2016 Spring Turkey Trip to Gobbler's Roost in NY

[HunterGKS]

Days 13 - 21 of 2016 Ohio Spring Turkey Season.
Days 1 – 8 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.


Day 13 of 2016 Ohio Spring Turkey Season was a drive day to Gobbler’s Roost in New York.

It was an uneventful drive to Gobbler’s Roost with arrival at about 2:30 P.M. Walt arrived shortly after I did. We had Carle’s World Famous Brats, slaw, tator salad, BBQ beans, & fresh cut, home grown asparagus from my patch grilled in an aluminum packet with lemon juice, butter, salt, & pepper for supper with Kathy joining us. It was rainy & chilly all evening.

Ohio days 14 – 20 were hunting days 1 - 7 at Gobblers Roost in NY.


Day 1 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

It was 44, cloudy, rainy, and windy at 5:25 when I set-up in the small meadow north of The Roost. The wind really picked up & the temp dropped. I hadn’t heard or seen anything all morning except for crows. It also started to rain a lot more &, at 9:30, with a break in the rain, I headed back to The Roost. It was 40 & cold. Walt came in a little later. Supper was Picante Venison & Sausage Spaghetti Sauce & Spaghetti.


Day 2 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

It was 46, cloudy, rainy, and windy at 5:20 when I again set-up in the small meadow north of The Roost. At about 6:10, a bird gobbled to the south & another way to the west. The south bird would gobble occasionally on his own but nothing from the west bird & neither responded to any of my calling. It started to rain pretty hard at 8 & got pretty windy. I headed back top The Roost at 9:30 with Walt again following close after. Supper was Venison Ropa Vieja.


Day 3 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

Set-up in the sheep pasture above Ron’s cemetery this morning at 5:10 with overcast skies, no wind, & 47 degrees. Nothing going on until about 7:10 when I noticed movement at the south side of the cemetery close to the tree line. A look through the binos revealed………a small US flag on a grave moving in the wind. Shortly after, I noticed 2 deer along the tree line & 3 more, a doe & 2 yearlings, feeding in the grass below the tree line. I watched them for 10 minutes or so before they hit the woods when Ron’s helper drove up to dump a load of dirt from a hole he was digging.

Shortly after the deer left, I heard a hen yelping behind me. It didn’t sound quite right but I yelped back & it responded. It was very raspy & the cadence wasn’t quite right but it did respond every time I called. This happened 3 times with the last yelping by the hen followed with a purr. I twisted around in my chair so I could see a little further behind me when a crow landed in a tree to my right. If I wouldn’t have seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. That $%^&*() crow sat there & yelped!!!! One of the strangest things I have ever seen in the woods.

It was 51 when I headed back to The Roost. Supper was Squirrel Picadillo.


Day 4 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

Individual story will be posted.


Day 5 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

It was 43 at 5:20 with overcast skies & no wind. At 5:30, 4 birds started to gobble; 1 way south, 1 that sounded like it was in the sap woods near The Roost, 1 below me, & 1 to my NW. I thought I could call in the closer birds but, after 2 gobbles each, they went silent & never showed up. The 2 far birds were hammering with the occasional double gobble. I just knew that Ron would hear all the gobbling, drag his butt outta bed, & go kill the bird in the sap woods. A little after 6, they both stopped gobbling & a short while later, I heard what sounded like a 20, which Ron is hunting with, from the same area as the “sap woods” bird. GREAT!! Ron busted him. I heard nothing else & headed in at 11:50 with a temp of 49 degrees.

When I told Ron about all the gobbling & asked how big his gobbler was, he basically said:

GOBBLING?? WHAT GOBBLING?? I DIDN’T HEAR NO STINKING GOBBLING!!!!”

(Actually, Ron didn’t say that put I decided exercise poetic license & flower up what he really said. ROTFLMAO!!)

As the Irish would say: “O’Well.” Supper was Squirrel Cacciatore.


Day 6 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

Individual story will be posted.

Day 7 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

I decided to sleep in this morning which amounted to 5:30. Helluva note when 5:30 is “sleeping in.” I got the truck about 95% loaded for the trip home on Sunday with only the essentials remaining out. I hauled in a couple of arm loads of firewood, straightened up the cabin a little, swept it out, & took a couple of short naps. I headed to Ron’s for a much needed shower & spent a few hours visiting with Kathy. We watched part of The Hustler (great movie) before heading to the Norwich Car Museum for the yearly Friends of the NRA banquet. If you are a car guy, you would love this place. It is unbelievable. I took well over 100 pics that, when I get the CD/DVD, I will post. I also took quite a few pics of the different items up for auction as well as available in drawings. I also took a lot of miscellaneous pics & pics of some of the winners that will also be posted. The catering was excellent again with smashed tators, pasta, salad, turkey, pork, & my favorite, roast beef. Great way to spend an evening.


Ohio day 21 was a drive day back home to Ohio.
Days 8 of 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

I had planned to sleep in but kept waking up. I finally gave up at 5:10, got up, finished loading the truck & hit the road at 5:15. It was a pretty easy drive in good weather. When I got off I80-90 at SR 4 in Ohio, there were 4 Border Patrol agents stopped with lights flashing & a car pulled over. Haven’t seen anything about it & have no idea what was going on. I arrived home I arrived home about 12:45, unloaded a bunch of stuff, put some of it away, & jumped on the Ferris to mow. My BIL had mowed a lot of the yard last Weds but it all needed it again, especially the NE section, which hadn’t been mowed in 15 days. It is the section that grows the fastest & thickest so it was a real mess. I mowed everything & went back to clean-up the mess in the NE. The whole area was basically covered with mown grass. I do have a lawn sweep but it would have taken most of a day to sweep & that ain’ta gonna happen during turkey season. I went to about the middle & started mowing blowing the grass towards the creek on 1 pass & towards the old barn on the return. It didn’t take long before I had all of the mown grass blown off the yard. I’ll have to finish the rest of the clean-up later this week. Jay, If you’re reading this: Thanks for mowing the yard. I appreciate it.”

So ends my 2016 New York Spring Turkey Season.

[hobbes]

Sounds like tough hunting conditions.

[HunterGKS]

Sounds like tough hunting conditions.

It sure wasn't purty but Wed & Fri weren't too bad & Sat was beautiful but I was tagged out & couldn't hunt.

[quavers16]

I live in New York. Where is --Gobblers Roost? Do they have Fall hunts?

[Frankinthelaurels]

Yes they do but they've changed lots of things there lately...it's a lot of fun using hounds to bust flocks if you've never experienced it before...cheap trip overall

[timbrhuntr]

Great hunt report on what sounds like a great place with even better hosts to hunt turkeys with !

[HunterGKS]

Thx guys. It really is a top-notch place to hunt. Ron & family are great hosts. There have been no changes at Gobbler's Roost except those mandated by the state, shortening the fall season & the bag limit.

[hookedspur]

Heck with the hunting sign me up for the eatin

[HunterGKS]

Heck with the hunting sign me up for the eatin

What isn't in this string:

Day 4 & 6 suppers were my special brand of home made venison chili.

If nothing else, we eat good at turkey camp spring & fall!!