Whats your easiest public land turkey hunt? mine was this past spring, picked a random place I had never been out of 10k acres and had a gobbler struttin 40 yards in front of me in less than 5 minutes of being out of the vehicle. I went in following boot tracks from earlier in the morning, so my guess is they had been working this bird and he was done with the hens he had and looking for the one/ones that had been calling to him earlier in the morning

First time trying Hollins WMA, it was late season and I got to gate early and walked about half to 3/4 mile from truck, starts breaking daylight and a turkey gobbles within a few hundred yards, go towards him and setup and he fly’s down and gobbles going away from me but I hear another one back towards the truck so I head that way and realize he close to where I parked, I get setup and make a call and he answers and then I see him strutting in the road not 200 yards from my truck! He starts my way and I’m thinking this is a done deal! He turns off the rd and is walking straight down my gun barrel and when he gets to about 35 yards I pull the trigger and he fly’s off , I still don’t know how I missed that turkey but that is as close as I ever come to an EASY PUBLIC LAND bird and I blew it. Killed a few off that place but they sure weren’t easy

Kansas. MsN40R and I were in state less than 2 hours and that included buying licences and " scouting". Lol! We drove in bought licences at a ranger station then drove about a mile down the road and spotted this guy and a dozen hens in a big field. Circled them and set up and my first call was answered by a pissed off boss hen. She drug him right to us within 5 minutes.

Not quite public by public's standard, but as close as you can get without the full public having access. Anyway, my first serious turkey season and the first turkey I ever called up and killed by myself, after BrentM called up a pair of gobbling jakes for my first turkey two days prior. Studied some Redstone Arsenal maps, discussed with BrentM about where he would start/listen from if it were him, added in a little tribal knowledge from deer hunting the same vicinity, and went and listened the next morning at first light. I ended up hearing two birds and one of them gobbled great on the limb. Took off down the road and eventually a small trail. Cut off the trail and got WAY too dadgum close to the good gobbling turkey that thankfully didn't see me due to some cedars and such. It was a miracle I couldn't see him in the tree as he was only maybe 60 or 70 yards away. Soft called to him two little sequences and watched him fly down to around the same 70 yards though I couldn't see him on the ground. Started hearing him spitting and drumming and eventually caught glimpses of him zig-zagging toward me and strutting until I rolled him up at about 30 yards, MAYBE 2 minutes after he hit the ground. Weighed around 20#, had an 11" beard, and 1 3/8" spurs. If I had any hope whatsoever of escaping full blown addiction prior to that point, the ship definitely sailed that morning when I pulled the trigger.

This thread mad me lol...tho there was that time i had a goobler fly down in my lap an smoothe missed him...was my easiest miss on public land.

Wasn't easy time wise, but I was on Cahaba and had hunted all morning since daybreak and hadn't heard the first gobble. It was about 11:30a, I had made a big loop and was about 4 miles into the hunt. I stopped to rest. I sat there maybe 10 min. Pulled out a box and figured I would cold call. I ran a series of yelps. Nada. Waited a few minutes, hit a slate. Nada. Waited a few more minutes, pulled out Stony's Fatal Attraction crystal. He cut me off in mid yelp at maybe 60 yds. He was dead within 5 minutes and was a nice 3 yr old. He sat there and listened to 2 series and 2 separate calls and never said a word before I tried Stony's. And that's why I carry several different calls in my vest.

My first ever longbeard came off public land. He gobbled. I went to him and found him strutting in a power line with some hens. I put the "Cochise sneak" on him and busted him at 30 yards. Coffee was still warm in the car (didn't have a truck back then) when I got back. The easy streak ended at 1 though.

Dr. B

hunted a Georgia wma one morning. Started on a ridge line that typically had a bird or two roosted nearby. While It was still pretty dark, several birds started gobbling from one spot on the ridge with me. They were maybe 100yds away, and I was able to slip in to about 50yds with it still dark. As it got lighter, I clucked a handful of times and they answered. A couple of minutes went by and I heard a bunch of birds hitting the ground. Not 30 seconds later 5 longbeards pop into a small opening at 35yds. Folded one up and the rest scattered. It was still pretty dark, their heads were the main thing I could see. The following morning I brought a friend who was new to turkey hunting back to the same spot. Sure enough a bird gobbled from the same tree as the day before. We slipped in and sat down on the exact tree I had leaned against previously. As it got light, that bird followed the script to a tee. The only variation was, when he hit the ground, he showed up about 10 seconds later on the ridge top instead of the side as they had the morning before. He was directly to the right of how I had set my buddy up. Knowing that I would shoot him after he walked by us, he decided to roll over and shoot with the bird just a few feet away. 3 shots and not a feather knocked out.... both those days were about as fun as it gets though.

Had another pretty easy one in Tennessee two seasons ago. Was working out of town and slipped away at 5pm. Drove to the nearest wma, tossed a camo shirt on while still wearing blue jeans. Grabbed a fan, and started walking. Made it about half a mile, and eased up on a field. Bunch of birds in the far end. As I scan to the left, I see a red head at about 100yds. Staring right at me. Flipped the fan up in front of me and cut at him. He marched straight to me. Killed him and was back at the truck in no time. Only one I’ve ever fanned.

It was last season on Cahaba. I hunted a spot one morning going in blind before work and got on a lone gobbler that was tearing it up on the roost. I got about 80-100 yards from him and he was down in a bottom and I was up on a ridge. He came to me after about 45 minutes but sneaked up on the wrong side and spooked. I eased back the next morning at daylight and didn't hear a thing on the roost in that spot. I did a fly down and then some soft calling and nothing. I decided to cut and get a little louder and one gobbled a couple bottoms away and sounded a good ways off. I get up and move about 50 yards and check him, and that joker has split the distance.I sit down and come to find out its two of them and they were as lonely as they could be. They walked right up where I needed them to and I got my first public land kill. It was unbelievable after 3-4 very hard years for me. Ive got his fan, beard, and spurs in my office on the wall and I think about that morning every time I look at it.

This was my easiest public land hunt - in terms of just the actual hunt itself. That's deceptive though, because this hunt was the result of several years of learning the area and trying to figure out the birds.

https://youtu.be/OoOHrgrmeYo

Cool video Hal

Nice Hal!

Several on Cahaba.

That was a strange reaction from that bird after the shot. Never seen that before

About 30 years ago, I was crossing the very end of a small slough. As I crossed it, a turkey gobbled to my right at about 100 yards. I quickly picked out a tree and scratched away the leaves at the base of the tree. I guess he thought I was a hen on the ground scratching. He glided down about 30 yards in front of me. I killed him and clucked while he was flopping...just to tell my hunting partners that I called to him.

One morning I went to a spot on cahaba and didnt hear squat after walking all morning. Headed back to the truck and stopped to check another spot and hear a bird gobbling wild, only
Problem is there is another truck parked there. I sit on my tailgate and listen to this bird gobbling his brains out. 20 mins go by and here walks up the two jack legs with the bird still hammering away. They had been whooped all morning by this bird and was headed home. I grabbed my stuff and tore out. Finally get set down at 11:32. Cluck a few times and nothing. I cut hard and he cuts me off about 80 yards out. He closed the distance some but gobbles and goes back the other way. I cut As hard as i could and kept on with him gobbling every step, was still cutting at him when I see him running toward me. Dead at 11:40.

New member to the forum, but I have been paying attention for the last couple of years. This spring was my 1st one hunting in Alabama and my 2-4 days out were all pretty good (Day 1 was terribly cold and windy) But I took my son (9 yrs old)the 4th time out and now he thinks hunting is just walking out in the woods waiting for daylight and pulling the trigger. Set up on a bird on the roost but didn't like how he was responding, so we got up and moved on to another bird. Called maybe three times and he was 20 yards out. I tried to get my son's attention about why he should stop moving because the bird is "in on us" but he didn't realize how fast it can happen until after I shot. I was happy he got that experience, but part of me wished we had to put a little more work in. We walked out, cleaned the bird, had some snacks, drove an hour to the "shoe store", and still had to find a park to go play in for a while because the stores didn't open until 9am.

I only hunted 7 days in Alabama this spring and had a good hunt all but the 1st day. I fell into the ego trap and made it my mission to kill that bird I first set up on with my son. Saying he wouldn't respond to a call would be an understatement. I really needed a partner to set up opposite of me so when I called he would fly down the other direction and get it. Set up on him 3 more days and had my gun off safety 2 times hearing him walk right to the edge of brush but he never stepped out. Finally, I gave up when I chased him down another mountain and spooked him about 50 yards from where I parked.

I was happy with 3 birds. But I hope that stubborn bird survives the winter, because I guess I just can't let it go.