PUBLIC LAND

Just like classic bottomland, this has gotten out of hand.

I am tired of people prefacing their turkey hunting success by whether they were on PUBLIC land. Leave something to the imagination. I get it that you're competitive but this isn't basketball or football.

I just saw a youtube channel called the "HUNTING PUBLIC" and I was amazed. That coupled with some of the other stuff i've seen this year has been overwhelming for me.

I have had more success on private land in terms of killing turkeys compared to public land but I grew up hunting private land. Honestly, I have pulled out more hair hunting them on private land than public land.

The reason I am concerned about this is:

Deep down, I'm afraid we're going to have hunters fleeing to the wma's to turkey hunt. Just like freakin duck dynasty. Can yall imagine what would happen if we had a turkey hunting equivalent to duck dynasty????? Only yall that have duck hunted prior to that will know.

Whether this is an irrational fear I haven't any clue. I hope it's just me being a butthead. And by the way, I am usually very easy going. Not all the time but much more than not!

Doesn’t bother me one way or the other, but tons and tons of private land in the south is hunted and pressured more than most public land during deer and turkey season.

It isn't the hunters on public land that cause the problems.
It's the night riders, road warriors, and partiers.
The local beer bangers and dope smokers love to ride them dirt roads and trails at night.

I don't think you have to worry about that here in Alabama, they talked about how rough it is to get on and kill turkeys here. It was by no means an easy task for them to kill one gobbler in a week, between several of them. Seems like it was a rude awakening for them

I’m not sure how old you are, but turkey hunting has already done what duck hunting did. The early to mid 90’s, hardly anyone turkey hunted. Now everybody and their brother tote damn blind, decoys, and a box call somewhere every weekend or more.

I don't have much respect for a fully abled grown man who sits in a pop up tent in a plot or wherever and waits on a turkey to walk up and shoot it. Period

Well that was before my time. And I hope it doesn't happen again. When they're gone they're gone. All I'm sayin.

I agree pal,but it looks like this is the road turkey hunting is taking. I remember back years ago you would get shamed for building a natural blind to hunt out of for future hunts. I just can't make myself deer hunt for turkeys,but to each their own!

At least in my area, timber cutting has almost dictated that if you hunt the pines, you need blinds, and usually that’s over a greenfield. The guys I know are calling and birds generally respond. The question becomes are they coming to the call or simply headed to the field. Also, that’s all some guys have to hunt. I’m glad for them when they kill a bird and most of these guys used to have something different to hunt and are good turkey hunters. I am especially glad that they actually HAVE birds to hunt! I was afraid that cutting of mixed pine and hardwood and replanting plantation pines was going to be the end of turkey hunting but it had not been.What HAS happened is areas remaining with mixed timber have seen increases in the number of birds, subject to the size of the area and what Mother Nature allows as its carrying capacity.l have killed a few from blinds, even in the hardwoods and as I get older it’s pretty nice to have a blind under certain conditions, especially afternoon hunts or bad weather.mine are generally in areas were I would be seated at a tree anyway. I don’t have ANY disrespect for a hunter that uses a blind, permanent or portable ot screen, etc. Anymore than a hunter that uses a thick ,comfortable cushion rather than the one inch I have tied around my waist. I agree about the numbers of hunters. When BASS came along I saw a tremendous increase in the numbers of boats and thought “this ain’t good”. I was wrong, plenty of fish for everybody. The NWTF has increased the numbers of hunters for sure, but there seems to be plenty of turkeys killed. Of the things listed on the annual survey affecting turkey hunting I always list habitat destruction and predators next. Not numbers of hunters, and sure not “blinds”. I also know a few hunters that look down on the use of cams. Returning to the subject of the original thread, I actually like to KNOW where the turkeys come from. Public or private and what counties.

I love this states public land..ive never had any nice private land to hunt. You grow up in marshall co and the only decent places to hunt turkeys is SKYLINE....... that was turkey hunting to me..get up at 3:00am drive up there or go the day before an sleep in the truck. I tell people all the time i dont like jackson county....when in reality i know JDM/skyline inside out...as well as the waterfowl refuge. Ive since hunted the majority of wmas in the state except for extreme southern(autauga,lowndes,conecuh nat F, and mobile) when its all you got.....its all you got. Turkeys aint like a duck....neither.. Folks can say what they want but i grew up about a 150ft from the tennessee river....im not a duck hunter..but ive been duck hunting....matter o fact i grew up listnin to ww3 outside the house 3 or 4 days a week. I started goin a little bit...didnt take no calls or decoys...just went and bought my duck stamp and some of the cheapest steel shot you could buy...i killed but loads an didnt have feeakin clue what the heck i was doin..i just sit there real still an wait till they wer close enough to kill. I decided after i fell in a beaver trace an filled my waders up you could have this stupidity. If youike it more power to you...thats great... But it aint like turkey hunting on public land...not even in the same demension. They might doit for a minute or 2 but most of the folks wanting to be a cool hardcore public land hunter gonna get they butt kicked a time or 2 and say uh..uh i want my hunting club back....i know i would if i had a good place to go. If you can consistently kill turkeys and deer on public land...you a bad mammah jammah.

How many turkeys have you actually killed on public land?

But since we're taking that route...How many turkeys have you actually killed that you didn't post to facebook or aldeer???

I've killed birds on both public and private. And yes, there is a WORLD of difference.

That's besides the point, Austin. Doesn't change anything I just said...

But since we're taking that route...How many turkeys have you actually killed that you didn't post to social media?

Didn't realize posting to social media was a requirement, guess I'll go back and check the regs.

Just seems like you need to spend more time enjoying the outdoors, you've been posting something new to complain about constantly this season. Public land is no different than its always been, and until you actually earn some success on it, I don't see you having a leg to stand on pointing fingers at people who have and choose to say something about it. who cares? Mention a specific wma over and over, well that's a bit different, but killing a "public land" bird is something to be damn proud of.

I only hunt private land. I live driving distance to Barbour and Tuskegee and have never set foot on either one of them. When I lived in Pennsylvania I hunted public land and when I moved back home I promised myself I would do what ever I had to do to never hunt public again. I know it's not as bad down here as it was up there but my Yankee experience left me really turned off to it.
All that being said, I know a lot of people only hunt public and some have had success and some are consistently successful at it and my hat is off to them. It takes a lot of time and effort to pull that off. I know if I could pull it off I would definitely brag about it, but I sure as hell wouldn't let on where it happened. I may go try some public again one day but for now I'll let some other guys fight over it.

Ive had some success on public land, but rarely if ever do they talk much. You basically have to deer hunt them. If i didnt know any better i probably wouldnt have any problems deer hunting them but I also know what its like to have 4 or 5 different gobblers gobbling their heads off all the way to the gun. The excitement and the way you hunt are pretty different comparing the two. Not to mention success rates. The money and time I spend on a hobby i love would be much better spent at a place where i know i will have much better odds.That being said, Public land hunting is very discouraging when it comes to the youth or new hunters wanting to get into the sport. Unless they have dumb blind luck more than likely they arent going to have much success, especially if they dont have a clue what they are doing. The whole duck dynasty turkey hunting thing has already began. Look at how many clubs now dont offer turkey rights because someone leased it out all to themselves. Look at how hard it is to find a decent place to go where there arent a ton of other people already turkey hunting. Lease prices continue to rise and its not because there are less hunters. The demand is increasing and people are getting the money they are asking. Its been going on now for a while

I'm not sure how you inferred that I haven't actually had success on it...

But truth be told, I am probably an average turkey hunter from most on here's standards.

However, I hunt public land and bought a state hunting license so regardless of whether I've killed 0 or 100, I have a vested interest in it and have the right to gripe if I want to.

Well I think people that constantly post kill pics and what # bird they're on and whether it was on public land should spend more times enjoying the outdoors...seems like they're not getting everything they want when the hunt's over.

Oh I know they're proud...

But seriously, I enjoy looking at people's pictures and reading stories of people's hunts but I'm bothered at how it's become such a numbers game.

I also get irritated when people say they didn't have a good season because they didn't "tag out." Or even duck hunters saying the same thing about a particular hunt because they didn't kill their 6 ducks or their 15 doves or what not.

I don't think you understood what I was getting at...

Well the people that post the numbers are prob going by the book its the ones that dont u shoild be worried about...and why do u care if soneone says they had a bad season?? Maybe thell just quit and give u a better chance...sounds like u dont want everybody and there brother huntin anyway..

criticising the best hunting show out there..those boys are legit and actually what we need MORE of

Or kill em at 60-70 yds. That ain't turkey hunting in my book.

X2. I check their YouTube channel every day hoping they've got a new video up. They're the best videos out there right now

Agreed! no sponsorship to push and not selling anything, but hunting success or fail and good times doing it.

I've killed a bunch of birds in arguably one of the hardest places to hunt them birds Bankhead national Forest yes there's a bunch of people but that's no excuse to not getting a bird or enjoying the outdoors. I welcome the new hunters as should everyone else. We were all new to the game at one point and hunters numbers are going down every year and if we don't start bringing new people to the sport in a few years we are really going to be in trouble.

I think your perspective on increasing public land pressure depends a lot on your area of the state. I hunted public land in Wilcox Co when I was in HS, and there was a whole lot of pressure and a whole lot of bad manners. That ain't something that's new. The Coosa WMA was an absolute zoo back in the 70s through the 90s. Hunting it was when I decided that it was impossible for legal hunting to wipe out all the gobblers from an area. Some of those turkeys on the main roads would have 4-5 people calling to them every morning, and yet they survived. And those turkeys always gobbled great on it; better than any other place I've hunted for Easterns.

But after about 2000, the hunting pressure was noticeably less. I don't know why; I always suspected that serious hunters usually joined a club, and casual hunters gave up after the first week. It doesn't hurt for me to talk about it now; most of it has been leased out and the small amount that remains is cutover.

Turkey hunters have always been crazy, so that's nothing new. I think most of the blind/decoy type hunters will eventually give up turkey hunting. Hunting that way just can't be as addicting as talking to them. I could be wrong, and other areas of the state may be much different than what I have experienced.

This.

I agree PCP. I've talked with guys who've killed a bird or 2, out of a blind, and they have that 'meh, I don't get it' attitude. I've never seen that from anyone, that I've taken out, after I call one into their lap. Even better if they can't get the shot for awhile. Now that's excitement!

I like your perspective

Not sure exactly where you're going with that question, but I don't put my turkey pics on the web either. Not even on aldeer.

I don't see that at all. License sales are no indication of hunter numbers.
From what I've seen in the past 20 years, hunters keep increasing exponentially.

I normally do not either. The way he asked how many I had actual killed came across as disparaging IMO so in turn I decided to ask him that...I might have taken it personal but I considered it to be personal. Obviously Austin posts a lot of his kill pics so that's what I was getting at. Whether he meant it ugly I don't know but that's how I perceived it at the time.

I agree there isn't alot off difference in public and private they are all just turkeys. Places like Coosa and Little river are as good as most private ground. When you can pull up at Mlberry Fork and hear 6 different birds at daylight thats hard to beat. Those birds fly down and walk to the nearest plot and get shot I mean they don't know who owns the land.

I would rather dig a ditch with a toothpick. Than set in a blind to turkey hunt. That's not what's it's about. Lim hanger 1959

I didn’t realize “deer hunting” turkeys was so frowned upon! I have hunted public land since I started hunting over 20 yrs ago. I have seen just about anything you can imagine and gone through all stages of the public land hunter, from stingy and possessive to now just grateful to be outside doing what I love. I have been involved in heated arguments before sunrise, where looking back now I probably should’ve feared for my life, to now welcoming the opportunity to meet someone who shares the same passion as I do. However, that doesn’t nessecarily mean I’m going to share information with them or welcome them to knowingly cut me off! Every deer and turkey I have killed, with the exception of a few, has come from public ground and I agree that a turkey is a turkey. If you aren’t where he wants to be, 9 times out of 10 you don’t stand a chance. I don’t see the difference in setting up and waiting one out and circling around to get in front of one that is going away from you... not as exciting if he’s silent but the same result. Kinda like shooting a jake because he was gobbling and strutting...he is still a jake. And I have shot jakes and passed on jakes. I just enjoy hunting, and now with young children and limited time, more than ever. Competitive nature has made its way into hunting and it is running rampant. # this and age or score that...or “oh yeah, well how many have you killed?” Or “what’s the biggest on your wall?” blah blah blah.

Well U.S. Fish and Wildlife services would disagree hunters numbers are down 2.2 million from 2011.

Well then I disagree with US fish and wildlife.
Overall (across the USA) numbers might be down.
But in Alabama, I can only wish that was true.

Me either……..especially coming from some of the same people who just argued in the deer baiting thread that folks should quit telling each other how they should hunt.

Good maybe a bunch more will quit too.

i agree that deer hunting turkeys aint as exciting. But i could say the same thing about deer hunters that dont run dogs. Its boring sitting there whether your waiting on a deer or turkey.

I’d like to hear the reasoning behind why it’s not ok to hunt turkeys on a food plot in a blind. Let’s say you’ve been hearing some birds gobble in a certain area before the season and you’ve got them patterned pretty well. They leave the roost and eventually work there way to a hayfield late in the morning. You show up opening day to hunt but don’t hear a peep at daylight…What do you do?…Are you saying that it’s not ok to go camp out on the hayfield and wait for them to show up??? It just seems like another technique to me……Is it the blind you feel that’s not ok??? I don’t get this one…..I’m not a big turkey hunter though so I guess I’m not up to par on my finer details of etiquette.

What they are saying is that waiting in a pop up blind over decoys in a greenfield isn't what turkey hunting is about. It takes the skill out of it and if turns it into a waiting game.

You ain't got to sit still. You ain't got to choose the right tree to set up on. You ain't got to be able to call good. You just put the decoys out in the open where they are visible and play on your phone until it's time to shoot a turkey

I see an increase...not sure where they're getting their numbers

It just seems like that’s taking it a little too far to be judging other hunters for such as that.....especially when we hunt many other animals in the same way.... ducks, deer, dove, etc....I mean, how much skill does it really take to walk in on one in the dark and shoot him as soon as he hits the ground??? At least sitting in a blind takes patience. What if you want to go hunt in the afternoon and nothing is gobbling?? Can someone not prop up on the side of field and just hang out to see what happens?

Don't you have some seeds to go scatter somewhere?

Yeah for real

LOL Well, why don't you just Let us know? You have 2 more weeks, surely that's enough time for you to show us your skills..... Good luck!

I wish it was that easy

I gotta remember that line.

I don't think anyone was judging. Like myself, just saying it's not for them. If you've gotten the turkey disease, you don't even ponder the idea of sitting in a blind and waiting for one.

I don't believe anyone was talking down "deer hunting" turkeys. All I was saying was given the chance I'd rather play the game with vocal birds. You are going to get on more birds and more vocal birds on private land more consistently. Or at least that's been my experience.

Well, you have to consider that every time you attack people for wearing bottomland, being proud of public land birds, or whatever it may be, it can be taken personal as well. As to posting pictures, I enjoy sharing my kills with others. I post the ones that I don't have a reason not to post.

Good luck the rest of the season.

I don't care how or where you hunt them , but patience has and will always be the most important quality for a turkey hunter to have. If it takes a blind, then so be it. It bothers me deer hunting out of a blind because I can't hear, no way I could personally turkey hunt in one.

Don't worry the hunters are flocking to public land now. Tell you a little story. I walked in deep on some Public land years ago in search of a gobbler. Back during deer hunting season I had found me a spot. Ended up shooting a small buck and a doe too. One morning trying to find my stand in pitch dark I about pissed in my pants when a flock of turkeys flew out of a tree about 30 feet over my head. Well it came turkey season and I decided to sneak back to that exact spot. Needless to say after a long walk in and a wasted morning I didn't see a turkey, none, zero.
I climbed in my truck and looked back up the road and low and behold a big gobbler was strutting in the middle of the road and as silent as a deer while doing it. I thought it was like a mirage I was seeing something, but I wasn't. I attempted a sneak on the ol'boy, but not a sound of that old tom. I still swear to this day someone must have cut the vocal cords out of that one cause I never heard any sounds. That is an example of how hunting on public land can be sometimes you can put in a lot of work and come up empty a lot more than private land. Find the game and more times than not someone will run it off or kill it before you get a shot at it. That's why they call it hunting I keep telling myself anyhow!

Ghost birds. The ones where there's no possible way he could have come in without you hearing him. Yet, there he stands. They always materialize when you're in the most uncomfortable position possible. They're also always staring directly at you, so you can't even twitch.

A real turkey hunter never lets anyone know where they killed the bird. IMO

60 or so

Or how, or when.

The smart ones take a picture in front of management area signs😁 , miles away from their lease!

Yep

The smart ones don't post pictures.

perzactly!!

you can believe a some things a deer hunter tells you, But don't believe anything a TURKEY HUNTER tells you as far as what,when and where.