Buddy and I were chatting after he had an encounter with an old timer on public land where the guy was saying how he has killed many a turkey in these woods. I can imagine there were some serious honey holes that no one knew of before the times of cell phone maps, google maps, OnX, and other map services that are easily accessible with the click of a button. Any of y'all have any spots that have been ruined by these services and all?

Don’t know about turkey hunting but it sure has had an effect on duck hunting

Not turkey spots but several of my old public duck holes. These spots were learned with shoe leather. Now these "unknown" spots will have 4 or 5 groups hunting them.

There were no cell phones in the 80s, but I don't believe land could have been more crowded than what the Coosa WMA was in those days. It wasn't unusual to have 3 different groups calling to a gobbling turkey, and sometimes there would be even more. And yet those turkeys would gobble day after day, and many of them survived the season. And there were always more turkeys on the WMA than off it. We thought it was likely due to the fact that the dog deer hunters didn't get to kill them there. The habitat was about the same otherwise.

Prior to that, I had been taught that legal Spring gobber hunting did not affect overall turkey populations. The things I observed on the Coosa convinced me it was true.

I had one not far from your place 757. Scotch had some land at White's Bluff on the other side of Witch Creek that was bad roads to get to and legally landlocked for the most part. Put in at Campbells Landing and run down the river a LONG WAY...Always had it to myself until I moved away.

I m trying to figure out why these guys filming hunts drop a pin where they hear a gobble? Can they not remember.

I don't use my phone when hunting but I am on grounds that I have hunted the majority of my life. Knowing where the bird is in relation to high ground, creeks and other obstacles is second nature. Many times when I hear a gobble, I am not in position to kill him. Pretty easy to pinpoint locations when you walk straight to it. It is a different ballgame when you make a 1000 yard loop to get on the ridge above him. Can be made even more difficult if you must drive to the other side of the property to get into position. My internal GPS is not that good on strange ground. It also gives you the ability to come back to the same spot where he was gobbling in the dark. Terrain and woods sense have killed as many turkeys as my mouth call. They are simply using technology to obtain information that takes years to learn without.

It may have been true, in the absence of as many predators as we have today.

Is there any evidence that it isn't still true?

I've never used a GPS while hunting, just don't see the need.

I lived and hunted in Pennsylvania before the days of cell phones and hand held GPS units. I studied topo maps to find spots I wanted to check out then it was all compass work and show leather from there. People complain about hunting public land here in Alabama, but up there it's a whole different animal.

Is it cell phones/GPS that has ruined public land hunting or the cost of a lease?

I don't really understand the whole youtube generation. Seems like attention craving to me.
But if you're going to do it, at least keep your damn location a secret. Only an idiot reveals information about turkeys

Neither. It's the same thing that ruins everything. It's the people.

me too. Though this year hunting a new place I took a wrong fork and ended up having to walk 300 yards through a nasty briar filled clear-cut to get back where I intended to be. So I can see the benefits.

Using technology takes the fun out of it for me. Now, if you're hunting flat swampland a map and compass is a must and I might even change my mind on a GPS unit. I've gotten turned around in swamps and that is no fun in the dark.

I know that spot. Killed turkeys there.