looking to get to. The hunt was a memorable one, rather productive as it resulted in calling in 19 hens with 5 strutting gobblers. Two gobblers came back with me. Beautiful morning and I continued to enjoy the remaining hunts at the ranch. The ranch had a variety of wildlife, and we would enjoy seeing the periodic visits throughout each day.
For those of you recovering from Covid or the exhaustive list of other life-changing ailments, I implore you to do what you can to get outside, to get back to what moves you, what drives you each day. It is hard at times; it is downright depressing when it doesn’t go as planned or fast enough to suit your expectations. Those are often temporary setbacks and change for the better is inevitable if you can embrace a positive outlook. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones. If this old grumpy turkey hunter can do it, there is hope. If you are a believer, the power of prayer is a powerful thing, for those that do not, embrace the energy of goodwill on your behalf. I do wish each of you recovering the best in your journey.
We are back in the saddle! Just riding a bit more tame and gentler horse.
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
NYSDEC Proposed Changes to NY Wild Turkey Hunting Regulations
Two new regulation changes are being proposed to the landscape of wild turkey hunting regulations. In a nutshell, they are looking to include shot sizes as small as #9’s and add a spring turkey season to Suffolk County on Long Island. As always, your opinion only makes an impactful difference if you voice it directly to those crafting legislation and regulations.
I’ll state this bluntly- Responding in those never-ending echo chambers is a fool’s errand. Pause the back and forth chatter on social media and take a few minutes of your time to voice your support or opposition to proposed regulations. Public comment on these regulatory proposals runs through June 5, 2022.
Send your comments by email to wildliferegs@dec.ny.gov with “Proposed Turkey Regulations” in the subject line or mail to: Joshua Stiller, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/press/125107.html
As to the #9 shot, you get my thumbs up as long as it stipulates heavier/more dense than lead. As I read the regulation change, it does not. Hevi Shot and TSS loads are a huge upgrade to smaller than 12 gauge bores and with the right choke, deliver an ethical ballistic solution when reviewing comparative observation of expected pattern/energy on target. If proposed regulations opt only for TSS shot, it can be argued reasonably as it is yet heavier and denser than Hevi-13. I would recommend #9 shot in TSS for .410 shotguns as an optimal choice. My opinion however does not support or suggest the longer ranges that some promote.
Suffolk County has plenty of turkeys, and suitable habitats to hunt them. The downside is the access as much of it is private holdings. To those that have hunted and fished on Long Island, it is abundant in opportunities, but it is different. There are folks that are not opposed to hunting but do not want to see it directly. Discretion and sportsmen’s best behavior in these settings would be essential to the success of opening a season there. Much of the public access in Suffolk County is multi-use and well-used and you can be assured that those groups will voice their opinions without reservation.
You can find info on public grounds at https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/40399.html
The following is the currently proposed text:
6 NYCRR 1.40(c)(2) is amended as follows:
(2) Spring. A permittee may hunt wild turkey only during those open seasons and in
those wildlife management units (as described in section 4.1 of this Title) listed below.
Open season Wildlife management units
Closed 1A[, 1C] and 2A
May 1st to May 31st Rest of the State
6 NYCRR 1.40(d)(2) is amended as follows:
(2) Spring. A permittee may take:
(i) two bearded turkeys during the spring season as defined in paragraph (c)(2) of
this section; however
(ii) no more than one bearded turkey per day; and
(iii) no more than one bearded turkey in WMU 1C
6 NYCRR 1.40(f)(3) is amended as follows:
(3) A permittee may hunt turkey with a shotgun or handgun loaded with shot no larger
than number 2 and no smaller than number [8]9.
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
My Valentine is a Turkey Hunter
With the holiday of love and romance close at hand, I thought it appropriate to cover once again such a timely topic. Having returned to be among the living this past fall, each holiday, anniversary, and recognized celebration is a gift, not to be taken for granted, and Valentine’s is certainly worth such recognition. It is also a great topic, a reminder to up your game for pre-season spousal approval units. My favorite topic of course is anything and all things related to turkey hunting, with deer hunting a close second. How turkey hunting relates to Valentine’s Day is easily revealed as I reminisce about my own experiences over the past twenty five years
This year like many couples, Lee and I will celebrate the holiday with a special dinner at home. We live in a modern log home in a picturesque setting in the woods. It is a serene and private setting that lends itself to unwind from long days at work. Lee is a fabulous cook, and I can manage if I set my mind to it. Maybe we’ll cook together, or I create something worthy of the occasion. We’ll most likely open a nice bottle of wine to complement the meal.
As I think about it, this Valentine’s Day as those in the past is more akin to other days in the year. Hunting seasons as they come and go, are more days together than days apart. Much like Valentine’s Day, we celebrate and enjoy the time together, especially on opening days. Those opening days are always great experiences even though sometimes we return home with tags still in our pockets. When we first met back in 1997, Lee was not a hunter, nor all that interested in it. Over time, my passion for time spent in the turkey woods piqued her interest. The following year, Lee accompanied me on several hunts and came to learn what I enjoyed so much of my time spent there. Although I have been successful as my memories, serve me, the stories I am so fond to recall, I generally fill my tags each season. It is not the singular focus of the taking of game. It is one of the outcomes we expect from skillful strategy and accurate shooting. I am happy that I was able to convey that to her. Over time, she has become a passionate hunter in her own right.
I would submit to you to share your time in the woods with family, loved ones, and especially your spouses. There is much to be shared and learned in the forests and fields. The only downside I have yet to find is that your hunting budget might double, but I would suggest that is money well spent. I am a fortunate man to be able to share so many days that are much like Valentine’s Day or from another perspective to have Valentine’s Day be much like most other days of the year.
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Rules to Live by for a Turkey Hunter
Never return to a place without the host that you were invited to as a guest.
Always be a graceful and grateful guest
Never leave a sit or a blind without a gun “just to take look, answer a call of nature.”
Always be observant and alert, as the action can change instantly.
Never stalk a turkey sound, shoot at sounds, or movement in the brush.
Always be 110% sure of your quarry. Always be safe in the turkey woods.
Never be late on an invite. Bring extra coffee and appropriate rations of Little Debbie’s.
Always arrive early at your hunting grounds. Have a plan B and C. Come back later after they leave.
Never knowingly intrude on another hunter’s setup.
Always first assume that turkey calls may be another hunter.
Never argue with an uncivil jackass in the turkey woods. You’re not the “Ass whisperer”
Always be the better person as the turkey woods are too magnificent not to enjoy.
Never think you are invisible. The best camo in the world is rendered useless by “can’t sit still.”
Always be still, Always be patient.
Never ask someone how many gobblers they kill.
Always, if asked, lie like a fisherman.
Never run turkey calls like you would hawking products at a sports show
Always use turkey calls as a tool in your hunting strategy
Never compromise your ethics or safety in your methods and actions.
Always respect your fellow hunters. You never know when you may need them.
Never be in a hurry in the turkey woods, There is far too much to enjoy,
Always slow it down a bit, it is not a race. Run and gun doesn’t always work.
Never rush a shot. Identify, acquire, clear foreground/background, and then squeeze.
Always get your head down on the stock. Make it count.
-MJ
© 2022 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
A Cure For What Ails Us
With all the modern efficiencies of time management, conveniences, bigger, better, faster… We might agree that we are worn out with the collective demands of our time, and the new-fangled ways to get there much faster. As we are engaged in the holiday weekend of family gatherings, indulgent meals, and most importantly- what we are thankful for, might we take a few moments to reflect on what we might have missed in our highly efficient lives?
It is good advice from well-learned experience that a time out to stroll through, take a seat from great vantage points in the great turkey woods is food for our souls. It is well within keeping of the Thanksgiving Holiday and a best practice for all the seasons. Personally, it is grounding for me to visit these places where deer and turkey roam, a place of refuge to gather thoughts and renew my perspective. I believe you’ll find it to be of similar benefit. To improve on such advice, bring along your loved ones, your children, a friend. Let them learn to cherish these special places, to find refuge there, and come to love the wild places we as hunters so revere.
-MJ
© 2021 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
Turkey Hunters Shot in Two Separate Events
Two unfortunate events that were being tracked have been reported by reliable sources. This brings the 2021 Spring turkey season up to nine hunters and one hiker shot. More details on prior reported incidents: http://www.turkey-talk.com/tblog/?p=2008 http://www.turkey-talk.com/tblog/?p=2051
It should be noted that the first incident reported below is single sourced from a local town police department facebook page. No search conducted thus far show the event picked up by local/regional/state/national news outlets. The second incident appeared in two legitimate news sources. Should you come across additional relevant sources and would like to share, send an email to mjoyner@joyneroutdoormedia.com It is also important to note that several anti-hunting blogs that I come across also scan and search the internet for any fodder that supports their agenda to abolish hunting. It is an observation that they search daily as coverage of hunting mishaps often appear there before showing up in resources I routinely use. I will have commentary on that in a future post.
It is initially reported that a male hunter was shot in the face in Sterling State Forest Park. Tuxedo Police Detective Stefan Christian’s initial investigation also reports that a second hunter was also shot in the leg, by a hunting partner. The incident is being further investigated by NYSDEC Police. https://www.facebook.com/TuxedoPolice/posts/1652794211776262
Chad Steven Henneman, 45, from Las Cruces, New Mexico died on April 25, 2021, while turkey hunting with friends in the Lincoln National Forest. Henneman, along with his fiancée, Marcena Flynn, and a friend were hunting in the national forest near New Mexico Highway 37 when the incident occurred. The hunting trip was his time away of service as active-duty with Department of Homeland Security Customs and as a Border Protection agent. From Leah Romero @ Las Cruces Sun News- “According to documents released by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office June 21, Flynn said the couple returned to their truck while the other friend remained on a mountain to hunt, but Henneman reportedly started back toward his friend. Flynn heard a turkey gobble, followed soon after by a gunshot. She told authorities that when she walked back to the pair, Henneman was on the ground receiving chest compressions from the friend.” As of this post, there are no further details nor any charges have been filed…
Obituary: https://www.gazette-tribune.com/obituaries/chad-steven-henneman/81238/
We can do better as zero incidents is the only acceptable number by following the most basic safety protocols. Each time I go afield I know that I owe myself, each of you to clearly identify my target, what is in front and beyond the target, to be be safe, to employ strict and safe firearm handling. I also owe each of you to pause if anything is not quite right, or by chance what is in front of me is not 100% as it appears. Take the time to be 100% sure…
I will update as more details are published. We continue to pray for those injured, that have succumbed to their injuries and for their families. May they heal well Godspeed.
-MJ
© 2021 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
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