Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs FL Panhandle?

Anyone have experience hunting the north FL/panhandle area? One of my wife's relatives lives in Navarre and wants me to come down for their opening weekend (03/19 I think) to teach him how to turkey hunt. There appears to be a good bit of public land around him but I have no idea what the population/hunting pressure is like down there. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I lived in the panhandle for 10 years.....always came back home to Alabama to hunt. There's a lot of land to hunt....Eglin AFB....and several mgt. areas. BUT....there are a LOT of locals that hunt those areas as would be expected. Very little private land to lease down there....

Eglin and Blackwater are close and have a good population of birds. I use to hunt blackwater occasionally but the past few seasons it is been extremely crowded and after a few bad experiences with locals I just stick to hunting my club. That being said you should have no problem getting on a bird with a little scouting.

I use to hunt panhandle - private land - had lot of birds - tagged out yearly - killed one long spurred bird there that would hav taken the FL eastern state record - never registered

I miss hunting there. Know nothing about the public land

If he knows where public land is - b nice if he could just go listen at different spots from main road

Good luck - bringing season in early sounds nice

About like most of the public land in Alabama. Not a whole lot of private leases available due to the govt owning almost everything between the coast and I10 from Navarre all the way to Defuniak Springs, so the locals put a ton of pressure on both Eglin and Blackwater. There are some really good turkey killers that pretty much "live" all spring on both. If you are hunting blackwater, I'd try to get away from areas near Karick, Bear and Hurricane lakes as a bunch of those guys, that hunt it every day from opening day til the last day of the season, set up camp at the campgrounds at those lakes and use them as a home base. Eglin is big but the birds tend to stay in very specific areas. In addition, almost half of Eglin is in what is referred to as "closed areas". These are areas with active military missions and testing going on and there is absolutely zero admittance. Years ago, I had decent luck targeting birds roosting in the closed areas and setting up just across the line in an "open" area and calling them over the line to me. Word to the wise, if you've got a bird gobbling, do not cut at him, work him hard, or attempt to make him gobble any more than he already is. If you do, you'll be inviting half a dozen other hunters to move in on top of you. Both areas remind me of how it used to be on the old Boykin WMA in Citronelle. There are quite a few birds, both are on regular burn rotations, and you can definitely kill a bird on them, but it's going to take some scouting and leg work. I havent hunted either in years. Peach can probably give you some more up to date info as I think he still hunts blackwater a little bit.

I’ve lived in the panhandle all of my 64 years. There are a decent amount of turkeys in Blackwater and even more in Eglin. If you have time to scout around, you can find some turkeys to hunt that aren’t being harassed. When COVID first hit, everyone was off and there were quite a few hunters in the woods. It calmed back down a lot last year.

I just read abolt’s post. He is pretty much spot on. I have the opportunity to hunt in several different states but always like to hunt Blackwater some because it’s close to home and is a challenge to hunt public land.

Got a buddy that lives in 30a, I could ask which public piece he hunts. He watched 13 die last year. Or atleast that’s what he told me. Quick tip, a lot of that public land down around there is pines and palmetto thickets. Look for the larger roost trees and stick close to backwater.. which is where you might find some big timber. A lot of locals hunt it regularly. No reason to travel to their leases in bama when they have decent luck by the house.

I have some friends in Deland that swears the birds are everywhere. Walking in the city, backyards, neighborhoods. Not the panhandle area but just wanted to mention it.
One other thing they keep mentioning are all the bears and all the problems they cause. I’d gut shoot every one of them with a 22 if they cause half the problems I hear about.

Yeah, you have to put in the leg work. They are there. Both Eglin and blackwater. If you hunt there enough, get ready to have some idiots walk in on you and screw it up. I will still get up early and get to a good spot, but you can also get on some bids later in the morning closer to lunch when most folks head out. They may not talk as much, and you have to be sharp, ready, and patient. Persistence is a virtue when hunting public land. You have to keep going when you can; bad weather, birds not gobbling well, ect.

He has to win every time. You only have to win once.

A friend of mine had a guy sneak up and shoot his decoys in Blackwater!

I bet that was an awkward situation.

Yes, He jumped up and started yelling at the guy and the guy took off running. My buddy actually worked at the fish hatchery right in the middle of Blackwater forest and had never had anything like that happen before.

That fish hatchery has been known to hold some good bucks. I believe a man by the name of Bill killed a stud close by there a few years ago.

Lol! That’s the guy I’m referring to that had his decoys shot.

Where would Yellow River place in this area? Is it super thick along that river if one was to paddle down it trying to get on birds?