The bird population is looking good.

The weather has been incredibly hot around here for some time. I glanced out my bedroom window the other afternoon and a pair of gobblers were laying on my front lawn in the shade of my Cherry tree.
 
This morning as I left for work there were fourteen birds on the front lawn.
 
There are at least three hen groups with poults and two seperate bachelor groups just in my neighborhood.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

  Yep, had 3 toms standing in front of my target base in the backyard, 1st week of June.  Figures they come down after the season ended!!
  Saw a hen with 4-5 poults last week.  Starting to get the itch again!!

Jeff

So the wife and I were lying in bed yesterday morning when the bush just outside our window stated shaking like crazy. We peeked out and there were the two jakes that we've been seeing locked in what appeared to be mortal combat. One had the others head in it's mouth in a death grip and wouldn't let go. They spun around in cirlcles for about five minutes before I went out and broke up the fight. What's the matter with kids these days?

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

They were just establishing dominance and you had to go and break it up!  Now you are the top cock of the walk, LOL!!!   I hope you can gobble real good next Spring

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

I'm not too good at a gobblin but I can make some sexy hen calls.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Things lookin good here in my part of Missouri too, had had 4 hens and 14 poults in the back yard the other day. Sure seems like there is too much emphasis put on the Spring breeding season, heck I know there are usually at least 2 hatches and sometimes 3 in this area. Seein lot's of jakes and toms around the fields too, but deer seems to really have my attention around this time of the year. Not sure why this happens to me about this time every year, but seems like I can hear the stands callin my name, it's like the trees know they're supposed to rock me to sleep startin mid Sept. and boy am I ready for some of those treestand naps.
Steve Albers

Steve---I hope you're anchored in real well, LOL!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Hey Top, good to hear from ya. Yeah I never get in a tree without havin myself attached to the tree. Had the bottom platform of my climber drop out and break the buckle holding it to the upper portion last year just before I got strapped in, talk about feeling lost. Luckily my son in-law was close and i called him on the cell to come help me get it back up to me. Now the first thing I do is strap in, then set stuff up. My big, old, tired, fat arse would never survive a 20' drop to the ground.Besides people in Missouri couldn't handle the earthquake I'd cause..lol

The birds seem to really enjoy my sprinkler system. There were eleven outside having a bath just a few minutes ago. The poults are growing in leaps and bounds. Some are larger then the others even in the same group. They're eating machines. My only problem with them is they like scratching through my mulch in the flower beds looking for bugs and seeds and then I have to go out and clean up the mess they leave behind.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Ok, so now it's just about the middle of August but nobody told my resident Jakes. They were gobbling their heads off this morning. They finally stopped and took off when a neighbor came walking along with his pair of German Shorthair's. NY fall Turkey season coming up before you know it. If only I could find as cooperative birds in the wild come then.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

The Jakes were gobbling again this morning while taking their bath under my sprinklers. It seems to make them happy. Both birds are growing like crazy. Except for their short beards and not fully developed tail fans they look adult body size wise.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Still a few tags left for both turkey and deer (does only) as the news release today sez, for Nodak ... and I'm perty sure NRs can get a turkey license now that the 1st-round lottery draw is over ...

I've seen more poults this year than ever before ... might even get a chance to hunt 'em this year, since I've got a couple of places in mind where I've seen birds and have access ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

My resident Jakes have grown in leaps and bounds. The local poults are all looking healthy and have grown so fast it's hard to believe they were just puffs of feathers a few months back. We have so many wandering around I think they're taking over the neighborhood. New York fall season starts October 1st. Bow hunting on the 16th. The season is upon us.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Been seein' a gang of turks goin' either to or frum werk the past week or so ... they like the canola field across the road frum the WMA ... Tom (decent beard but not outstanding) & Hen and nine poults ... 

I know where I'll be on opening morning ... trubble is, there's prolly gonna be about 27 other guys there also ... 

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

The wife nearly clobbered a hen that bolted across the road yesterday. She wasn't 5o yards from our driveway. All three of the hen, poult flocks were on our neighbors lawn. Thank God she was able to stop in time otherwise she would have had tears in her eyes the rest of the night.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

My front lawn is begginning to take on the look of a barnyard. The turkey don't even bother to get out of the way. My son was going out yesterday just after 5pm when he came running back in to tell me that there were about 50 turkeys outside. Sure enough I walked out on the side deck and there they were. My wife came driving up the road and had to inch her way passed them all to get into the driveway. Even after she got out of her car they just continued to feed paying her no mind at all. I can only hope to see half as many come opening day Oct. 1st. Of course I can't hunt around my house.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

  Yep, been keeping an eye out for my local birds when I do my morning walk.  Have 6-8 birds hanging around the yard next door and heard a few clucking on a hillside in the State Park (bow only).  So, I'm getting psyched for Oct 1st!

Jeff

Hey Jeff, I see you're up in Columbia County. I used to hunt the old State co-op areas in Dutchess and Putnam. We had great hunting there years ago but like everything else they are gone. Good luck on the 1st. I'll be in the woods as well God willing. I've done pretty well over the years Fall Turkey hunting. Been lucky I guess. I'm hoping for a bit more luck this time around.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

  Yep, my backyard is Lake Taghkanic State Park.  Since it is bow only, not a lot of pressure.  I still hunt at Stewart Airport.  We got to get together sometime...you're just "down" the road.... 

Jeff

  So far, so good, weather wise for Friday.  No rain, maybe windy, hopefully not too bad in the morning.  Going to trek up my hill then & see if I can connect with the bow.
  Haven't taken a fall bird yet.  Missed a couple.....

Jeff

I've got to tell you the bird population around here is getting silly. It's November and I still get those jakes gobbling at loud sounds. Whenever the fire siren goes off so do they. Flocks of birds just walk around my neighborhood without a care in the world. Nice having no one hunting you except the occassional car, if you're not fast enough and the driver is an idiot.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

20 birds or so on the front lawn this morning. They're all grown up now.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Gobblers gobbling at the sound of the fire siren again this morning,just at dawn. It's November 10th but the birds don't seem to care. I think I need a portable fire siren to bring to the woods next Spring. It sure does get them going.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Hadn't seen the local flock in awhile until this morning. I was about a block from the house just after dawn when a tom flew down nearly smashing into my truck. I stopped, looked up and sure enough the trees were filled with birds. They all flew down and landed on the lawn next to the car. No fear of cars or humans for that matter. Glad to see they weathered the storm.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

I had one bounce off the top of my Schwan's truck down here in Missouri once.  Crazy birds!

Take care and Good Hunting!

Best Afield,

Steve

I had a friend that was driving his mini pickup early one morning and a hen smashed into the top right area of his windshield and it looked like he had hit a deer!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Sawa big Tom fly across the highway near KC airport and wipe out the grill of a KW right next to me once, that driver couldn't get over and stopped fast enough to check damage. Makes quite a mess at 65 MPH.
Steve Albers

Got home last night just as it was getting dark and happened to glance up into the trees across the road, sure enough our flock was just setteling in for a very cold night. I knew they've been flyning down around 7am so i stepped outside a few minutes ago just in time to hear them start yelping. About 12 birds flew down, i think my presence helped it along. The real kicker it that one of the jakes started gobbling after he hit the ground. Seems like spring may not really be that far away.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

I watched the fly down again this morning. Our flock has grown over the past few days. The normal flock of Jakes, jennies and hens now has three long beards. Unusual for this time of year but I guess the cover, lack of predators and a food source of some kind is bringing the all toghether.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

 Or maybe it's just too Damn cold!!!!    Lol.... 





[link=http://www.smileycentral.com/dl/index.jhtml?partner=ZSzeb097_&utm_id=7925][/link]

Jeff

I found the food source. Took a drive around the neighborhood, on the next road over a neighbor has a huge bird feeder on his front lawn and the birds are feasting on it. The entire flock was there fighting over every morsel.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

  I saw something like that before last week's storm.  Was driving one of the backroads home when I saw a huge flock in the front yard of a house.  The owners spread corn/feed in front of there 2 car garage, there had to be 30 or more birds feeding there!!
  Haven't even tried checking the top of my hill.  Snow's too deep.

Jeff

i don't know what's going on but the birds are gobbling like mad this morning, You would think its the end of April not January.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

The birds are gobbling every morning now. It doesn't take much to get them going either. I just rolled the trash barrels down the driveway and they started. A passing car or a car door slammed will do it as well. More snow coming and the unending cold here has everyone in a funk. I hope the gobbling is a harbanger of early Spring.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

You and me both, but I'm not going to hold my breath!  Right now they have us under a weather watch for tomorrow afternoon into Wednesday and they say if it stays on track we may get more than a foot of snow under blizzard conditions!!!   Sounds real peachy

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

We have yet another storm watch here as well. I have no place to put anymore snow. My yard is under several feet and the snow blower is hard pressed to shoot above the wall of snow on either side of the driveway. If that groundhog calls for another six weeks of winter he had better start looking over his shoulder.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

We are now in a wide band for a predicted 12"-16" from tomorrow night through the day Wednesday along with almost blizzard conditions.  I've been lucky enough all winter to just shovel each time for some good exercise, but it looks like the 10 hp John Deere blower is going to come out of the garage for this one!!!  Dang, and I thought maybe with February here tomorrow that we were over the hump.  Guess not!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Same here guys, sittin here looking out the window at 2' on the yard, a path for a walkway and a bit of fresh last night to top it off. Has been pretty rough around here the past few days. Left work a couple hours early on Tuesday and finally got home at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday. Had to turn around a couple miles from the house as there were 2 trucks stuck in front of me and was still blowin and drifting bad enough that plows were only trying to keep main highways movin. Wednesday finally made a single pass through the road I had to give up on Tuesday and was able to get through the last mile using the Durango as plow to the house. Had to shovel into the house once I got here, little lady and the grands were drifted in both doors. At least I got home without a tow bill to add the fun. Tell ya one thing, that Durango is a great vehicle on this stuff, sure seems to avoid most of the slippin and sliddin of the pickup. 
Steve Albers

We didn't escape this last one like we had been all winter.  It smacked us at 5PM Tuesday and got worse until it finally let up late Wednesday morning.  I'd guess we got close to 12" out of it, but the drifting was what made it real bad and I had to do a lot by hand because of areas I couldn't get at with the blower.  I ended up taking the rest of Wednesday, most of Thursday, and yesterday morning to finish cleaning out my place and the two old ladies places that I help out at.  It has been nice just taking it easy since the middle of the day yesterday and I think the old back survived, LOL!!!  Now it's on to Super Bowl Sunday to watch the Steelers whomp those Packers!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Wow Mike that's really nice, taking care of the old ladies. I like it when the old people help each other out.LOL, and it sounds like your going to be watching a different Super Bowl game than me, ya got the wrong winner. Have a good day my friend, just had to bust yer butt a bit. Couldn't help myself.
Steve Albers