NYSOWA president Glenn Sapir, Bill Hollister, Sue Bookhout, Ed Noonan and Bill Wilbur, president of the NYS chapter of NWTF and the guide for both Ed Noonan and Bill Hollister when they took their toms.
This past weekend, members of the NYSOWA met in Cortland for the annual Spring Safari. The event was a great success and very enjoyable. We had a little precipitation, but from what I hear, it was a some of the best weather that’s ever been had at a spring safari.
A huge thank you goes out to conference chairman Mike Kelly for all of his hard work and fine attention to detail. Thank you to our host, the Cortland County Visitor’s Bureau and the Saturday night dinner host, the Izaak Walton League and the NY Field Archers. A special thanks to the Joyners, who graciously opened up their beautiful home to us and prepared a first class lunch for hungry hunters and anglers– two days in a row.
Bill Hollister and Ed Noonan
Ed Noonan had the right combination of luck and skill and took a nice tom turkey on Friday. Bill Hollister was the ace turkey hunter on Saturday.
Mike Kelly displays his 22 inch brown trout
Some others in the NYSOWA group went fishing in several different area waters. The streams were running a little high and muddy on Friday, as we had some heavy rains and thunder throughout the night on Thursday. Regardless, the fishing was reportedly great. Mike Kelly caught an excellent 22 inch brown trout on a fly.
Turkey Guide Extraordinaire Wayne Masters
The turkey hunting symposium on Friday night featured a panel of seasoned experts, including Wayne Masters, Mike Joyner and Bill Hollister. Mike Kelly moderated the panel. The experts shared their insight on how our odd Central New York weather has affected the turkeys and the turkey hunting. They also shared their most closely guarded secrets on how to set up for the birds, where to set up, when to start calling, when not to call, when to use decoys and, finally, their three best tips for newcomers to the sport.
Now I bet you wish you were there!
If you were in attendance and have any photos or stories to share, please send them over to me. I’ll post them on the website.
View from the Joyner's living room
Blck Fly Alley by Will Elliot
