My dream has always been to hunt at least four states my first season after I retire. Well that time has finally come. I must hunt my property here in Indiana and my turkey huntin' doctor has just about talked me into a hunt in his home state of Nebraska. That still leaves a couple of states and a whole lot of logistics. With out spending a fortune ( this translates to public land) and taking into consideration my bad knees, please help me plan my dream hunt. Thanks, Tom PS my wife will be hunting with me.
Sounds like you have eastern's and rio's covered, how about a trip north from NE to SD and get a merriams. You can always catch MO either on the way out or on the way back.
My retirement hunt was to SD where I shot a gobbler in the Black Hills and another gobbler on one of the many Indian Reservations. Good luck!
:smiley-patriotic-flagwaver-an
From what I hear Missourri is THE state for big bodied big beaded turkeys.
Definitely go for the true Merriams, so maybe South Dakota.
Just my 2 cents worth
Noticed that Gobblez and I were posting the same time...seems that we think alike
I would do Florida and find a state with good non resident license price for merriams
North west nebraska for merriams they are loaded then i would do a florida hunt for osceolas you have the easterns taken care of and texas for rios. jmo.
Assuming you are going after Merriams in Nebraska, or even if you aren't, Kansas is a logical choice from a logistic standpoint. The northwestern part of the state has Rios. Not a terribly large amount of public land, but lots of walk-in hunting areas (WIHA's). Missouri, is, of course, great, but out turkey population is down somewhat from a few years ago due to some bad hatches. Northern MO, logistically speaking, would be better for you, but has less public land than central or southern MO.
If your friend can accompany you, great, if not, just drive separate vehicles and hunt your way back through Kansas and MO. Tags are over-the-counter in both states. Good luck.
I've had the same kind of dream as you, retiring in 2010, but I have a mowing business which makes it tough to get away after the end of March. I go to Alabama early, but wasn't even able to make it to Kansas last spring, something I've pretty much done every year since the mid-1990's. My Dad used to say that it is no disgrace to be poor, but it is awfully inconvenient. :) Neill
First of all, Congrats on the retirement!! I knew it was coming around sometime soon. I know that you will enjoy it.
If you are hunting Nebraska, then anywhere else you go will not matter much. After hunting the birds in Indiana and Kentucky for as long as you have, you are probably going to be blown away in Nebraska.
I would also hit Kansas and maybe either Oklahoma or Texas.