Last week the NYS Assembly passed a slew of new firearms bills that are destined to upset the many upstate residents if they’re passed by the Senate and become law. All the bills passed were introduced and sponsored by downstate politicians, the majority of them living in either New York City or Long Island. In a nutshell, the bills primarily duplicate many current firearms laws already in force in the Big Apple and on Long Island.
One bill requires the re-licensing and recertification of firearms permits after five years. Another would ban the sale, use or possession of 50-caliber or larger weapons, and creates a program to recall those currently legally owned. Supposedly, muzzleloaders and shotguns larger than .410 gauges would be exempt. We’ll see if that holds up if it ever is “interpreted” differently by an appeals court ruling.
Keep in mind that last year the Assembly successfully passed legislation which was enacted that created a comprehensive database to help prevent people suffering from serious mental illnesses from purchasing guns. How effective was that law in preventing Wong, the Binghamton mass murderer, from getting his hands on guns? Whomever keeps records on emotionally disturbed firearms permit holders certainly fell asleep at the switch on that one. Wong had a lengthy history of mental instability. In fact bill A.7733, sponsored by Donna Lupardo (D-Endwell), duplicates the intent of the law already on the books as it seeks to keep guns out of the hands of individuals that should not possess them. No kidding, but first a law must be enforced properly, and most criminals and mentally unstable people normally don’t pay much attention to laws.
One bill that makes some sense creates the Children's Weapon Accident Protection Act which requires that there be a weapons-safety program for schoolchildren and creates crimes of failing to safely store firearms. However, that should be a common sense practice in households, but times have changed since I was a kid …I knew better than to even touch one of my dad’s guns or ammo. Otherwise, the punishment I would’ve gotten would not have been for the faint-of-heart. To quote Voltaire, “Common sense is not so common” these days.
In essence what these new laws would do is make several existing gun laws in the downstate region the new "laws of the land" statewide. And given the scope of these laws, it's doubtful some will be met with much enthusiasm or even compliance throughout the rest of the state, and especially in the upstate counties where the Second Amendment is seen as more than just a phrasing to be changed, modified or "interpreted" differently than the founders of the nation intended it to mean.

Abundance of Turkey Hens Not Helping Hunters
I usually don’t gobbler hunt the first few days of the season, preferring to let the eager beaver hunters try to fill their tags quickly. After all, spring gobbler hunting isn’t like firearms season for deer, when the best chances to take one is the first day or two of the season. With spring turkeys, the mating often extends for several weeks, meaning the hunter’s chances are good well into the month of May. The main thing is locating a gobbler that’s receptive to hen calls.
My initial morning’s hunt this season was relatively uneventful. I had two hens come in to the decoy and hang around for a while, giving me three hens (one fake, two live) to lure in a gobbler. Both hens were sleek with no breast feathers missing, indicating they’d neither started nesting nor mating. I didn’t hear a single gobble all morning nor any shots, and no toms came in silent. But one quiet morning does not a turkey season make, and I know there’ll be other mornings when the toms will be vocal. I just have to pick the right day.
How gobblers respond to calling has changed dramatically since the initial seasons in our region opened three decades ago. During those early years toms would readily respond to hen calls and often gobble steadily as they came to the calls. Ironically this reaction is contrary to natural mating where the hens travel to the gobbler’s location. But I suspect these early scenarios were due to a much lighter density of turkeys in our region, meaning toms often had problems locating hens during the mating season, which made them react the way they did.
But as our local turkey population has increased, as has the hunting pressure, the toms are bit more reluctant to hot-foot to every hen call they hear. Predation threats by coyotes probably also plays a role in less vocalization by the toms, since coyotes will often hone in on any gobble they hear in an attempt to catch the bird or any hens that may be with it.
Reports indicate that hens are still abundant and on the move mornings, meaning few have started to nest yet. This represents a challenge to gobbler hunters since toms that have hens either with them or readily coming to them are often tough to call. They’ll gobble and display but refuse to leave their “harem” to seek out another hen. I’ve noticed too that trying to call the dominate hen that’s with the gobbler has become increasingly difficult. In past years, hard cutting calls would often infuriate a dominate hen and cause her to seek out the “intruder,” and the gobbler would follow her in, often offering a shot.
And while the challenge of spring gobbler hunting has always tested hunters’ skills and patience, it’s rare when the hunter encounters two situations that are exactly the same. What works in one situation may fail in another, and this, despite it sometimes being frustrating, is all part of the allure of the spring turkey season. As the old saying goes: “All things work some of the time, but none work all the time.”
And that, my friends, is why super markets still sell lots of turkeys at Thanksgiving time.