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.