Toughest state

[Ruger M77]

PENNSYLVANIA!!! To many hunters here

[Devastator]

PENNSYLVANIA!!! To many hunters here

i will have to agree!seems like more hunters and more hen's every year.i say give us another tag for fall.

[TKE921]

Resurrecting this old thread because I liked reading all the opinions and stories of other states.  I am also at the stage of the game I want to begin going other places each year to hunt different subspecies.

One place I hunt in WV is a 5,000 acre lease.  There are lots of birds and only about 6 of us that turkey hunt...BUT  the elevation begins at just above 3000 ft and tops out at 4038 ft.  It is a mix of old reclaimed strip mine fields, some medium age woods and many regrowing thick clear-cuts (think thick bamboo patch vs barren or 6" diameter trees) and every hill seems to be nearly vertical.

You can be up there and the wind howling 20mph and 35 degrees in early season and drive off the mountain to calm wind and 50 degree temps.  I heard a gobbling bird every single day last season, but 90% of them you can't even go after because of where they are located.  This is the hardest place I have turkey hunted by far.

Next behind that would be in the Alleghany highlands of VA on public land.  Those boys down there hunt everything and they hunt it hard...even their squirrels are more educated than a WV whitetail.

[buzzardroost]

I've hunted public in TN, GA, AL, and FL. Out of those, FL open public land has by far been the most difficult.


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[daddyduke]

Indiana for me.

[dejake]

I've hunted Fl, NJ and KS.  I hunt DE and Pa regularly, and for me it's PA. 

[shaman]

I too find this an interesting thread, and not what I was expecting.

AL, MS, PA, FL-- these are all states that seem to have tremendous buzz in the media.  Of those, I've only hunted MS and that was only once. 

A state that didn't get a lot of mention was KY, my adopted home turf.  The reason why I bring it up is twofold.  On the one hand there's been a bunch of press about KY being a hard state to hunt.    My opinion is that if you leave your pre-conceived notions about how to hunt turkeys at the stateline and think out of the box, Bluegrass gobblers are not that hard.

Secondly, I saw some stats recently, and Kentucky has the highest success rate of any of the states in the region. I don't think that means we have dumber birds or smarter hunters.  One thing I do know: the high body counts are coming off private land. 

[Jake Smasher]

I've hunted in a number of states, WA, OR, CA, IA, NB, TN, MA, & VT.  The New England states were tough because you could only hunt until noon.  Each of the other states can also be tough depending on the time of the year.  But, without a doubt, I think the hardest turkey hunting I've ever had is trying to bag an Eastern Wild Turkey in Western Washington state.  I learned to turkey hunt in that state and was able to scratch out 3 Easterns over ten years.  There were a couple of years when I knew that turkeys were around, but I didn't hear a gobble during the entire season. When I left that state in 2004, the department of fish and wildlife had done a hunter survey and concluded that the average hunter hours for Eastern bagged was right at 240.  Fortunately, by late April shooting time is just around 5:00 AM and it doesn't get dark late in the evening.  Of course, you can also cross the mountains to the East side of that state to hunt Rios and Merriams.  If you do that, it is no more difficult than most states (and easier than some). 

[jims]

I've hunted Colo and Nebraska gobblers.  Nebraska gobblers during the early bow season when turkeys are flocked up in large groups of 10 to 30 is mighty tough.  Toms are like bulls with cows and it's nearly impossible to call them away from their flocks.  They are nearly impossible to decoy and usually head the opposite direction.  Once the large winter flocks start breaking up it tends to be a lot easier.

Colo merriams on public land in the ponderosa foothills is just as tough or even tougher!  There are trees everywhere so spotting and stalking is pretty much impossible.....with lots of country for turkeys to roam.  The turkeys I've hunted may chattered a little bit well before daylight but once they fly off their roosts are generally quiet as a mouse.  The turkeys find out at an early age that if they make noise they get eaten by bears, bobcats, coyotes, and mtn lions.   It is super tough locating toms with so much country and only scattered turkeys that hardly let out a peep.  There seems to be more and more hunters taking up turkey hunting so public land where there are turkeys can be mighty tough.

[WildTigerTrout]

I find the State of Confusion pretty tough - this is where I reside mostly about 30 minutes after first light when that gobbler has not shown up.

LOL I agree.  I will add public land in my home, the state of Pennsylvania.  LOTS of pressure here and tough hunting!

[idgobble]

PA and MO have been tough ones for me.  I think it's because of all the pressure there.

[MK M GOBL]

department of fish and wildlife had done a hunter survey and concluded that the average hunter hours for Eastern bagged was right at 240. 

That's crazy, is it because of a low turkey population? That's 30 8hr days to take 1 bird... I know they are taking an "average" but using the old bell curve I'd hate to be on that low slope.

MK M GOBL

[Laloom83]

I'm from Mississippi and now live in Connecticut. My dad and his buddies had a lease in the Texas panhandle and you could throw rocks and hit birds it was so many.  It was nothing to get a 4 bird limit in 4days. Connecticut isn't as easy as Texas but I find it's way easier than Mississippi. I easily get my two bird state land limit each spring and usually take 1-2 on private as well. Ct has a fall season and well but I haven't gotten into that.  IMO the fall and spring limits allow way too many birds for such a small state.  The land I hunt in Mississippi along with Mississippi state land is very pressured and the birds get call shy very easily. It's great you can hunt all day but I rarely have a bird come charging into my calling in Mississippi.  I'm sure Alabama is similar.


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[GobbleNut]

As others have already stated or implied, turkeys don't get hard or easy to kill just because they live in a particular state.  They get hard to kill due to the conditions under which they are hunted.  Regardless of the state, turkeys respond negatively to hunting pressure, whether it be on public or private land. 

From my experience and in my opinion, here's the progression, in general and in brief:
1) Lightly hunted turkeys in areas with high turkey numbers....easiest to kill, not necessarily easiest to call, but easiest to kill because a good turkey hunter will learn where to be to kill one of them, these populations almost always have very vocal birds (i.e. gobbling).
2) Lightly hunted turkeys in general,...again, gobblers usually vocal,....relatively easy to kill,...contain higher numbers of gobblers that have not been conditioned to avoid turkey sounds from turkeys they can't see,...a good turkey hunter will do what it takes to locate one of the gobblers in these populations that will "play the game" and will kill one.
3) Moderately hunted turkeys where conditions are such that there are gobblers around that have not been "conditioned" and are likely to gobble some on the roost or in response to calling,....same as #2,...a good turkey hunter will do what it takes to find a killable bird.
4) Highly pressured turkeys, whether on public or private land, where there are no gobblers left in the population that have not been "conditioned", but which the hunter is familiar with the habits of the birds there,...that hunter will usually know where to be to kill one of those gobblers in time.
5) Highly pressured and "conditioned" turkeys in low numbers and in places where the hunter is not familiar with either the property or the habits of the birds and the birds are reluctant to gobble,...hardest birds to kill just about anywhere (and really not all that much fun to hunt),...even the best of turkey hunters can get "schooled" by turkeys in these places. 

Based on the above, there are certainly states that have more of the "hard conditions" than the easy ones.  However, almost every state has some of all five, depending on where a person gets to hunt. 

[jims]

This may be linked to the post above's #5.  Generally speaking I would expect toms to be easier to outsmart in areas with high tom to hen ratios compared to areas with only a few toms that are constantly "henned up".  In other words, in an area with lots of toms the toms will likely respond and  react positively to calls.  There aren't too many henned up toms that are willing to leave their hens.  There is no reason for them to leave their pack of hens so they just follow them around.