Public Land Strategies

Turkey hunting tips & tricks that have worked & can help others.
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gblack15
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Public Land Strategies

Post by gblack15 »

I would like to hear some tips and tactics for finding birds on Public Land. Especially those WMA's where you cant get out and roost a bird until 1-2 days before your hunt.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
2ounce6s

Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by 2ounce6s »

I'll climb out on the limb first so the rest of the fellas can line up to saw it off at the trunk. :lol:
I've killed a number of turkeys off public land, have hunted WMA/GMA lands for 31 years and been successful for most of them, so I feel somewhat qualified to answer.

Finding them is half the battle. If you can't scout then make armed recons. Slip hunt and look for sign, gobbler sign. If you see tracks he's there close by or will be again soon. Knowing habitat turkeys like to use in your area is a big plus. Here on piedmont area public land they like river bottoms because those areas green up first. Streams serve as highways here. The bigger the waterway the higher the turkey density. Where two streams converge there's almost always a large open hardwood flat and these serve as strutting areas. A quick look at a topo map and satellite map will easily point out likely areas to check. I notice you are from Florida so I'm not sure how much of this will apply to where you hunt.

The other half of the battle is killing them. When you find gobbler sign don't blow through the place. Slow down and hunt it. A bird in the hand is worth 50 in the brush. On public land you can waste a bunch of time running around trying to find a cooperative tom. They are all killable. Before you give up on one after spending a bunch of time in just finding him, consider that if you go try to find another you might just end up with much the same situation, a tom that's been fooled with and might take a little time to kill. Dad used to say "Son shoot at a bird, not the whole covey." He was talking about quail but it applied to turkeys then and still does now.
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guesswho
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by guesswho »

I find them the same way I find them on private/leased land. Eye's, ears and feet. On public land pay attention to where you see the most hunter activity, there's a reason you may see four trucks here and only one a mile down the road. Take a map of the WMA and mark where you see the most parked vehichles. Then look at an aerial view. Something may jump out out you like a better approach, habitat advantage ect. If nothing else hit these spots early and listen for birds and hunters, most of the time the place will be yours to yourself by mid-morning, take advantage of it. Florida WMA's usually translate to less calling, more watching, listening and relocating.
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poorcountrypreacher
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by poorcountrypreacher »

This won't work as well in flatter country, but in the hilly WMAs that I've hunted, I've always just got on a high hill before daylight and listened. I can hear several square miles on a good still morning. If I don't hear one, drive to the next high hill. Another thing that has really helped me the last couple of years is using a smart phone with an app called My Tracks. It gives you a Sat. view of where you are, and when a turkey gobbles I can point the phone right at him and usually tell exactly where he is. And it makes getting lost next to impossible.

I don't hunt the WMA the first week of the season or so, so I never do any pre-season scouting. The first time I go, I just climb one of those hills that I've been climbing for the past 35 years and listen.
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honker22
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Public Land Strategies

Post by honker22 »

I've had success on MS Wma's by scouting from home bc I don't have the luxury of driving 2-4 hours to scout. I normally look at the aerial and road maps. Find the longest road that is gated off where the habitat looks suitable. I also look for areas where no access is close, the larger blocks where birds can't be heard easily. It's always a gamble but I feel pretty confident if I have enough ground I can cover on that first morning.

Last year I hunted a "gated" road. They close the woods roads and only leave the main roads open. I picked the longest one and had about 2 miles to hunt and never saw a soul. I killed within 5 mins of opening day and was on 4 different birds on day 2. A lot of it is luck, but it's easier when you have a gameplan from home.
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Johndoe
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by Johndoe »

Google earth
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There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
dirt road ninja
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by dirt road ninja »

The turkey doesn't know he's on public land. I would hunt them the same way you would on private ground. Maybe, just try to avoid other humans. It's been awhile since I've hunted public ground, but like someone else said most folks leave mid-morning. I really like hunting after 9:30, seems like the birds are more willing to move around.
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GLS
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by GLS »

Turkeybuster and I've hunted the same public land since its first season in 1977. The birds are in the same places they were when we first started. One dead giveaway for a listening spot is t.p. Toliet Paper. Folks can't help but do their daily devotional when they first get out the truck and listen first thing in the morning. The more t.p, the stronger the likelihood someone has heard a bird there. I'm "old school", but I don't spread feathers. I'd just as soon not let someone know I've killed a turkey nearby because there is usually another to take his place.
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by 2ounce6s »

GLS wrote: I'd just as soon not let someone know I've killed a turkey nearby because there is usually another to take his place.
Who said anything about it requiring killing a turkey nearby? Hell I keep a bag in the truck box for every occasion. Peddle faster fellas. :lol:
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gblack15
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by gblack15 »

2ounce6s wrote:
GLS wrote: I'd just as soon not let someone know I've killed a turkey nearby because there is usually another to take his place.
Who said anything about it requiring killing a turkey nearby? Hell I keep a bag in the truck box for every occasion. Peddle faster fellas. :lol:

Toooo Funny :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
JUGHEAD
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by JUGHEAD »

My public land strategy is to drive right past the WMA and hunt on one of my private places. :lol:

I look forward to the day when I feel like I'm up to the challenge of fooling with public land birds.
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Jaybird
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by Jaybird »

I've hunted more Public than Private in my life by far, and it ain't easy, especially in this state where we don't have that much. Scouting is a big must to determine what is worth hunting in the first place. I might scout 10 pieces of Public to find 1 to hunt with a couple of maybes thrown in. I google up all areas I'm going to scout, and study print outs before I'm scouting in the field. Once I've got where I want to hunt, I'm set up before anyone else is out there. Seldom has there been anyone there ahead of me, especially since many times I go in the night before, and sleep in my SUV. On a large piece of land I get off the beaten path, and have walked in over a mile many times. My honey hole in Kansas has produced 3 years in a row that I've collected a certificate from the state of Kansas for shooting what they call a "trophy" Tom. It's small, and gets pounded at times, but then towards the end of the season it's not hunted at all. You can put a bird down in the pressure time, but tough. However, when the birds are done breeding on the Private next door, the big Toms head to the Public where the feed is, and that's where I'm waiting. I have flexibility to take what days off I want, so putting myself in the field 2 days in the week vs weekends has also been a big help. If you are hunting out of state, and you've got a decent area to hunt, stay there over the years, and don't jump around. You learn a lot with the time spent hunting it, and your success improves greatly. Hope this helps a bit.
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GLS
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by GLS »

Jaybird, public land birds are the main course for me. Private land birds are dessert. I feel fortunate to have been primarily a public land hunter because educated public land birds will teach lessons about turkey hunting that carry over to hunting private property birds more so than vice versa.
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Grumpy
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by Grumpy »

Real easy, just get farther off the main roads than the other dudes.
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GLS
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by GLS »

The temptation is to go directly to the bird from the road and sit between the road and bird which is what most folks would do. If you can get around the bird and call on the opposite side, sometimes this can make the difference.
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BrentM
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by BrentM »

They don't know they're on public land as long as you don't tell them. .......they're still gonna act like turkeys you just have to be a little more gentle with them

As far as scouting goes, we've always hunted mountain birds so we just get on a high place and listen. I walk around a lot in the woods and look for sign before the season starts, but it's mainly just to get in shape. I'd rather hunt where I heard a gobble any day than to hunt over sign.
2ounce6s

Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by 2ounce6s »

There goes that deer hunting mentality again. "hunt over sign". Seems to imply fellas that do it are just ambushers. :lol:
Far, far from it.

If you find sign and stick with it, they will gobble, may not be much or often but they'll do the jig just the same.

Or you can just run and gun aggressively and bump birds all day because that's what 99% of the other nimrods do. That's all they see on videos. Drive up, jump out, call, tom answers and then they decide where they are gonna sit down. Works great on unpressured private land, less often on public....but that's relative to the public lands you are talking about. They don't all get the same pressure and there's the variance you see in opinions. Numbers and density of birds make a BIG difference too. Around here, we're just getting over a bad stretch of hatch years and have seen a rebound in numbers the last two seasons. I know how it is to hunt a very few toms or a decent population of them. Nothing here like I've seen on TV and vids of Texas, Kansas or Missouri birds to name a few. Anybody doubting my opinions and wanting to form their own based on the hunting here just hop on down (or up, or over?) to the Tyger River in SC in Sumter National Forest about 2 weeks into the season and snatch you some toms. Throw out those blanket statements about "they don't know they are on public land" all you want but those SOBs sure know there's a lot more freaky looking camo clad blobs running around making hen calls (Gobbles even) on public land!
:shock:
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guesswho
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by guesswho »

2ounce6s wrote:those SOBs sure know there's a lot more freaky looking camo clad blobs running around making hen calls (Gobbles even) on public land!
:shock:
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by 2ounce6s »

LMAO.
Sir,
You are not allowed in this conversation. The only reason I am is because I haven't filled a bucket yet.
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GLS
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by GLS »

2ounce6s wrote: Throw out those blanket statements about "they don't know they are on public land" all you want but those SOBs sure know there's a lot more freaky looking camo clad blobs running around making hen calls (Gobbles even) on public land!
:shock:
I shudder to see the next wave of crazies crawling around WMA's with a strutter decoy on their heads or backs after seeing it done on videos this year. Darwinism at work...
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GLS
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by GLS »

dbl post
Last edited by GLS on July 21st, 2012, 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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guesswho
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by guesswho »

2ounce6s wrote:LMAO.
Sir,
You are not allowed in this conversation. The only reason I am is because I haven't filled a bucket yet.
I have a strong feeling you will. :thumbup:
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Turkey Talker
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by Turkey Talker »

Google earth,find sign,glass the area,call lightly, never over call on wma birds. 4 soft yelps is all it takes sometimes. Even if your like the rest of us out there, you won't want to degrade your manhood by stopping and asking for directions, in my opinion you can get the best intel from some of the worst hunters out there. :lol:
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2ounce6s

Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by 2ounce6s »

GLS wrote:
2ounce6s wrote: Throw out those blanket statements about "they don't know they are on public land" all you want but those SOBs sure know there's a lot more freaky looking camo clad blobs running around making hen calls (Gobbles even) on public land!
:shock:
I shudder to see the next wave of crazies crawling around WMA's with a strutter decoy on their heads or backs after seeing it done on videos this year. Darwinism at work...
Oh crap, I better not show this picture of knucklehead!
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Just funning around on the last walk out of the season at dark a few years ago.
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guesswho
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Re: Public Land Strategies

Post by guesswho »

You could sell all you could make! Good to see knucklehead knows that trick is night hunting.
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