Ultimate turkey trip

If you had the means to take a trip anywhere, and your objective was to go on the best turkey hunting trip possible, where would go? Outfitters, private land, public land is all fair game.

Hard to beat a mid to late April hunt in Jackson County Alabama!

X2. I’ve been fortunate to hunt a handful of states and all 4 species and for me it’s tough to top these old mountain birds when they’re acting right.

Actually, some of those guys have told me for years that the best hunting there would be in early May, and this year it will be legal! Internet scouters should put Jackson county in May on their bucket list.

I would choose the feral turkeys of New Zealand, but I'm not going until someone devises a Star Trek type transporter to beam me and my truck directly to it. There is nothing on earth to make me willingly spend that much time on a plane.

I trend further toward genuinely not liking you two every single year.

It's hard to beat the eastern turkey here in Alabama, but the Merriam's have been high on my list for a long while due to the unique coloration and surrounding scenery.

some of you Jackson Co boys need to cross the county line every now and then. Even a moderate Texas trip willl ruin you for Alabama, much less a good Merriams trip.

Start opening weekend South FL and wrapping up in Maine as June arrives. In between, going from coast to coast to hit as many states as possible.

This.

Hawaii would also be pretty neat.

A run up the northeast coast, hitting half a dozen states.

I’d like to hunt high altitude merriams or Gould’s.......that’s on my bucket list.

But the couple times I’ve been out west you know what little patch of cottonwoods the turkeys are roosted in that morning before you go and you know they’ve about gotta come back to the same little patch that evening. Didn’t do it for me. I like not knowing where he’s at til I hear him gobble at daylight and then going to him.

Brent, Texas birds don't act like that, and it isn't unusual to hear 20+ gobblers at first light. They usually hit the ground running...away.

He makes you want to call him a dirty word but he does it in such a nice way that you just can’t bring yourself to do it

A week long Osceola trip on 2 different private farms with 2 tags in my pocket

If I’m taking a trip, it’s to see places and kill stuff I can’t do at home. Merriams in the mountains all day long for me. Haven’t done it, but like BrentM I’d like to go for Goulds in the mountains. I’d also like to hunt Rios in Hawaii for the scenery and experience.

I hope it happens this year, but it will be spread out over a whole season and not just one trip. We will start in South Florida chasing osceolas, and finish in the mountains of New Mexico chasing merriams with Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama mixed in.

I’m glad you said we again

You two lovers get a room

There’s a whiff of jealousy in the room all the sudden

Yucatan Peninsula for Ocellated.
New Zealand for Merriams.

Seriously

😂😂😂

New Zealand for me.

I looked into New Zealand pretty heavily for a trip for my wife and I.
I don’t think I could do that much time on a plane either. We did Hawaii this past spring and that about pushed my limits.

Start with Osceolas in South Florida and end with Merriam's in Wyoming. Throw in an Alabama or Tennessee Eastern and a Rio somewhere along the way.

Trying to pull it off for my son and me this year ... but darn it has been hard trying to find an outfitter in S. Florida that has dates that line up with my son's spring break. Got a couple of leads but nothing confirmed yet - would think as much I am willing to pay that somebody would agree to take my money!

It’s a cutthroat deal in S FL. After years I finally pressed some farmer connections. Gonna be tough to be out of town for a week early March for me but screw it im going. I work hard enough rest of the crop to make up for it.

Yep and the only reason we are looking at S. Florida is that is the only season open during his college Spring Break. If his break was a week (or two) later we would just spend the time hunting in Alabama.

I agree. Headed to S FL is only way I can ever go out of state on a planned hunt. Anything past that I can’t commit to either

I'd go back to WA to hunt the Merriams and Rio's. Theyre definitely different than the easterns here in AL as I found out. It took two days to figure out what those birds were doing. Had to throw away all the strategies I've learned and learn some more on the run.

you for sure have to change tactics to hunt Rios and esp Marriams out west. Took me a day to figure those Merriams out, then it was killing time.

I wish WA would let folks take more than 2 birds in the spring. Once we figured out what to do as you said it was killin time.
I left my gear and shotgun with a friend out there in hopes of a return trip this coming spring

Over in Eastern Washington?

Yes

I've hunted 'em in over half the U.S. and my favorite trip has been my trek to the Pacific Northwest this spring. Hit up Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. Absolutely gorgeous country with a ton of varying habitat. Found birds in Idaho from the tip of the panhandle down to near the Utah border. In 12 solid days of hunting, I only ran into a few other turkey hunters. Some days I didn't see a single one. Chased Merriam's, Rios, and hybrids. Saw birds in places that blew my mind. Wildlife galore. Saw my first moose, heard my first wolves. Hundreds of elk. It is an 'Ultimate Trip' that is reasonable to make.

I guess my next 'Ultimate Trip' will be for U.S. Gould's or Hawaii. But I still don't think I'll enjoy either of those as much as my PNW trip this past spring...

The best way to destroy a good place to hunt is talking about it on the internet

If you don’t believe this, go hunt public land Missouri.

Or, just try to find a turkey lease in Texas or even Alabama for that matter.

Surely this post isn't in reference to mine? But I agree and have watched the downfall of multiple midwest states. And am somewhat thankful for it...It got me to exploring elsewhere!

Best trip possible to me is Private ranch in Texas panhandle along the Red River. Tag out in a couple of days. Great country, tons of birds, no other folks around.

After that Private land merriams in NW Nebraska, or private land Osceolas on improved pasture land on a working Cattle ranch there.

The reason I put Texas first is you get more tags then the other 2.

Ive done them all more then a few times .They are all pretty places to hunt, different from here and all have lots of birds.

New Zealand is waaaayyyy to far for me to go.

I've never hunted on it in TX, but one of the best trips I've ever been on was along that river across the line in OK. High mesas about 500 yds from the river, with cottonwood beside it and then a strip of wheat. And lots of turkeys.

Ocellated in the Yucatan is my dream hunt.

I’m still trying to figure out how people can’t figure this out. People giving up the ghost on turkeys, especially diy/public land info.

Going out of state to hunt isn't a common thing for most people because it isn't cheap and they don't know who to contact to get a hunt set up. Hunting public land is a gamble no matter where you go and if someone decides to take the word of someone on a social media site as gospel.....well theres one thing to say about that....Buyer Beware

You can turkey hunt DIY in Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming pretty cheap and with confidence of success. I've done it many times. South Fl not so much, I have done that real cheap but I had personal contacts to get me in.

90% of the turkey hunters I know take out of state trips every year.

I want to watch a merriam strut in higher elevation with some mountains in the back ground when I shoot him. I dont care where it is. just haven't had the money to spare yet

I've hunted 15 or so states. From South Florida to out west and in-between. But Alabama is my favorite place to hunt......Mid to late March. Smoke hanging in the air from nearby burns and smoldering stumps. No green up yet. Crisp mornings. Tough turkeys. Forest roads. Gravel popping. Long walks. Nothing better to me.

Killed a turkey in Hawaii the first week of March. Hunted parts of 4 days and only saw one other hunter and that was only 300 yards from the road. Lots of public land and got within killin range all but one day. But the real cool part was I killed one at 8000 feet above sea level. To the north I could sea the Pacific Ocean 25 miles away and to the south I could see the volcano peak at 13,000 feet. Be warned though, if you slip and fall on the lava fields it will cut you up.

Going to Maine next spring
If nothing bad happens

Always have wanted to hunt Merriams in Montana/Wyoming.

Well no matter what the area biologist tells you don't hunt the Southeast corner of Montana or the Northeast corner of Wyoming. I found out the hard way that some folks lie!

Are y'all doing pubic in New Mexico or outfitting? Working on planning a trip now.

Loose lips sink ships and get yer deer , turkey or anything else killed.

It’s hard to beat TX. Those Rios are vocal and lots of them.

Amen!

Next on bucket list is New Zealand turkey hunt, Hawaii close second.

Spot on!!

Yep

Recently, I was invited to go to a western state with multiple subspecies. The way the guy talked it would be super easy hunting but beautiful scenery. Like most of you know many of the western ranchers don't really pay much attention to turkeys. I'm planning on taking him up on the turkey hunt next year as kind of a pre scouting thing for elk and mule deer for the next fall. I've never had a local take me before so if nothing else I that will be nice.

I'm looking as much forward to riding horses in the mountains as anything else. (Old school style).

I’d like to hunt one on private land for a change.