Gobbler Nation

Hello everyone, have been around a while lurking in the shadows but what a great place for turkey hunters . Was wondering if anyone could point me and my grandpa in the right direction to hunt some public land in Tennessee . I'm not looking for nobody's honey hole just trying to get a direction on where to start aspt with some public land . Any help would be appreciated , thanks

Where you coming from ridge? If you're open to any part of the state, middle TN has the best population. The sothern-most counties in middle tn took a weird unexplained population hit a few years ago, but north of that there should be some good places. I've killed a couple middle TN turkeys, but they were on a buddy's farm. I cant help with public ground, but somebody likely will.

And welcome.

I'm coming from western Kentucky , and willing to travel . Thanks for the reply

Cmon guys some one has got to know somthing , not wanting your favorite spot just some direction to get started

Funny post.
You Aint been turkey hunting long,
Have you......

K9Doc wrote:Funny post.
You Aint been turkey hunting long,
Have you......

Ain't that the truth!
Could have swore KY was full of Turkeys. At least the 13 that I heard from one place,... pretty sure they were Gobblers!

I`ll bite! I cannot tell you exactly where to go but can tell you where not to go . South Cherokee NF around Tellico Plains, not sure if it was just a bad year for that area or what but i hunted for 7 days 2 years ago and never heard or saw a single turkey, deer, squirrel or any other living thing except for other hunters. I did hunt Yanahli in maury county that fall and got a few hens but I`ve heard from more than 1 person that Yanahli is a war zone the first week of the spring season. Going back to Tenn. for 12 days this spring but i joined a big lease this year.

If your from W KY do you hunt the LBL.? Don't know much about TN.

The last discussion I saw on TN had several fellas swearing that TN was a primary destination for every turkey hunter in the nation and those out of state hunters had ruined the hunting there. The conversation went down hill quick. I dont think the thread was here.

If you're in Western KY you should be somewhat familiar with LBL. I suspect you are too late for the quota hunts but I think you can still hunt afterwards.

redarrow wrote:If your from W KY do you hunt the LBL.? Don't know much about TN.

X2 on LBL. I dont have the dates in front of me, but there are usually 2 weeks of open hunting in mid april after the draw hunts are over. Several birds and tons of ground.

hobbes wrote:The last discussion I saw on TN had several fellas swearing that TN was a primary destination for every turkey hunter in the nation and those out of state hunters had ruined the hunting there. The conversation went down hill quick. I dont think the thread was here.

If you're in Western KY you should be somewhat familiar with LBL. I suspect you are too late for the quota hunts but I think you can still hunt afterwards.

Out of state hunters have never ruined hunting in any state for any species. They just jealous someone not from the area goes in and pops their limit lol. No but seriously mid and west Tenn has the highest population. Eastern part is more mountainous. You probably can't wrong with any national forest. May take a day or 2 to find the birds though

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turkey_slayer wrote:

hobbes wrote:The last discussion I saw on TN had several fellas swearing that TN was a primary destination for every turkey hunter in the nation and those out of state hunters had ruined the hunting there. The conversation went down hill quick. I dont think the thread was here.

If you're in Western KY you should be somewhat familiar with LBL. I suspect you are too late for the quota hunts but I think you can still hunt afterwards.

Out of state hunters have never ruined hunting in any state for any species. They just jealous someone not from the area goes in and pops their limit lol. No but seriously mid and west Tenn has the highest population. Eastern part is more mountainous. You probably can't wrong with any national forest. May take a day or 2 to find the birds though

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yeah... stay away from east Tennessee. no turkeys here.

I can tell you where not to go. Standing Stone State Park. Great cabins and scenery, dang near no turkeys.

hobbes wrote:The last discussion I saw on TN had several fellas swearing that TN was a primary destination for every turkey hunter in the nation and those out of state hunters had ruined the hunting there. The conversation went down hill quick. I dont think the thread was here.

If you're in Western KY you should be somewhat familiar with LBL. I suspect you are too late for the quota hunts but I think you can still hunt afterwards.

The problem is the people asking questions on the internet and folk's giving specific answers on the internet/social media about public land.

Unless you are giving specifics like park here and hunt this ridge, or maybe hunt this WMA it's loaded with birds, you aren't giving away info that isn't readily available on the state's game and fish website under public hunting opportunities. It's an easy Google search.

I will agree that posting something similar to "I hunted at XYZ public land and heard 10 birds gobble every morning" is foolish.

As far as LBL goes. From my limited experience on the KY side, the quoata hunts are entirely too much pressure for the birds that are available and are a joke as far as "quota" hunts go. The birds there have no relief from hunting pressure and at least half the guys there are packing every call K&H ever pushed. Beautiful country but given the chance ' I'd rather hunt somewhere else. However, it is a viable public land option and considering its proximity to home, I hope to hunt there again some day.

I should add......it is relatively easy to search out places to hunt online without asking for a handout in a forum. A better response probably by way of PM typically comes with evidence that some effort has been made to find locations to hunt.

Hobbs, I was speaking about the guys from TN, feeling that way....I know of one WMA there that has been totally destroyed because of folk's speaking about it specifically on the internet. The internet has ruined many public land areas across this country.

I just get sick of reading post like ole ridge chicken just posted... They all sound exactly the same and are always from someone that just joins a forum...

I'm not greedy at any means with my territory. Heck, I have a dozen or so folks come in to hunt every year, and try my darndest to put em on a bird. Just not gonna give it out on an open forum.
As far as LBL goes, it is considered the Turkey capital of the world. Hunt there quite often. And yes, it is loaded with birds.
How the heck do you think Knight and Hale got so famous. They are only a few minutes down the road from where I hunt.

I may have came off as an @$$ there to all parties. If so, that wasn't my intent.

I understand the reservation for posting detailed info online. It's not a good idea. As far as LBL and K&H go, I used to live not too far north and have no beef with either. LBL is beautiful hardwood ridge country, but the quota hunts never looked like much of a limited entry hunt. One of the best turkey hunters I knew from Western KY hunted LBL regularly. My limited experience there years ago found birds but good grief would they zip it up once called to and there was more than enough pressure. I started hunting turkeys using K&H stuff when it was actually owned by them. I liked buying from the "local" company from Cadiz.

Well let me clarify some things , I'm not looking for a hand out from no one . I have searched the Internet and they're seems quit a few wma. So yeah I am asking in a open forum for a little direction via PM aloe whatever it maybe. Also I am very familiar with lbl was just wanting to get a head start on turkey season for me and my grandpa. If you got your feathers ruffled due to the question asked please don't respond , for those who did with a understanding response thank you. I will keep researching into , I was just looking for a wma with no quota opening weekend that's all .

Nothing wrong with looking for some info. It's more of a forum ettiquete thing that not everyone is familiar with. No big deal.

KPcalls wrote:Hobbs, I was speaking about the guys from TN, feeling that way....I know of one WMA there that has been totally destroyed because of folk's speaking about it specifically on the internet. The internet has ruined many public land areas across this country.

I just get sick of reading post like ole ridge chicken just posted... They all sound exactly the same and are always from someone that just joins a forum...

Yep that wma has been destroyed and the damage is undoable, and it was all ruined by one guy posting info on one forum.

turkey_slayer wrote:

hobbes wrote:The last discussion I saw on TN had several fellas swearing that TN was a primary destination for every turkey hunter in the nation and those out of state hunters had ruined the hunting there. The conversation went down hill quick. I dont think the thread was here.

If you're in Western KY you should be somewhat familiar with LBL. I suspect you are too late for the quota hunts but I think you can still hunt afterwards.

Out of state hunters have never ruined hunting in any state for any species. They just jealous someone not from the area goes in and pops their limit lol. No but seriously mid and west Tenn has the highest population. Eastern part is more mountainous. You probably can't wrong with any national forest. May take a day or 2 to find the birds though

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No jealousy from me at all, I like meeting new people and seeing them be successful, but the wma in question has absolutely been destroyed by out of staters and alot from across the state. It was ruined by one guy and the Internet. Even he sees and realizes what he has done but it can't be taken back now. I seen a guy from Michigan being chased by warden's a year or so ago because he emptied a mag of 22 long rifle into a group of strutter and hens out of his truck window on opening day, beside a parking area. There were some guys on the other side of the birds and bullets were glancing off of tombstones. This isn't all the crazy stuff I've seen

Ridge_Chicken wrote:Well let me clarify some things , I'm not looking for a hand out from no one . I have searched the Internet and they're seems quit a few wma. So yeah I am asking in a open forum for a little direction via PM aloe whatever it maybe. Also I am very familiar with lbl was just wanting to get a head start on turkey season for me and my grandpa. If you got your feathers ruffled due to the question asked please don't respond , for those who did with a understanding response thank you. I will keep researching into , I was just looking for a wma with no quota opening weekend that's all .

The non quota information you seek is VERY easy to find on the TWRA website.

You should see what the BBD posts on AT ect. have done to public land in ohio.